The beginning of July in 2010 is hot, at least here in Toronto. Tit sweat in seconds hot. Ambulance calls for heatstroke hot. Official Public heat alert hot. Heat rash, melanoma tempting, dripping death stroke hot!
Birmingham was 22. So was Mexico City. Yes, Glasgow was 20. Moscow was 28. Paris, to be fair, was 30. So was Rangoon. Mumbai, 27. Rome, a toasty 31. Cairo was as hot as we were today. LA was a cool 24. But matching our heat was Dallas, Miami and New York. Cancun and Tegucigalpa were slightly cooler.
But why do we make suck a fuss of heat? Because we make such a fuss of cold. None of the places I just named get as cold as us. We get so hot, yet we get so cold.
Do any of these global measurements have a humidex value ???
If not, they should.
What is humidex anyway? I have no idea...
It seems that:
"The humidex is a number used by Canadian meteorologists to reflect the combined effect of heat and humidity. It differs from the heat index used in the United States in using dew point rather than relative humidity. According to the Meteorological Service of Canada, a humidex of at least 30 causes "some discomfort", at least 40 causes "great discomfort" and above 45 is "dangerous." When the humidex hits 54, heat stroke is imminent.
The current formula for determining the humidex was developed by J.M. Masterton and F.A. Richardson of Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service in 1979. The term is widely used in Canada during the summer months in weather reports.
The record humidex in Canada occurred on July 25, 2007, when Carman, Manitoba hit 53.0.[1] This breaks the previous record of 52.1 set in 1953 in Windsor, Ontario (The residents of Windsor would not have known this at the time, since the humidex had yet to be invented)."
Does no other country use the humidex? It really seems like an exclusive Canadian invention.
Is humidex our exclusive, little indulgence, or is there a greater world scale of humidity that measures suffering from the heat?
It seems to me, we are the only maschocists in the world who sweat under a humidex reading.
India and Thailand have never measured their heat with a humidex factor and it felt more humid to me than Toronto ever has. Including tonight, during our 2010 summer heatwave.
Part of me is sick of chasing the humidex. I want mean temp, a single temperature by which to abide and forego the "feels like" factor.
Damn the humidex to hell.
You see my friend, the Humidex is a term used by Canadians that constantly complain about summer weather (as well as American foreign policy) to make it sound like it is hotter than it actually is.
ReplyDeleteWhen the temperature gets any higher than room temperature and the relative humidity gets over 30%, the government announces on the radio stations that emergency cooling centres are open because it "feels like" it's 40C when it's really only 30.
If they would just stop wearing those wool Roots hats, heavy long-sleeve plaid lumberjack shirts, and red Olympic mittens in August, it really wouldn't be a problem.