It’s hot.
At Wright Quad, one of the few dorms without central air conditioning on campus, fans and AC window units whirred in nearly every window Tuesday afternoon.
Though freshman Carson Retter only had to walk to Woodburn Hall earlier that day for class, he said he still worked up a little back sweat.
“I’m a teenage male, we’re sweaty people,” Retter said.
However, the high temperatures aren’t here just to punish the sweaty among us. Temperatures are predicted to stay in the upper 80s and low 90s into Thursday.
We aren’t getting much northern air, and the southern winds are bringing in these high temperatures, said Andrew White, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. It’s going to stay warm through Thursday, but after that, it should be more seasonable.
These temperatures are above average for this time of year, White said. Typically, temperatures are in the lower 80s during the day and the upper 50s at night.
White said early next week, southern Indiana may get some of the remnants of tropical storm Gordon, which made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. This could mean heavy rainfall Sunday and into Monday.
Walking through campus when the temperatures reach 90 means swampy backs, foreheads shiny with sweat and plenty of water, iced coffee, Redbull -- whatever keeps you from melting on the way to class.
At Showalter Fountain early Tuesday afternoon, junior Jenny Cunningham was dipping her feet in the fountain and looking at her phone before she went to Herman B Wells Library to study.
“I’m kind of dying, so I thought I’d put my feet in,” Cunningham said.
Michelle Harry and her son’s niece, Haidyn Bradley, sat nearby. Bradley, 3, was kicking at the water in a blue dress. A pale green bow sat on top of her head.
Harry was dropping her son off at IU after Labor Day weekend and decided to spend the day with him. While her son was in class, she said she figured the fountain would be a good place to cool off.
Outside Noodles & Company, a dog named Lou Lou lapped at a red water bowl.
“She stinks,” one of her owners, Kate Wampler, said. “She sweats so much.”
Wampler and Reagan Plothow, both juniors, were planning to go to the gym, but they decided the walk to Noodles & Company was enough since it’s so hot out. Plus, Lou Lou needed a walk.
Around campus was evidence of attempts to stay cool. A half empty cup of blue gatorade sat abandoned on a tree stump outside Wright Quadrangle. An insect swum aimlessly in the bright blue liquid. An empty bottle of Dasani water lay discarded on the ground nearby.
At Jordan River behind the Frances Morgan Swain Student Building, an empty cup of Hartzell’s ice cream laid on its side. Two spoons stuck out of it and ants crawled around inside on the remnants of the sweet treat.
At Showalter Fountain later in the day, a group of five women walked up to the water and stretched their hands out, letting the wind spray them with a cool mist.
The group had just finished dinner at their sorority house, Kappa Alpha Theta, when sophomore Sarah Spivak suggested they walk to the fountain.
Spivak said she was trying to convince the others to get in the fountain. A few dipped their fingers in the water but walked away.
After a few minutes, Spivak hopped in the water up to her thighs.
Her friends cheered.
