BOWLING GREEN — Tuesday was supposed to be the last day of summer for schoolchildren in Wood County’s seat.
But with temperatures in the 90s and projections of a heat index exceeding 100 degrees throughout the week, Bowling Green school administrators announced Monday their decision to push back the academic year’s start from Wednesday to next Monday out of concern for dangerous weather conditions.
Extended summer? Kids rejoice.
“After looking at every possible weather forecast for the beginning of the school year, it looks like Mother Nature is not on our side,” Francis Scruci, Bowling Green’s superintendent of schools, wrote in an email to parents. “...Classrooms that we monitored today were in the mid 90s with no students or staff in the buildings. Our goal is to get students back in the building but with these extreme temperatures it would be counter-productive.”
As temperatures hit the high 80s outdoors with high humidity, dozens of parents and children beat the heat Tuesday at Bowling Green City Pool and Waterpark during the public pool’s last open weekday of the season. For the rest of the week until the weekend, however, they’ll have to find another way to cool off, even with school off.
“I saw the heat index and thought they’ll probably end up canceling school for the rest of the week,” said Jonathan Boyd, 36, of Bowling Green. “And sure enough, we got an email later that day saying they would close because of the heat index.”
Jay Berschback, chief meteorologist with WTVG-TV, Channel 13, said the heat and humidity are likely to stick around through the weekend and even into Monday, although by then the end should be close.
The remnants of Hurricane Henri meandering around in New England and a high-pressure pattern over the Midwest have locked the Toledo area into a hot-weather pattern with southwesterly winds reinforcing it, Mr. Berschback said.
“We may get a few waves of rain, but no fronts or storm systems to cool us down,” he said.
The Boyds are no strangers to fun at the waterpark. Mr. Boyd’s son, eight-year-old Maddox, let out a massive shriek as he catapulted off the high dive. Not too far away, his sister, 10-year-old Harlow Boyd, took some time away from swimming to talk about her joy about having an extended summer.
“We were here yesterday too,” an incoming fifth grader at Conneaut Elementary School said excitedly.
Down in the shallow end, 25-year-old Olivia McGowan splashed around with her young kids Izaah, 2, and Nyla, 4 who were all about the pool on a hot day.
“The last couple of days have been excruciatingly hot, so we wanted to come today on my off day, and cool off,” Ms. McGowan said. “We normally go outside and do some chalk, or something active. But my kids are waterbugs, we like it here.”
Nearby, Barb Carr said she took a vacation day in order to enjoy the last weekday of the pool. She brought her 5-year-old grandson Sebastian along and watched as he swam around.
“Whenever he visits, he likes to come to the pool,” Ms. Carr said.
Isabella Zachary, the pool’s assistant manager, said staff had to turn folks away last weekend as the pool kept hitting capacity of 500 people, a maximum that sometimes has to be cut because of staff shortages.
“It’s been super, super busy,” she said. “Our lifeguards are so overwhelmed.”
The pool re-opens Saturday and Sunday, then will be open again all three days of Labor Day weekend to close the season.
Daily high temperatures in the low 90s, with heat-index readings above 100, are likely during the weekend, and Monday morning will be just as sticky as the mornings before it, Mr. Berschback said, but cooler, drier air should work its way into the region late that day.
“By Monday night, we should start to feel relief from the heat,” he said.
First Published August 24, 2021, 10:36 p.m.
