Gilroy
– Customers laden with shamelessly large sugar-water concoctions
swung through the doors of 7-Eleven Wednesday, as residents began
their seasonal rituals to beat the heat.
”
It’s my first one of the year,
”
said Bert, who stole a few minutes from work to pick up a
cola-flavored Slurpee.
Gilroy – Customers laden with shamelessly large sugar-water concoctions swung through the doors of 7-Eleven Wednesday, as residents began their seasonal rituals to beat the heat.
“It’s my first one of the year,” said Bert, who stole a few minutes from work to pick up a cola-flavored Slurpee.
At 3pm, the 10th Street store had just finished with one of several waves of customers throughout the day, according to manager Rittu Gupta. She expected another rush in half an hour of Gilroy High School students. The store normally gets between 900 and 1,000 customers per day this time of year, but Gupta on Wednesday expected 1,200.
What was drawing the crowd?
“Slurpee, Slurpee, Slurpee,” Gupta said.
She couldn’t say how many the store had sold, but she had her own barometer for the weather-driven surge in business.
“I know that I’ve cleaned up my floor by the (Slurpee) machine eight times in the last half hour,” Gupta said. “Finally, the summer’s here.”
Gilroy and the surrounding area experienced an extended wet season this year, but a stretch of hot days appear to signal the onset of summer.
While the city is far from its May record of 106 degrees, temperatures in Gilroy have hovered in the 80s since reaching 92 on Tuesday, according to Diana Henderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The low on Wednesday was 54 degrees and the high was 84 degrees.
“I think we’re into that summer-time pattern now,” Henderson said. “We’re not anticipating any change in the weather pattern anytime soon.”
Her forecast for today included low clouds and coastal fog in the morning, followed by clear skies and sun. Gilroy could expect 80-degree days through the rest of the week, she said, before temperatures dip into the 70s during the weekend. She expected them to return to the 80s by next week.
Plenty of road and construction workers toiled in the heat Wednesday, although they said the heat is far from the worst conditions, according to Antone Cernokus. He and 10 other workers with Granite Construction Company are laying road foundation as part of widening project along Santa Teresa Boulevard.
Cernokus said many of his co-workers deal with far worse heat in their Central Valley homes. For his part, his home in Watsonville provides refuge during the hottest parts of the year.
Temperatures in Watsonville this week, for instance, have yet to break the 80-degree range.
“Watsonville gets a huge marine influence,” Henderson explained. “Between you and the air conditioning – the vast Pacific Ocean – there’s a line of hills that keeps the marine air out of the area. There are a few passes here or there like in Hollister that occasionally get that air, but generally you guys don’t.”
Despite Gilroy’s positioning for summer heat, Cernokus said “it’s not unbearable yet.”
“See this?” he asked, touching a newly installed street light on the corner of Welburn Avenue. “If you can touch the metal, you’re OK. If you can’t, it’s time to go home.”
