Heat wave continues in Michigan as temp indexes soar past 100
Heat wave continues in Michigan as temp indexes soar past 100
| CAPTION: Layla Aslani/Daily Mining Gazette As temperatures hit 100 in some places, with the high reaching 97 according to Weather Underground, residents are urged to use electricity sparingly. |
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
and The Associated Press
LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered state government to cut down on electricity use and asked Michigan residents to do the same in an effort to reduce the likelihood of unplanned power outages during the current oppressive and dangerous heat wave.
Utility companies also asked their customers on Monday to voluntarily cut back on their electricity usage. Sporadic power outages were reported.
More 90-degree temperatures were forecast for today, but some relief was expected Wednesday, when highs should be in the 80s, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures Monday climbed well into the 90s throughout the state. Traverse City recorded a high of 100, while Oscoda reached 99 and Iron Mountain 98, the weather service said.
Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan’s two largest cities, both hit 95. With a high of 86, Delta County’s Escanaba was one of the coolest spots in the state.
At 3 p.m. Monday, Oscoda reported the heat index — which measures the combined effect of the temperature and humidity — reached 119. At the same time, Mount Clemens had a heat index of 111 and Benton Harbor and Saginaw reported 110.
Macomb County opened two cooling centers for the homeless and four others for residents without air conditioning. The city of Detroit offered library branches as cooling locations.
Because of the heat, the NFL’s Detroit Lions moved their afternoon practice to their indoor field.
Janet Wolfe, communications manager for Upper Peninsula Power Co. in Houghton, said the heat hasn’t caused any outages in their system.
“We’ve had no problems getting power for the U.P.,” Wolfe said.
The company was able to provide enough electricity through a combination of purchasing off the power grid and generating their own, Wolfe said.
As of this morning, Wolfe said she had no statistics for electricity use for Monday, but to date their peak usage was on July 17.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments declared today to be its first ‘‘ozone action’’ day of the year.
The organization asked southeastern Michigan residents to resist refueling their automobiles, use their vehicles as little as possible and avoid using gasoline-powered lawn equipment.
Consumers Energy asked its 1.8 million electric customers to immediately reduce their consumption to help conserve power.
Customer demand for power from the utility company reached an all-time record high of 8,790 megawatts between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., eclipsing the previous record of 8,474 megawatts set nearly a year ago on Aug. 3.
‘‘Obviously, with the kind of heat we’ve seen (Monday), it’s a significant strain on the system, but it’s holding up well,’’ said Jeff Holyfield, a spokesman for Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp.
DTE Energy Co. also set a usage record Monday, posing a ‘‘significant challenge to the system,’’ spokesman Len Singer said.
Around 5 p.m., customers were using 12,391 megawatts of electricity, surpassing the previous record of 12,284 megawatts set Aug. 3.
Some of the utility’s customers in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck lost power, but Singer said he did not know if the outage was weather-related.
He asked customers of the utility to raise the thermostats on their air conditioners and refrain from using their major appliances today, when continued warm weather is expected to keep electricity-usage levels high.
As temperatures in East Lansing were in the low 90s Monday afternoon, hundreds of people cooled off at the city’s Family Aquatic Center. Dozens of children and teens stood in line for a chance to go down the pool’s giant water slide, while others were content to simply splash into the water from the sides.
‘‘The hot temperatures are bringing people out, definitely,’’ said Josi Dunham, the center’s manager. She said between 800 and 900 people were at the pool around 3 p.m.
‘‘It was the perfect day to come to the pool,’’ said Ciara Bonene, 16. ‘‘I wouldn’t normally swim as much as we did today, but it was too hot just to lay out.’’
‘‘I had to go in to cool off,’’ added her 17-year-old friend, Emily Twitchell. Both girls are from Grand Ledge, just west of Lansing.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
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