Baltimore can be cool. Just not right now. | STAFF COMMENTARY

How to deal with miserable heat and humidity when it's clearly arrived far too early in the summer.

Hot enough for you?

Sorry, but it had to be said. Baltimore and summer have long had an uneasy relationship. There are scientific reasons for this beginning with the city’s status as an urban heat island with its abundant concrete, asphalt, steel and brick absorbing sunlight and releasing heat. Maryland’s higher atmospheric humidity (a product of its Atlantic coastal location) doesn’t help either. Escaping Baltimore’s sauna-like conditions is a centuries old practice, by the way. Did you know that Mount Washington was once a place of summer homes where the relatively affluent could retreat in July and August? Or that prior to its rail terminal days, Port Covington had a public beach?

Climate change has raised the stakes on heatwaves. Yet it still seems patently unfair to push 100-degree thermometer readings before today’s official arrival of the solstice. Maryland’s first heat-related death of the year was reported more than two weeks ago by the state health department. That’s a month ahead of last year’s pace. Alas, merely indulging in traditional snowballs, no matter how icy and sweet, isn’t regarded a useful defense. Here are more useful summer survival tips:

• Stay hydrated by drinking water (about 3 quarts daily is recommended). Avoid sugary, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks. If you are sweating a lot, you may want to try sports drinks or even salty snacks to replace salt and minerals you lose in perspiration.

• Gather emergency supplies. Power outages pose a threat so it’s wise to have non-perishable food, water and medicine on hand.

• Keep cool. Do not rely exclusively on electric fans. Try to spend some time each day in an air-conditioned space whether a public library, senior center, shopping mall or designated cooling center if you don’t have AC at home. Check the Baltimore City Health Department website for a useful list of cooling centers open to the public. And a cool bath never hurts.

• Keep in touch with older, sick or frail neighbors. Look out for heat stroke symptoms of nausea, lightheadedness, confusion and clammy skin.

Finally, if it helps, always feel free to complain out loud. That’s a longtime Baltimore tradition, too. But let’s do so politely. The last thing this urban heat island needs is a lot of hot-headedness to add to our collective misery.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.