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« Second lawsuit filed in deadly scaffolding collapse | Main Wednesday, August 2, 2006How hot is it?By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent It’s so hot in New England today that trains have been slowed out of fear that the steels rails may warp. It’s so hot crews are looking for sagging power lines, which can stretch and droop at high temperatures and hang too close to trees. It’s so hot that Kiki and the six other gorillas at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston are slurping frozen fruit juice, while the four ostriches in the African Serengeti exhibit frolic in a spray of water from a garden hose. “They are happy as clams,” said zoo spokeswoman Melissa Grossenbacher. It’s so hot, in fact, people aren’t eating ice cream. “When it’s this hot, (business) drops off because no one goes outside,” said Chris Richardson, whose family runs Richardson's Ice Cream in Middleton. “The best time for ice cream is in the 80s. When it’s this hot, people stay home.” Even the 400 cows in at the Richardson dairy farm that make the shop’s 78 flavors of ice cream have had enough, with milk production slowing to a crawl. Forecasters are predicting a high of 101 degrees in Boston today, just one degree shy of the Aug. 2 record, set in 1975. The heat index – a combination of heat and humidity – could hit 115 degrees. It’s so hot that Suffolk Downs cancelled horse racing, and the Boston Public schools made summer school classes “optional.” It’s so hot the T in Boston has imposed a 40 miles per hour speed restriction on all subway lines, with a heat kink on the Red Line forcing a 10 mile per hour speed limit between Charles/MGH and Kendall. It’s so hot the City of Boston blasted 150,000 households with an automated phone message that said: “Mayor Menino has declared a heat emergency … remember to stay out of the heat, drink plenty of water, and check on your elderly neighbors.” It’s so hot that Fenway Park has set up misting machines at tonight’s game against Cleveland Indians to keep fans cool. Over 100 spectators received medical attention at Tuesday’s game for heat-related issues. The New England Patriots pushed back their first practice at training camp this afternoon because of the heat and shut down the interactive Patriots Experience theme park for fans. It’s so hot that the state Department of Correction has set up fans at the end of housing tiers at its intake center at MCI Concord to keep air flowing among the 1,300 inmates and cancelled all outside activities, said spokeswoman Diane Wiffin. It’s so hot that power officials have predicted that New England will break its all-time record for power usage set on Tuesday, when it sucked 27,401 megawatts. ISO New England spokesman Ken McDonnell predicted that the six states combined may almost hit 28,500 megawatts mark by the time the heat breaks. How hot it is? “I already lost five pounds today” said Billy Anderson, 24, of Brookline Ice & Coal as he lugged 20 bags each stuffed with 35 pounds of ice into a restaurant in South Station. “No wind. Higher humidity,” Anderson said. “It’s really hot.” Where’s it cool? Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. At 2:30 p.m., the weather observatory on top of the highest point in New England measured 62.5 degrees, chilled by a crisp 53-mile-an-hour breeze. Mac Daniel of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 02:34 PM
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