"heat index"

[TMurphy]

I was in Las Vegas to attend a wedding in the middle of June. Temperature reached a high of 107 during the 5 days I was there. It was HOT. But, that 107 degrees in dry-as-a-bone Las Vegas was much more tolerable that 101 degrees in humid-as-all-hell New Jersey, I can tell you that much.

So, I agree...keep the stupid-*** heat index. Tell me the humidity, so I know whether it will be tolerable or unbearable.

[gwwilk]

NOAA has weighed in on this issue:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml

Reflect a few minutes on the efficiency of your ability to cool off via the usual mechanisms of radiation and sweating. The sweat must evaporate before it has any cooling effect. If the ambient temperature is 68<deg> F with 98% humidity it doesn't feel the same as 68<deg> F with 35% humidity. Why is that, Bloke?

I'm not defending your local weathermen, just the basic science behind the numbers they're giving you. The heat index is a calculated attempt to combine dew point and temperature. You may argue that it is a miscalculated attempt if you will, but try to understand that there is a reason for the calculation.

Cold weather produces a similar calculated attempt to account for the increased thermal losses via air movement across our bodies, i.e. wind chill. Both of these calculations have undergone revisions within the past several years, so there is room for different opinions here.

Stay cool in the summer, and warm in the winter.

You can see the current heat index at my place in the sticky below.

[windshieldbug]

I never cared about "wind chill". Who the heck cares if the wind is uncomfortable? I'm much more interested if I feel uncomfortable!

[TexTuba]

Look, doesn't everyone get it? This terminology was simply created to give them roughly 10 extra seconds of BS. The bottom line is that there ARE NO MORE REAL METEOROLOGISTS!!! I was looking at the Weather Channel the other day and the guy didn't know a low-pressure system from his @$$! The argument could be made that there were never any to begin with, but maybe that's another thread. Maybe not...

Ralph

[bearphonium]

My Dad worked 35 years for the US Weather Bureau as a "weather man". His concept for weather forcasting: Live in the area a long time. Know what it "usually" does. Look at what the clouds/humidity/temperature are doing. Make a WAG. You'll be right about 50% of the time. Study the met readings, sat images, radar images. Make a WAG. You'll be right 50% of the time.

Ally"whose Dad was banned from the office betting pools for high/low temps because he had lived in the area for a long time and could predict, with 55% accuracy, what was going to happen"House

[SplatterTone]

Heat index is great. A heat index of 110 gives one the feeling of having -- by overwhelming will and determination -- conquered the most brutal treatment that nature can deliver. Kind of like assuming the role of Master Chief and showing The Flood exactly who is boss.

That's why the Fahrenheit system is so great. You know those people of questionable mental state who stood out in a heat index of 110 to watch other people play golf at the PGA tournement in Tulsa feel like battle hardened soldiers with a war story because they can say the heat index was 110.

Centigrade?
"Oh, I mowed my grass in a heat index of 43."

"That's all? 43? Well woop-de-doo."

[tofu]

You know you're a Grumpy Old Man when you are down to complaining:

Not about the heat BUT the fact that someone uses a heat index to tell you about it

[bort]

All I know is that is SOME HEAT right now in Memphis! Stay cool and hydrated, Joe!

There's some hot air on this message board alright...

For Wind Chill, it's a little different...it is actually calculated based on the amount of heat your body loses. Cold + wind = losing your body heat faster (the wind chill temperature would give the same rate of heat loss w/o wind).

[SplatterTone]

Paris Hilton with you?

[windshieldbug]

Paris Hilton with you?

But it's a dry heave, er, dry heat!