Nicholas Swan, 2, and his brother Matthew, 4, cool off with some ice cream Wednesday afternoon at Twistees in Dowagiac. Daily Star photo/CRAIG HAUPERT

With temperatures hovering in the low 90s Wednesday afternoon, Dowagiac residents Leslie Cole and Christopher Simpson took their friend’s children to Twistees for ice cream.

Four-year-old Matthew Swan knew exactly what he wanted.

“Sponge Bob with ice on it,” he said enthusiastically.

His 2-year-old brother went with Spiderman ice cream.

“It’s a great place to be on a hot day,” Cole said.

It’s only going to get hotter.

Temperatures could reach 100 degrees in Niles and Dowagiac Thursday, according to several forecasts.

The record high in Niles for June 28 is 103 degrees set in 1934, according to weather.com. The average high is 83 degrees.

Twistees owner Nancy Shufelt said, while warm weather is good for ice cream sales, really hot weather is not.

“When it’s really hot, people don’t want to come out,” she said. “They’ll come in the evening when it cools off.”

The warm weather has been good for some garden supply stores.

Angie Lintz, office manager at the Niles Rural King, said her store has seen a 27 percent increase on seasonal equipment the past two days.

“We are almost out of sprinklers, and, by Friday, we might run out of shock for the pool,” Lintz said. “These past couple days have been really busy.”

The dry, hot weather can lead to an increased risk for grass and field fires, according to Dowagiac Deputy Fire Chief Guy Evans.

“We’ve had some increases in the county, but none within the city limits,” Evans said. “Penn Township had a pretty sizeable field fire the other day.”

Evans said county officials and public safety personnel are discussing the possibility of establishing a burn ban within the next couple days.

“We are researching the legalities of establishing a ban and how we would do it; if it would be in specific areas or a countywide effort,” Evans said.

The number and frequency of grass fires in Niles Township and Bertrand Township remains average.

“We aren’t seeing too much,” said Niles Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold. “We’ve had a couple, but can’t say anything’s been out of the ordinary. Hopefully, it stays that way.”