Hot enough for you?

For some people, yesterday’s 90-degree heat was too hot to jump into the pool. For others, the boredom of being indoors drove them into the heat and the famous, oppressive Washington humidity.

“It’s boring inside,” said Serena Mitchual, 17. “Here you can see people and do things,” she said yesterday after sliding off the Tornado, a water slide at Six Flags America’s Hurricane Harbor water park in Largo.

While she and her friends enjoyed cooling off on the park’s water rides, the sweltering heat and humidity were a little much for them.

“It’s too hot. We were sweating before we walked into the park,” Serena said.

Temperatures reached 90 degrees yesterday but it felt like a stifling 95 degrees with the heat index, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a heat advisory. The temperature is expected to reach 92 today and expected highs remain in the low 90s through Tuesday. Daily temperatures have peaked in the high 80s to low 90s since July 9, according to the Weather Service.

Heat waves mean more residents turn up the air conditioning, but electric companies say there is no fear of a power shortage.

The three local utilities — Potomac Electric Power Co., Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and Dominion Resources Inc. — say they expect demand for electricity to be higher than normal as residents turn their air conditioning on. But the companies say they have enough capacity to meet demand.

At Bohrer Park Water Park in Gaithersburg, the number of people drawn to the public pool is the same as those drawn to the air conditioning, keeping attendance numbers level with other times during the summer, aquatics director Bill Bullough hypothesized yesterday.

“On these weekdays when it’s really hot, I think some people would rather stay inside with the air conditioning,” Mr. Bullough said. “When it gets too hot, I think it gets to the point it’s not too refreshing.”

Amy Moseley of Port Washington brings the five girls she takes care of to the pool when it’s too hot for them to play outside.

“We wanted to get out of the house and just have some refreshing fun,” Ms. Moseley said as she rested in the shade and the children splashed in a shallow pool at Six Flags. A ticket to the park costs $39.99.

“The water is good for them and it’s fun for them,” she said.

When Robert and Vivian Lewis, of Largo, bring their grandchildren to the kiddie pool to cool off, there’s no sitting in a shaded lawn chair: Their grandkids drag them into the pool.

“It’s mandatory [for the kids], we have to get in the pool with them,” said Mrs. Lewis, who noted the water temperature was neither too cold nor too hot.

Other area water parks have noted increased attendance during the heat wave as residents head for the water, even if the heat is raising the water temperature close to that of a lukewarm bath.

“Due to the increase of heat, more people are out this summer than were out at this time last summer,” said Rhonda Richardson, facility director at Allentown Fitness & Splash Park in Fort Washington, where attendance has been up.

Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Va., has had steady attendance since the heat wave started 10 days ago, according to assistant manager Michael Healy. While more people have come to beat the heat, some have stayed clear because of cloudy, potentially stormy, skies.

“Rain clouds don’t seem to keep people away,” he said. “Thunderstorms do, though.”

Jeff Randolph, manager of Downpour at Algonkian Regional Park in Sterling, Va., is grateful the area is getting sunshine and heat instead of a deluge of rain.

“The heat is definitely better than the rain — the rain shuts us down pretty much — but a heat wave like this can only be good for our business,” he said.