Friday's 101 degrees set an all-time record for July 22, according to the weather station at the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee. Watch video
SPRINGFIELD -- So, how hot was it Friday in the Pioneer Valley?
Hot enough to set an all-time record for July 22.
By 4 p.m., the mercury had risen to 101 degrees, shattering the previous 100-degree record for that date on July 22, 1991, according to the Chicopee-based Westover Air Reserve Base weather station, which has been monitoring the region's weather conditions since 1940.
The magic number to beat is still 102 degrees, which remains the hottest temperature ever recorded in the region.
"That's still the record" said Lt. Col. James G. Bishop, Westover's public affairs chief.
That all-time high was reached way back on June 26, 1952, when Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds were "Singin' in the Rain" and Rocky Marciano was the most feared prize fighter in the land.
ISO New England, the company that oversees the power grid for the six-state region, reported near-record usage rates Friday, which marked the second-highest power consumption ever recorded in the region.
"It doesn't look like we'll break a record today, although we're close," ISO New England spokeswoman Ellen Foley said late Friday afternoon.
For Saturday, if power usage and temperatures remain high -- the mercury is expected to hit at least the mid-90s -- "we're anticipating breaking a weekend record, but not an all-time record," Foley said.
By around 4 p.m. Friday, ISO New England reported a usage rate of 27,780 megawatts, which is 350 megawatts shy of the all-time high of 28,130 megawatts reached on Aug. 2, 2006. A single megawatt serves about 1,000 homes.
Foley said the power grid took pro-active steps to avoid setting records Friday, including asking mostly larger industrial customers to reduce usage. Those customers -- known as "demand response" customers -- actually get paid to reduce consumption during peak usage periods.
"They are required to reduce (usage) when we call them," she said.
Over all, Foley said, the grid managed to avoid setting any records by reducing around 600 megawatts of usage. "We took some steps to help balance supply and demand," she said.
ISO New England also dipped into its operating reserve, which helped reduce overall power consumption during the height of the heatwave.
On that note, the mercury is expected to nosedive into the mid-80s by Sunday morning, which is a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than regional temperatures over the past few days.
The extreme heat has affected everything from local schools and fire departments to sporting events.
On Saturday, the 85th Annual Republican Sandlot Tournament made adjustments to its schedule because of the extreme temperatures. Games in the 8- to 10-year-old division originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday have been moved to 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The Saturday morning and noon games will be played as scheduled.
Municipalities throughout the region have asked residents to be mindful of finite resources while the heat persists.
In Northampton, the weather prompted Department of Public Works officials to restrict the use of city water, especially when it comes to non-essential outdoor uses such as lawn sprinklers.
During the heatwave, automatic lawn sprinklers may only be used one day a week and city residents are barred from washing cars, driveways and building exteriors until temperatures normalize, which, for this time of year, typically means temperature highs in the mid-80s.
Northampton officials will notify city residents when the water restriction is lifted.
While many area communities have opened cooling centers as respites from the sweltering temperatures outside, some institutions are beating the heat by simply shutting down. Case in point: Springfield Technical Community College closed its facility on Thursday and Friday in order to reduce its electricity consumption.
The town of Hampden's senior center on Allen Street doubled as a cooling center on Thursday and Friday, while the Holyoke Board of Health transformed the War Memorial at 310 Appleton St. into a cooling center Friday and will again reopen the facility as a refuge from the heat on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.
Some area fire departments, including Springfield, got a break on the hottest day of the year, while others battled flames and blistering temperatures that conspired to make Friday one of the toughest firefighting days of the year.
In Palmer, firefighters quickly extinguished a dryer fire in the basement of a duplex that was reported just before 9 a.m. in the Three Rivers section of town. The resident was not home at the time of the fire, which prompted Three Rivers Fire Chief Patrick J. O'Connor to order his men "to dress down" -- including removing their heavy coats -- to avoid succumbing to the extreme heat.
Clothes ignited inside the dryer, which, according to O'Connor, must have been left running after the resident left home. The dryer was a total loss, the chief said.
In Springfield, a teenager trying to beat the heat was injured around 2:45 p.m. Friday when he hit his head while attempting to jump into a shallow kiddie pool at his Liberty Street home, according to Springfield Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet.
The boy "was seriously injured," said Fitchet, who had no additional information about the incident in the lower Liberty Heights neighborhood.
In terms of any violent crime in Springfield, which has been plagued this month with shootings, stabbings and several homicides, Friday's extreme heat had not resulted in any significant incidents as of 4 p.m., Fitchet said.
"I'm knocking on wood it will stay that way," the commissioner added.
Friday's 101-degree high at Westover may have set the single-day heat record for July 22. But according to Bishop, the Westover spokesman, the region has reached that temperature at least four other times: on July 3, 1966; July 21, 1991; July 22, 1991; and July 6, 2010.
For July 22, though, Friday's high remains champion.
"This breaks the daily record, this is No. 1," Bishop said.