WMass spared extreme temperatures

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - As warm as it's been around here, we're grateful we've been spared the more than 100 degree temperatures broiling a large section of the nation from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin.

It's comparatively cool here in the Springfield area compared with the temperatures that have climbed past one hundred degrees in Philadelphia to the Midwest. On Friday, temperatures in parts of Indiana and Arkansas hit 106 degrees. So far dozens of have died the extreme heat.

In Szot Park in Chicopee Saturday afternoon, visitors gave thanks that the weather in the Pioneer Valley is mild compared with the temperatures in other parts of the country.

“We're kind of lucky as compared to them. We've had our share of bad weather the past year or so, but we really lucked out compared with the Midwest and the south this time around,” Andy Grace told 22News.

“It’s an awesome day today. We're blessed that we're not having the heat wave the others are having in other parts of the country. I'm here with my children, my mother, and my uncle just having a picnic,” said Edwin Nunez of Springfield.

We in the Pioneer Valley are indeed fortunate. Even during the heat waves in recent weeks, the temperature never rose to the levels that are causing so much suffering in other parts of the country.