The heat wave hovering over the Golden Triangle may not let up for a while.
Rain is forecast for the weekend, but it may only chip a few degrees off temperatures on sunny days thereafter.
And so the dog days have already set in, even though the summer solstice came and went just this past Sunday. The effects are visible all about town, and will be again when city and county electric bills make their rounds.
Fewer people than usual were walking the streets Monday afternoon, when the high reached 97 degrees.
“This is a good bit above normal for mid- to late June,” said Chad Entremont, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson. Temperatures in the lower 90s would be closer to average, he said.
At the Lowe”s Home Improvement store on Woodmont Drive in Columbus, Cecil Meeks, manager of the Inside Lawn and Garden department, said air conditioners, especially the smallest window units, are “flying out of here.”
Around this time of year, air conditioners and garden hoses are “your bread and butter,” he said.
And Donny Wooten, owner of D”s All Weather Heating & Cooling of Columbus, said the number of people calling about air-conditioner repairs was racking up, but not everyone wants the service.
“A lot of people just ain”t got the money, you know?” he said. “We got a lot of people calling in for quotes.”
But Dean and Marsha Barber were doing just fine, standing under a pine tree by David Lavender Coliseum on Highway 69 in Columbus, selling peaches, tomatoes and watermelons.
Good thing the couple from Ethelsville, Ala., had plenty of shade under which to stand, and there was a breeze. And anyway, Marsha Barber, originally of Dothan, Ala., said, “I”m used to it. I”m from the South.”
The couple had decided to sell the produce, which they”d obtained in Birmingham through other people — the peaches had come from Chilton County, and the tomatoes and watermelons from Dothan — after their motor home”s engine gave out and they needed to come up with money to pay for its repair.
At the same time, having sold produce for nine years under the same tree between 1999 and 2006, Marsha Barber said she loves selling it and pleasing people. And, she said, “You meet a lot of nice people, you know?”
They have been out under the tree every day except Father”s Day from about 8:30 to 5:30 for the last few weeks, and they will continue to be there for the next several months.
On Saturday night, 61-year-old Gayle Nash Moeur was found dead in a room at the Choice Inn in Dothan, Ala., and Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd declared heat stroke to have been the cause of death. When the woman was found, the air conditioner in her room was off, Byrd said. Temperatures in the area had been fluctuating in the 90s.
Jan Ballard, executive director of United Way of Lowndes County, encourages people suffering from the early heat to call Helping Hands, at 328-8301, to find out if they”re eligible to pick up one of the new fans available as a result of the ongoing fan drive.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
