Slip 'N Slides and bikini lines ushered in unofficial summertime this weekend.
A Memorial Day heat wave swept across the state, raising temperatures 15-20 degrees above seasonal averages, according to the Detroit office of the National Weather Service. Monday's high temperature reached 91 degrees in Grand Rapids and a record-tying 92 degrees in Detroit, according to the service.
Temperatures were even higher in some cities in the Upper Peninsula, such as in Marquette where temperatures reached 93 degrees. In Lansing, temperatures have been in the 80s since Saturday and peaked on Monday at 90 degrees, Detroit weather center meteorologist David Gurney said.
"It's fairly uncommon for this season, but not unheard of," he said.
Gurney said the heat was caused by an upper-level high-pressure system — or a large, warm bubble of air — that brought to the area temperatures more typically seen in Oklahoma or Kansas.
The high temperatures were the cause of several injuries during weekend festivities.
Near Detroit, 27 people passed out and eight were taken to hospitals after Roseville's morning Memorial Day parade.
East Lansing did not have any heat related injuries over the weekend, according to East Lansing Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Kimble.
On Tuesday, the temperature was a cooler high of 86 degrees, according to the Grand Rapids office of the National Weather Service, but some residents were still seeking relief from the heat.
Up to his knees in a pink, orange and green kiddie pool in front of his house on Grove Street, graphic design senior Mike Ciranna said two of his roommates bought the pool the day before.
"We couldn't take it anymore," Ciranna said of the heat.
Sharing cantaloupe and lounging on a blanket near the fountain behind Student Services, accounting graduate student Cass Hausserman and statistics senior Karl Rohe said they dealt with the weekend heat by skinny dipping in Lake Lansing.
"It was in lieu of a bonfire — it was just too hot," Hausserman said.
Dealing with the high temperatures has led to uncomfortable encounters with her roommates, Hausserman said.
"I took a nap on my floor yesterday and was almost naked," she said. "One of my housemates came in, and it freaked him out."
In the Plant Science Greenhouses on Farm Lane and Wilson Road, greenhouse coordinator Mike Smalligan said temperatures inside are probably 20 degrees hotter than outdoors.
"I prefer the winter when it's much more pleasant," he said of working in the greenhouse. "But you acclimate and try to do things to avoid the hottest places."
Economics senior Sergei Grunt said he's not bothered by the high temperatures.
"I don't mind hot weather; 80 (degrees) is barely hot enough to go swimming," Grunt said while eating ice cream Tuesday at Melting Moments, 313 E. Grand River Ave., with communication senior Meghan Schwarb and Spanish senior Casey Smith.
The Weather Channel has forecasted temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s for the rest of the week.
Smith had scrapes and bruises from a Slip 'N Slide that was at a barbecue she attended over the weekend. Smith said she likes the heat and doesn't mind the bruises.
"I kind of enjoy it, because you have to bring out the Slip 'N Slides and kiddie pools, and you can be 5 years old again," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
