Whether it’s eating ice cream, taking in a movie, or even downing spiked slushies, people are going all out to stay cool in the midst of this heat wave.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning from noon today to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Heat index values are expected to be 101 to 106 this afternoon, and 105 to 110 on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

Temperatures will reach in the lower and middle 90s this afternoon, and in the middle and upper 90s on Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Overnight lows will range mainly in the middle and upper 70s.

The most dangerous of the heat and humidity will occur from mid afternoon into the early evening each day.

Businesses see influx in customers

As the temperatures and humidity continued to climb Friday afternoon, business continued to rise at the Rita’s in Lehighton, which was just fine with owner Gladys Evans.

“There’s definitely increased business,” Evans said. “This is what we wait for.”

Evans said customers look forward to being refreshed.

“People are looking for the refreshing, citrus flavors, selling a lot of frozen lemonades,” she said. “Sometimes the weather can get too hot, but this heat definitely helps our business.”

Beer distributors also represent another avenue for people to chill, something Liz Herring, manager of Mason’s Cold Beer in Jim Thorpe witnessed firsthand.

“We have been flying through the spiked slushies today; we’ve had single orders of like 20 slushies at once, it’s been crazy,” Herring said. “We’ve also been flying through bags of ice, we literally can’t keep them in stock.”

Herring said the spiked slushies aren’t the only products flying off her shelves.

“It’s the slushies, 30-packs of beer, ice,” she said. “We put signs up on the register that say ‘don’t forget your ice’.”

Herring said the soupy weather is good for her business.

“The weekend is turning out exactly as we anticipated,” she said. “We’re open all weekend for those people who need to cool off.”

Movie theaters can also prove to be another popular destination during the steamy heat, a fact attested to by Bruce Copio, general manager of the Mahoning Valley Cinema.

Copio said the excessive heat just so happened to coincide with the opening of the “Lion King” at the Mahoning Valley Cinema at the Carbon Plaza Mall in Lehighton.

“I would imagine a lot of people would want to get out of the heat,” said Bruce Copio, general manager. “They want to get out of the heat if they don’t have air-conditioning; that’s a nice way to do it.”

Staying cool

For those who choose to stay indoors, air conditioners, or at the very least, fans are an absolute must.

While some may be leaning more toward air conditioners, more customers were purchasing fans, according to Debby Shea, an employee of Shea’s Hardware Inc., in Palmerton.

”We have some large fans, like 24-and 36-inch, we’ve been going through those,” Shea said. “I would imagine the smaller ones are going as well.”

“Some folks have come by and grabbed some bottles of water or take a couple dozen to take to either the local men and ladies in blue, postmen, etc.” said Luby. “We’re just happy to be here and give back to the community that gives so much to us.”

Anne Horrigan, senior center services director with the Carbon County Area Agency on Aging, warned against the dangers of oppressive heat.

Horrigan noted that the county’s senior centers have discussions “almost daily on wearing loose fitting clothing, drinking lots of liquids.”

“Don’t be afraid to turn your air conditioners on in your home, because now is the time to use it,” she said. “Make sure that you’re actually getting fresh air circulating.”

Horrigan said it’s OK to go outside the house, so long as it’s in a cool atmosphere.

“We always tell people go out to a store, movie, public building where the air conditioning is always on,” she said. “It can really cool you down fast.”

Horrigan said it’s important to stay in contact with others.

“We also tell people to check in on their neighbors,” she said. “Especially the elderly that may be more vulnerable.”

Some organizations, such as the Tamaqua Salvation Army, were busy doing their part to keep the community cool.

A cooling station will be set up this weekend inside the venue on Broad Street for the public to stay as long as need be during business hours. The station is set up in the chapel of the Salvation Army.

“We saw that the heat index was going to be ridiculously high today and tomorrow,” said Captain John Luby, who set up the cooling station. “In any event, when the heat index is over 100, we’ll be open. As you can see we’ve got over 200 bottles of water, electrolytes, freeze pops, board games and whatever for folks to occupy themselves with and cool off. We hope to serve whoever needs to stay cool.”

Luby said the thermometer is set as low as it can go at 65 degrees inside. The Salvation Army is located at 105 W. Broad St. in Tamaqua.

Justin Carlucci contributed to this report.