"I've waited all winter for this!" Many excited to get outdoors on the hottest day of the year...so far

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Hot and humid on Tuesday, July 22nd -- the hottest day of the year in Milwaukee, so far! At 1:00 p.m. in Milwaukee, we reached 88 degrees, with a heat index of 94 degrees. It finally felt like summer -- and the heat had many headed outdoors.

There are two schools of thought when it gets near 90 degrees with humidity in Milwaukee: Go inside and enjoy the air conditioning, or head outdoors and enjoy the heat.

Cool Waters in Greenfield Park was busy on Tuesday afternoon!

With a lot of heat and a good book -- and Tana Brokering was a happy woman, and her children were happy too.

"I say 'yeah, it`s sun out there. We`re going to the pool. We`re getting some heat. Let`s go!'" Brokering said.

"Swimming is open all the time, but we definitely see droves of peple come out when the temperature rises. This is a typical day on a hot day," a Milwaukee County Parks official said.

The hottest day of the year Tuesday was a welcome relief for many of the sun lovers who, like the rest of us, went through a tough winter.

"The winter was horrible, so you've got to enjoy these days. You know, you never know when it`s going to go from 90 to below zero," Lilly Perez said.

That was a statement FOX6 News heard a lot on Tuesday.

"Finally! I thought it would be freezing by this time still," Elise Sparks said.

But even enjoying the sunny weather has its sacrifice.

"I`m burning but, you know, it`s all part of the summer in Wisconsin so we`re enjoying it. We`ll put on aloe tonight. It`ll be okay," Melissa Lewis said.

As for Brokering, she just continued to read her book, and enjoy a summer day in Milwaukee.

"I`ve waited all winter for this. Yeah -- I love it!" Brokering said.

Some of the people FOX6 News spoke with said it was especially important for them to come out to the pool on Tuesday -- since temperatures are expected to drop about 20 degrees for Wednesday.