Harvard Square felt positively arctic by comparison: the Crimson thermometer registered only 99 degrees at 1:20 p.m. And in the climate-controlled environs of Lamont and Pusey libraries, the thermometer read only 76. But in the lightless depths of the Widener Library stacks, a set of open windows prefigured a 94 degree reading.

Students said they had a variety of methods for dealing with the heat. Some stayed inside, in the air conditioning. Others stayed outside, vainly searching for a slight breeze.

"Obviously, I'm outdoors, so I prefer the outside," said summer-school student Karen Jenkins, 21, of New York City.

"I've been wandering back and forth, between Widener and Pusey," said Michael B. Cooper '91, a rising junior working at the Kennedy School of Government for the summer. "There's this one piece of hall that's got to be about 60 degrees."

When informed that the Crimson's temperature readings were considerably higher than his estimate of 60 degrees, Cooper replied that he was sure such a passageway existed.

Still others maintained that the heat just wasn't that bad.

"I don't really think its all that hot," said Obediah R. Edwards '90, a native of Jackson, Miss. "Everybody keeps making a big deal about the heat."

And for many area merchants, the high temperatures proved a blessing.

"The heat wave is great. We love it," said Jessica J. Leahy, the owner and manager of Herrell's Ice Cream on Dunster St.

Sales, she said, just about double during long periods of heat, and cool ice cream stores tend to attract hot patrons.

"It is nice and cool--the air conditioner is really running great," she said. "People just come in and sit in here."

Fans have suddenly become one of the Square's most valued commodities. Harvard Student Agencies, which leases fans to students, ran out Wednesday, they said. And Robert S. Toro, manager of Tags Hardware in Porter Square, said that the store was having a hard time meeting the demand for fans and related items like air conditioner cords and fuses.

"After probably the second day of a heat wave, the demand becomes really high," Toro said. "It becomes so hot in people's apartments that they just can't stand it. People still have a bad memory of last summer, of its being hot forever."

The most popular model, he said, is the 20-inch box fan--the largest the store sells.

When asked if his store was selling an unusually high number of fans, Dickson's Hardware manager Edward Santamaria said, "I don't know. I'm not down here a lot."