5 survival tips on how to cool off during Montreal’s heat waves
Like most of us, the heatwaves that Montreal can experience can sometimes feel like we are in the middle of a rain forest. It always feels as if Montreal either get the two extremes of weather from -40 weather to immense humidity and heat. To add on to an already overly eventful year, Montreal actually had a record-breaking stat for having the most 30 degrees+ weather in a row. The humidity in Montreal can reach some really high levels to the point of feeling like there is no air to breathe. Fortunately for some, air conditioning will do the trick but for the rest of us wondering if wed prefer the 30cm of snow over the heat have to resort to alternatives, and that’s where we come in to help you. We came up with 5 different ways for you to cool off during the heatwaves and that goes double for all you folks with no air conditioning!
1. The first and probably one of the most obvious tips on our list is to actively try and avoid the sun at its peak times (11 am-2 pm) if possible. Obviously this is not achievable at times but it still serves as a good reminder to just generally limit your exposure to the sun to help you cool down. If you’re planning on going out, stick to the shade, or another useful tip is to buy a UV protection umbrella if you’re anticipating that you will spend more time out in the sun. You can also dip in and out of stores to catch some of their A/C but remember to bring your mask! Small efforts like this can help you stay cool throughout the day!
Find an umbrella at: https://www.amazon.ca/UUmbrella-Unbreakable-Windproof-Ultraslim-Umbrellas/dp/B07YJD2QLW/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=uv+umbrella&qid=1595365696&sr=8-10
2. Another one where we have to be occasionally reminded is that hydration is key throughout the entire day. As a general rule of thumb, you should always drink a lot of water but that’s especially true while facing the heatwaves. The sweat alone will dehydrate you to the point of having no energy and drinking constantly throughout the day is a sure-fire way to help keep your body cool and hydrated. Make sure if you are going out to always have a water bottle handy. And if you’re at home, might as well add some lemon and ice to up your game a little and enjoy your cool down session!
3. Ever hear that eating spicy foods while it’s hot out that it actually helps you cool off? If you’re like me, I was skeptical at first until I actually tried it for myself, and to my amazement, it actually worked. It would seem that the old saying of “fighting fire with fire” is actually an effective method to help cool you down. Thee science behind goes as follows “Sweat is your body’s natural response to heat. Collectively, all those little droplets are just energy, or heat, leaving your body. In a nice, dry climate, that excess energy evaporates off your skin and leaves you a little bit cooler”. Luckily in Montreal, we have a plethora of restaurants that offer up some of the best spicy foods at the touch of our fingers so let’s take advantage of that and also support our local businesses at the same time!
Source:https://www.wired.com/2016/10/can-spicy-foods-really-cool/
4. This tip is definitely the tastiest way to stay cool on our list. Another classic method to staying cool is to enjoy some frozen treats. This can range from popsicles, icecreams, frozen fruit smoothies, or finding your nearest Dairy Queen or Dipperie for example! Whatever your preferred method is, these treats will help tide you over to weather the storm and also making the inner kid in you extremely happy.
5. This last tip actually comes from my buddy who currently lives in Japan and his way of dealing with the extremely hot Japanese summers is to invest in cooling pillowcases and sheets. Sleeping in your sweat is something nobody wants to endure and to be completely honest, I was blown away by his favorite method of staying cool because I had no idea this existed but alas modern times calls for modern solutions. He also does not own air conditioning and the summers in Japan are notoriously brutal so I trust him as it has been a couple of years that he has sworn by it!
There you have it, our top 5 favourite ways of staying cool during the Montreal heat! While there are of course multiple ways of fighting off the heat we thought wed add some small interesting alternatives that can be easily attainable and that can genuinely help you cool off and survive to tell the tale!
Photo by Sergei Akulich on Unsplash
Photo by Deryn Macey on Unsplash
