The heat index combines air temperature and relative humidity to describe not only how hot it is, but how bad it feels.
Even that measurement must have fallen short of capturing how 300 Salem residents felt when they lost power yesterday, just around the time the thermometer was reaching 102 degrees.
The outage, for people on Webb, Boardman and Essex streets, was caused by "a blown fuse off one of the main lines," according to National Grid spokeswoman Amy Zorich. The equipment failure was unrelated to the heat wave, she said.
But for anyone lucky enough to make their way to Salem Willows, there was palpable relief.
"Walking down on the dock, it's unbelievable, the temperature difference," said Camilla Gerome, general manager of Mahi Mahi Cruises at Salem Willows, which offered a "Beat the Heat Special" tour of Salem Harbor for $5. About 30 people turned up for each of the day's seven cruises, Gerome said.
Kevin Beckwith, who operates Salem Kayak at the Willows, also noticed that it was 10 degrees cooler on the water. He thought about closing early only when a sustained, 10 to 15 knot wind kicked up whitecaps on the water.
If that wind ruined things for kayakers, it saved the day for everyone else, according to Arthur Francis, a Salem meteorologist.
Francis, who made the measurement of 102 in a National Weather Service shed he maintains at Salem State University, said the "nice west wind coming through" made it feel much drier than it actually was, with a dew point of 72.
Francis has been making climate reports to the National Weather Service since 1977, which was also the first year he recorded a temperature of 102 in Salem.
Since then it has never gone higher, but the temperature was also reached in 1993 and 1995, Francis said.
Heading to the water was a popular option at Crane Beach in Ipswich, where EMT Anna Gagnon said the parking lot was about 60 percent full. Gagnon said she was urging people to stay hydrated.
Swimming was not an option at King's Beach in Swampscott, where warnings were posted against swimming due to unusually high bacterial counts. The Department of Conservation and Recreation was directing potential swimmers to other beaches in the area.
At Cherry Farm Creamery in Danvers, customers weren't outside on the picnic benches — they were sitting inside their air-conditioned cars eating ice cream cones with the windows up.
Avery Pecci, who was handling orders, said she had served more liquid refreshment than usual, including lime rickeys and frappes. Most of her customers would come later that night, she said, after the sun went down.
Others sought relief indoors. Paul Callanan of Tedford's True Value Hardware in Ipswich sold his last air conditioner on Thursday; yesterday he was selling lots of fans.
Public libraries and senior centers across the North Shore continued to offer extended hours so people could come in and cool down.
Catherine Tassinari, office manager at the Torigian Community Life Center in Peabody, said there was "a big increase during the day" in the number of visitors. Three people also came in Thursday night to seek refuge from the heat.
"That's very unusual; that's huge for us," Tassinari said.
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