Hot weather warning: wear a life jacket

May marks the beginning of boating season in Washington. Unfortunately, hot weather can also lead to a spike in drowning deaths. The people at the other end of your 911 call are wary of the forecast for unseasonably hot temperatures forecast this week.

It means a lot of people will head out to rivers and lakes, unprepared for icy cold water. One misunderstood danger is cold water shock.

“When your body hits that water, your first reflex is to gasp and that’s called cold water shock,” said Wade Alonzo, education director for Washington State Parks. “And there’s a big danger of aspirating water when you hit the water and you gasp.”

Sometimes victims are not able to even shout for help, said Alonzo.

The warm weather is not supposed to last past Thursday.

“Luckily, this is not going to fall on a weekend because when it does, those numbers that are hitting the water increase because you have a lot of kids out there,” said King County Sheriff’s Deputy Charlie Akers, with the marine search and rescue unit.

He’s seen many people unprepared when they go river floating, for example.

“And they’re floating down on little pool toys, air mattresses, things like that and most of the time they are not wearing life jackets,” he said.

Alonzo and Akers are urging boaters and others entering rivers and lakes to wear life jackets. Loaners are available at many locations, including some state parks. Low-cost life jackets are also available during special events in the spring and summer.

The National Weather Service is predicting warmer than normal temperatures in the Seattle area into September.