Parks are brown deserts: Here's what's feeling the heat in Hamilton
How the city is reacting to rising temperatures
This summer is having a serious effect on Hamilton's turf.
The ground is brown, and city parks are looking more like sandy deserts than welcoming destinations.
The hot and dry weather is having an effect on city department's, businesses and citizens. Some good, some bad; all hot.
Hamilton has felt more than 11 days hotter than 30 C since the start of June. With more in the forecast, it's shaping up to be the hottest summer the city has seen in a while. Here are some of the ways the drought and heat are having an impact.
Hamilton's manager of parks and cemeteries, Tennessee Propedo, said that while the weather's not great, the grass lying dormant — read, brown — in the heat has offered opportunities for staff and summer employees to knock items off the to do list. With no grass growing, the teams of summer staff who normally keep parks and fields trimmed are picking up other work.
While still trimming the weeds that survive in this weather, "general maintenance issues are getting addressed," he said.
"It gives us an opportunity to catch up on some normal maintenance that we don't get to very often" like paint goal posts or tend to newly planted trees.
Turf is a very hearty creature.- Tennessee Propedo, manager of parks and cemeteries
"Unless there's irrigation there's not a lot you can do," said Propedo.
At this point, the ground is so hard that shuttling water to the site would be a waste. Instead, Parks is hoping for a solid stream of steady rain to soak the ground and let the water get to the roots.
The one blessing Propedo is counting, is the smoking ban in place in all parks.
"We haven't encountered any grass fires or anything like that," he said, a much larger issue they faced previously in hot and dry conditions.
But despite the brown earth, he's not concerned.
"Turf is a very hearty creature," said Propedo. "It'll come back."
Wineries
Another hearty plant, grape vines are resilient enough to withstand the heat. But vineyards in the area are struggling with the lack of rain. In some cases local vintners are having to try out new tactics.
Sean Douglas, of Ridge Road Winery in Stoney Creek, said in an email that for the first time in 18 years they have had to water the younger plants.
While grapes only begin to struggle after prolonged temperatures of 35 degrees, a consistent lack of precipitation is a different story.
Douglas says if they don't see precipitation soon, there is a risk the grapes will stop ripening and the growth they're enjoying this summer will come to a screeching halt.
Wild Waterworks
For many, the best way to escape the heat has been to go for a dip, and for Wild Waterworks, it has meant a serious boost in sales.
Sara Kinnear, manager of the water park, said that attendance is more than double last year's already.
"Hotter days do bring more people out," she said. And this year especially, as the next closest water park — Wild Water Kingdom in Brampton — has been closed.
The dry weather has had little effect on the park, forcing them to use more water than before as they're not relying on rain. But, Kinnear said, it's not a huge deal.
The only day the park closed this year was July 1, and with continued sunshine in the forecast the staff is excited.
"Bring on the sun," said Kinnear. "It's fantastic for us."