Today will be a scorcher

Pierre Vermette (foreground) and Tracy Reed take a break from the heat at a construction site at Salisbury High School. The pair work painting for Carolina Coating and Drywall company. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Buy a print

Pierre Vermette dries out his shirt on the hood of his work van at a construction site at Salisbury High School. Vermette says that 8 minutes will dry out his shirt enough to feel comfortable, however 5 minutes back at work painting for Carolina Coating and Drywall company, his shirt will most likely be wet again. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Buy a print

Jon Planovsky trims some rose bushes along South Fulton Street on monday afternoon. A wide brim hat and gallons of water are required for working extended periods of time outdoors. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Buy a print

By Mark Wineka

mwineka@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Step outside from your air-conditioned house, office or vehicle, and it feels as though God opened up the door to his Easy Bake Oven.

“It doesn’t get any hotter than this,” said Mark Vincent of SignArt in Charlotte. “That’s why we’re doing as much as we can in the shade.”

Vincent and Cory Tudor were relying on water and Monster drinks Monday as they changed out Wachovia signs for Wells Fargo replacements on the bank at South Main and Fisher streets.

They’ll continue their work today in the back of the building, without the benefit of shade trees they had Monday in front.

“You can get a close-up of the sweat pouring off my head,” Vincent promised.

As temperatures climb toward the 100-degree mark today, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Rowan County from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

What that means, basically, is that it’s so hot you have to be careful doing any outside activities and it will seem even hotter than it is. The “heat index values” will be from 105 to 109 degrees, according to the meteorologists.

Wednesday looks to be another hot one, but Rowan County will catch a break later this week when the thermometer is expected to read at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler Thursday and Friday, with chances of rain mixed in.

The strategy — as usual for days such as this — is to drink plenty of fluids, stay in the air-conditioning or shade and keep out of the sun.

If you can.

Sometimes that’s not easy when you’re trying to make a living and doing work that requires you to be outside.

All across Salisbury Monday, when the temperatures reached toward the mid 90s, people still braved a punishing heat and humidity that made their shirts heavy with perspiration.

Pierre Vermette, a painter for Carolina Coatings and Drywall of Gastonia, has devised a way to dry out his shirt. He hangs it across the front of his work van, parked under the blistering sun.

He said it dries out in about 8 minutes, but he chastised himself Monday for not bringing extra shirts — a mistake he won’t make today.

“It’s a lot hotter today than it has been,” Vermette said. “... And it’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow.”

Vermette’s advice for dealing with the heat is to drink.