Latest news, weather, high school sports for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

MARQUETTE COUNTY -- "There's been no luck...everywhere is sold out," says Jessica Noskey, who's been seeking relief from the heat.

Air conditioners are flying off the shelves at U.P. retailers because of the hot spell.

"It's been pretty insane actually.  We're sold out of pretty much everything company-wide; we have a little bit left, but it's probably been the best air year we've had in about four years," says Chris Penney of American Appliance and Furniture in Marquette Township.

Just a few weeks ago, the shelves at American were full, and now there's only a few left.  American associates say that air conditioner sales over the last week have made up for around 70 percent of their total sales for the season.

And it's a similar story over at Sears in Negaunee where stockroom shelves sit empty.

"We have a few of the larger models in stock, but we do a large ordering-type system where we order out of the Chicago warehouse which we receive two trucks weekly," says Patrick Taylor of Sears in Negaunee.

But both retailers say it's not just the heat wave that's causing the shortage.  Demand is up this year and supply is down.

"This year was a little bit different because of production issues with a lot of the manufacturers because of what happened in Japan, I believe, so they couldn't get parts for certain things so a lot of them did not show up this year because of that, so I think a lot of stores generally had lower on hand availability," Penney says.

Portable air conditioners and small window units were this summer's big sellers.

And if you're trying to figure out whether to buy or not to buy, they say strike while the iron's hot.  Once warehouses and other locations run out, they'll be gone for good.