TULSA, Okla. — Just in time for the weekend before the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, the Midwest is set to receive a reprieve from below-freezing temperatures, and the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas Area Office wants outdoor recreators to take care around the lakes.

With highs expected between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit during the MLK Holiday weekend, the Kansas Area Office of the Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers anticipates increased outdoor activity near lakes, rivers, streams and ponds.

Eugene Goff, Kansas area manager for the Tulsa Distritct, is asking visitors to remember water temperatures are significantly lower than outside air temperatures and cautions those spending time outdoors to stay away from icy shorelines.

“When the weather is nice it’s easy to forget that the lake is 20 to 30 degrees colder,” said Goff.  “We realize people want to take advantage of the nice weather but they need to be careful around the lakes. There is still a lot of ice around the shoreline of Marion Resevoir, John Redmond Reservoir and Council Grove Lake and that presents a hazard.”

According to Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Yaw, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, which is responsible for all Coast Guard operations throughout the five Great Lakes, the human body loses heat 25 times faster in water than in air.

“Depending on the health of the individual, if the water temperature is between 33 and 40 degrees, exhaustion or unconsciousnesss can occur within 15 to 30 minutes,” said Yaw “At that temperature range the survival time is estimated to be between 30 and 90 minutes.”

                                                                                -30-