'Stay cool' is the answer. Just 'how' is the question.

It doesn't have to be a record to be peel-the-shirt-off-your-back-and-wring-it-out hot.

So it was Sunday as the temperature at Norfolk International Airport swelled to a mere 97 degrees, two degrees shy of the record set in 1899.

Tim Gingrich, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Wakefield, said the heat index made it feel between 100 and 105 degrees. Gingrich said a similar swelter is expected today, with a forecast high of 96 degrees.

The muggy, near-record temperatures should end midweek as a new weather system arrives, Gingrich added.

The weekend belt of triple-digit heat indexes cramped events around South Hampton Roads but didn't derail them.

In Norfolk, Harborfest organizers canceled the tall ship crew competitions, but the rest of the schedule was unaffected, said Pat Vargo, marketing director for Norfolk Festevents.

"It was just way too hot," she said candidly.

A misting tent and two misting fans were set up to help cool the festival's guests. Vargo said it looked as if fewer people attended than in previous years. She said 250,000 people come to Town Point Park for Harborfest on an average year. She didn't have final attendance figures Sunday afternoon.

In Virginia Beach, the weather took its toll on the North American Sand Soccer Championships. Tournament officials said some matches were shortened from 33 minutes to 21 minutes, and breaks between matches were stretched out to deal with the high temperatures.

The annual event drew more than 9,000 players and featured 45,000 bottles of water - which ran out. Dick Whalen, tournament director, said he bought an extra $4,000 worth of water Sunday morning.

"It was as hot as it's ever been in the 15 years we've been doing this thing," Whalen said. "It was a furnace on the beach."

Bruce Nedelka, the Beach's EMS division chief, said the soccer championship generated 75 heat-related calls over the weekend. Nedelka thanked the Best Western Oceanfront, at 28th Street, for giving EMS workers a free, first-floor room to use as a command center.

He said some people can be caught off-guard by temperatures in the high 90s this early in the season, especially when it comes for several days in a row. Weather officials noted that the normal high for Sunday and today is 81 degrees.

"People really haven't acclimated yet to the warm weather," Nedelka added. "It is pretty unusual."

And the heat wave has at least one more day in it.

A heat advisory will remain in effect across the region until 8 tonight, according to the weather service. Temperatures should remain in the high 90s through Tuesday, but Gingrich said a weather system could arrive that night to bring temperatures down into the 80s.

He said rain and thunderstorms are possible Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Wouldn't a few drops be nice?

Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com