This Season: Iowa City, Cedar Rapids residents can beat the heat this summer

Nicole Beckley of Iowa City was a little hesitant to take her year-and-a-half-old daughter Adelia to a splash fountain for the first time because she is so young that she may be frightened.

But as her mother stood out in the sunny 88 degree weather, Adelia ran around splashing in puddles and even placing her head over the fountain to cool down.

'She dove right in, completely fearless,' Beckley said. 'She loved it.'

After their first trip to play in the fountain on Iowa City's Pedestrian Mall on Tuesday, Beckley said the pair will try to visit as many as splash pads as possible this summer.

But if temperatures ever get too hot for fun in the sun, Johnson County officials say there are plans in place to help citizens stay safe.

Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, said Eastern Iowa can expect the average temperature over June, July and August to be about a quarter of a degree higher, or 71.4 degrees. While this may not seem like much, it's significant because average temperatures over large periods of time don't see such as big jumps, he said.

If temperatures do turn out to be warmer than usual, Gottschalck said, this can increase the chances of flash droughts and heat stroke. Higher temperatures create the need to check more frequently on at-risk populations — the elderly, for example.

Dave Wilson, Johnson County's emergency management coordinator, said if the heat index and humidity do reach those high levels for several days, the county is set to work with churches and government buildings to stay open through evenings. However, help from the county that includes free fans or assistance with air conditioning and electric bills is much more common, he said.

Wilson said he hasn't seen the need to open many additional cooling centers in his nine years with Johnson County.

'In this day in age, you just don't see a lot of that any more,' Wilson said. 'They're generally used to hot Midwest summers.'

Both the Mercer Park Aquatic Center Gym and Robert A. Lee Recreation Center are open as free cooling spots for the public during the day, Iowa City Director of Parks and Recreation Juli Seydell Johnson said. The city runs an outdoor pool at City Park and three free splash pads at Wetherby, Fairmeadows and Tower Court Parks throughout the summer.

'I think our priority, first of all, is summer fun,' Seydell Johnson said. 'As the heat goes up, it's a really good, low-cost opportunity for people.'

Angie Cole, Cedar Rapids Parks and Rec recreation superintendent, noted the city runs two aquatic centers — Noelridge and Cherry Hill — three outdoor pools and an indoor pool. It also has 10 splash pads in various parks around the city.

Cedar Rapids is in the process of building a recreation center, next to Harrison Elementary School, which will be completed in August. She said the city is just now looking at hours and developing programming for the rec center, but she said the possibility of it ever being a cooling center would depend on the heat index and staffing on a given day.

'Right now I would definitely say that pools are the best option. They're very reasonably priced,' Cole said. 'That's usually the best place to get cooled off in the summer,' noting the cost is $5 or less, depending on the day and time.

She added that Cherry Hill's Longest Day of Swim on June 21 — the longest day of the year — will stay open until 10 p.m.