Newsflash: It's hot

Kudos to my pal and former Poughkeepsie Journal colleague Sean T. McMann for writing his usually witty column in Saturday's edition of Dutchess County's Finest Daily Newspaper. Check the link to the column here ...

Although Sean was going for yucks as usual as he poked fun at Al Roker, weathermen in general and weather geeks like me, his point is a valid one: Since when did pretty much ordinarily extreme weather become BIG NEWS?

As in ... this week, it's going to be hot. Really hot.

OK. Let's see. Let me check. Yup. We're in the third week of July. HELLO? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT!!! It's not like we live in Barrow, Alaska, for heaven sake. It gets hot, really hot, here in the mid-Hudson Valley.

OK. Want a little history? Here's some: 16 years ago, on July 14, 1995, and then on July 15, 1995, it was really, really, really hot in Poughkeepsie. How hot? On July 14, it was 101 degrees at about 5 p.m., in the Marist Chapel. The next day, the temperature peaked at 106 degrees.

How do I know this? July 14, 1995, is the day Heidi and I got married. In the Marist Chapel. With the air conditioning turned OFF, because my soft-talking brother was not loud enough during the first reading (someone turned the AC off, and failed to turn it back on!). When Father Brinn instructed me to "kiss the bride" he may as well have said "kiss the wet sponge." Ah, memories.

On July 15, we had an informal BBQ in the backyard of the house Heidi grew up in. Yes. It was 106 degrees and hydration was key.

Later this week, specifically Thursday and Friday, it will get dangerously hot. Scary hot. Be careful running out there. Cut back as needed. Avoid the heat of the day. Hydrate. You know. The usual. It is serious. Heat-related stuff with long-distance running is serious. I take it seriously.

And the Midwest's heat wave is truly nasty and not to be taken lightly.

But temperatures in the 90s in Poughkeepsie in July? Hardly earth-shattering news.

Run. Rehydrate. Run Some More!