Moore County residents are coping with brutal temperatures that have invaded the area over the past couple of days. But some relief is on the way.

A heat wave has pushed temperatures into the high 90s for the past few days. Heat indices have crept into the low 100s, making life even more miserable.

Still, quite a few brave souls were braving the heat in downtown Southern Pines Tuesday afternoon.

Michelle Morasse was spotted walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. When asked how she was coping with the heat, she simply held up her trusty water bottle.

"Lots of water and ice cream," she said. "And quick breaks."

Sixteen-month-old Aiden, riding in a stroller complete with a canopy, didn't seem to mind, according to his mother.

"He's in the best position," Morasse said. "He gets pushed around and fed ice cream and water. He loves it outside. To him, it doesn't matter. The heat doesn't bother him. He gets a little flushed, but that's it."

Bailey Morgan, who works at Sweet Charity's Homemade Candy on Broad Street, has noticed an uptick in business over the past couple of weeks as temperatures have risen. The shop sells a lot of lemonade, orangeade and shaved ice to weary passers-by.

"The past couple of weeks, we've been selling really well," she said. "The day of the [U.S. Kids Golf] parade last week, it was ridiculous with everybody coming in and getting stuff. It was nice."

Laura May got an overly warm welcome when she returned home to Southern Pines from Costa Rica, where she had spent the past two and a half months.

"I couldn't believe how hot it was," she said Monday. "I wasn't expecting it to be warmer here than Costa Rica, which is near the equator. I'm going to stay in and watch a movie."

Although the past few days have been excruciatingly hot, expect temperatures to cool off in the days to come. Today's predicted high is a relatively modest 88 degrees, while Thursday offers a refreshing drop to 80 or so. Temperatures should remain in the low to mid-80s for the next few days.

"These past few days have been the warmest days of this year, but it has been nowhere close to a record high," said Brandon Locklear, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Raleigh Monday.

Locklear said that the Weather Service recorded that Sunday and Monday both had high temperatures of 99 degrees. According to The Weather Channel's weather.com, the record high for each day is 103 and 104 in 2007, respectively.

Temperatures Tuesday topped out at 97, with a heat index of 103.

Moore County, along with all of central North Carolina, was on a heat advisory until sunset on Monday. A heat advisory means that the combination of heat and humidity will create a situation in which heat illnesses are expected unless precautions are taken.

The advisory was issued by the Weather Service because high temperatures, combined with the humidity, would create heat indices near 105 F. A heat index of 105 F is considered the level where people begin to experience physical stress, even with limited outdoor activity.

This dangerous heat index led many in the area to stay away from the sunshine and seek comfort in air-conditioned buildings.

The reason for the hot weather is a blocking pattern that pushes west from the Atlantic Ocean and causes few clouds to be formed, exposing more of the sun's radiation.

"The blocking pattern can sometimes last more than a week, causing hot weather for a long period of time," Locklear said. "But this blocking pattern only lasted a couple of days, so it should cool down very soon."

He also pointed out that this summer's weather has been slightly cooler than previous summers.

"July's temperatures were actually below normal this year," said Locklear. "We've actually been spared from some bad heat this summer."

Contact Newsroom Intern Jonathan Summey at 693-2482. John Krahnert and Hannah Sharpe contributed to this story.