WEB EXTRA: Coping with the heat

PHILADELPHIA - June 7, 2008 The Logan Square fountain was a great place to be today, if you were able to splash around in the water.

If you were taking formal wedding portraits, however, it was more than a little warm.

"Wearing wool is not a good option when it's 96 degrees out," groom Matt Schwarz said.

Matt's bride was inside the Four Seasons hotel staying cool, while her bridesmaids were grateful she'd chosen short, strapless dresses for them.

Also thankful were senior citizens who took advantage of extra hours inside the air-conditioned Senior Center on South Broad Street.

The Senior Center will be open tomorrow as well.

The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging's Heat Line is also open, until midnight both tonight and tomorrow.

They're ready to answer questions about how to keep cool and can even send out emergency crews to help people who may be experiencing heat exhaustion, or heatstroke. Those problems could be particularly severe since people have had little time to get used to these high temperatures.

"May was a very mild May, it was actually cool and damp, so this is really dangerous; not only the intensity of the weather, but also that it's the first of the season," Chris Gallagher, the PCA Helpline director, said.

The heat didn't keep the crowds off South Street, but it seems the most popular accessory was a cold drink. Water ice sales were brisk.

This heat wave is going to be with us for a couple more days.

To see tips on heat tips, resources, and signs and solutions to heat illness click the links to the right.

Click the AccuWeather link on the right to see the latest forecast.

Philadelphia Corporation for Aging's Heat Line is 215-765-9040. The line will be staffed from 8:30 a.m. until midnight.