“There’s a warm front coming through,” Hoepner said. “Whenever that happens, you get a flow of warm air from the warmer states down south.”

After staying at or below 81 degrees this past week, temperatures likely will be warmer each of the next six days, topping out at 88 degrees on Saturday.

Burgess said she hates the heat and has a history of sun and heat related conditions.

“I’m really sensitive to the sun and the heat,” she said. “I’ll get a heat rash, so I really hate it. It just makes me uncomfortable in every possible way.”

The symptoms Burgess experiences are not the only ones people have to concern themselves with.

Working in the emergency room at Sparrow Hospital, 1215 E. Michigan Ave., in Lansing, Dr. Karlis Austrins sees patients dealing with illnesses like heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Although a heat related illness might not seem serious at first, Austrins said it’s important to monitor the effect heat is having.

“The symptoms range from pretty mild to quite severe,” he said. “You could develop disorientation, dizziness, hyperventilation, dehydration, malaise, muscle cramping and general weakness.”

To prevent heat exhaustion, Austrins suggested students drink lots of water, use hats and umbrellas to keep the sun off and stay in cool places so their core temperature can stay at a healthy level.

Emily Bolthouse graduated from MSU this spring and still is living in her local apartment, which has been a difficult experience when there’s a surge in heat.

“There’s no air conditioning in my apartment now, so we just have a lot of fans,” Bolthouse said. “We just suffer through it, I guess.”
Although she said she doesn’t mind the heat in general, Bolthouse said it can lead her to change her plans.

“I’ll usually get up early to run instead of doing it during the day or go at night when it’s not so hot,” she said. “So it alters my routine but not too much.”

As students like Burgess dread the rise in heat expected for the next six days, Hoepner warned relief might not be on the horizon.

“I would expect (the heat) to continue for most of the summer,” he said. “Some fronts could go through that will lower it, but those will be few and far between during the summer.”