Southwest Georgia residents keeping their cool

Temperatures of over 100 degrees were the norm in much of southwest Georgia Wednesday.
But southwest GA residents kept their cool, despite a heat-index tipping the scales at 115 degrees:

• Fire and EMS services in Albany told GPB News they had no fire or rescue calls in the last 24-hours.
• Elsewhere, Sumter County schools moved some student activities inside, and others to earlier in the day to beat the midday heat.
• An army spokesperson at Ft. Benning told GPB that, despite the hot weather, there were no changes in maneuvers, and there were no heat-related medical treatments required. Soldiers were instructed to keep hydrated.

The scorching weather is expected to cool in coming days.

Albany tops state sweat level

Sunset in a hazy sky over Albany's Lake Loretta.
(Photo: Dave Bender)

Albany topped the state's record-breaking heat wave Tuesday. The whopping 110-degree temperature index broiled the city like an electric blanket.

One billboard thermometer in town registered 96 degrees -- and that was at seven thirty in the evening.

Skies were hazy, and humidity hovered around 40-percent throughout most of the day.

Albany resident and jogger Andrew Peterson has his own prescription for beating the heat:

“I drink a lot of water. I stayed inside all day and came out around seven o'clock, when the sun kinda' went down, and it got a little cooler – it's still a little warm outside.”

“Did you know that it was up to 110 here with the heat index?”

“No sir, I did not know that. If I'd have know that I'd probably wouldn't have been outside.”

More sweltering weather is expected through the week.

More GPB coverage of the statewide heatwave is here, here and here.
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Hot and humid hangs over Georgia

Forecasters say the hot and humid conditions are expected to hang over the state for the next few days. In many cities, the temperatures on Monday reached 100 degrees or near it. Some readings included highs of 102 in Albany, 101 in Augusta, and 100 in Athens. Atlanta reached 98 to go along with another smog alert warning. Macon residents experienced 99 degrees.

The heat index combines temperatures and humidity--those readings showed 114 in parts of southeast Georgia, and 107 at the Savannah airport.