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Heat wave means some who shelter will swelter

Butterfly beach heat
John Palminteri
Butterfly beach will be one places to get relief from the heat wave this week. (Photo: John Palminteri)

MONTECITO, Calif. - The "Stay Well at Home" order during the coronavirus crisis was announced when temperatures were cool and rain was in the forecast. Now there's a heat wave.

Sheltering in foul weather is easy. When it's sunny, staying home all day is often frustrating and in some cases miserable.

Exercise is allowed, but in 85 degree weather, that too could be too much.

The COVID-19 regulations have forced air conditioned movie theaters and city libraries, often places to escape hot weather, to lock their doors.

Many properties on the Central Coast do not have air conditioning, which means a box fan may be spinning for most of the next week. If you have one.

At Butterfly beach, Rob McGee said he lives nearby in a location that's not going to get a direct hit from the sun.    "The front units on our building are south facing so they're very hot.   Then the ones on the back, are north facing and very cool. Luckily I am in the back."
A Rincon Point resident Rose Hodge said,  "where I am at, I don't really need air conditioning. I have good circulation and it's it's great."
Because of the new restrictions, some people looking for a cooler place, for example the beach, is closed off now  (at East Beach) and the parking ends up in neighborhoods and side streets.   That's  creating some new challenge.

In some areas cars are blocks from the beach and  more foot traffic has occurred creating new impacts.

With the heat wave we were told comes the good and the bad.

"You get more people coming out for the exposure, but everyone needs the exercise and stress relief,"  Keith McKeown Beach visitor.   "The sun kills the virus."

Both being cooped up under the current rules and having a sauna condition can create a new kind of stress you may have to deal with in the coming days.

To manage the heat, Rob McGee said he will  "do things that make you stay calm. Like music and games and talk to people on the phone."

One man says getting out is his relief and he makes sure he communicating the need for spacing.

"I have learned to say it two languages  One is English.  Stay away.  In Spanish, it's  Mantén tu distancia Por favor,"  said Peter Link.

Article Topic Follows: Weather News

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John Palminteri

John Palminteri is senior reporter for KEYT News Channel 3-12. To learn more about John, click here.

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