Everyone's heard of the "heat index". Perhaps you're more familiar with the "feels like" temperature. Either way, here in the South we all know about how it really doesn't matter what the thermometer says, what matters is how the humidity plays into that. I figured today, we'd take a look at how Meteorologists figure out the "feels like" temperature compared to the actual temperature.
In Canada, Meteorologists use what they call the "Humidex" which combines the temperature and dew point. Here, we combine the the temperature and relative humidity to determine our "Heat Index". The scientific equation for heat index is Temp = C1+C2*T+C3*R+C4*T*R+C5*T^2... Ummm it's long. It goes all the way to C9*something^2. The "C"s are all constant values while the T is the outside temp and the R is relative humidity. You ready for a little secret? We don't use that. As you learn in elementary school, there is always a shortcut...
This chart is a handy tool we use to determine the heat index based on the temperature and relative humidity. The guy who developed the chart used the above equation to determine all the values for us. So we use it and it saves us time. A win-win.
One last thing. Many people don't know that the temperature that is taken at any point in the day is taken in the shade. That's right, in the shade. So when the thermometer says "92" that is 92 degrees in the shade. The temp in direct sunlight is going to be higher. As we get deeper into summer, it's important to remember how dangerous it can be outside. As you sit in the direct summer sun, you are feeling extra heat for those two reasons.
So do whatever you can to stay cool, hydrated and safe as the mercury rises.
