110

Yesterday the Valley of the Sun SMASHED its previous May record for Temperature. We hit 110 degrees.

To get a sense of 110 degrees in a “dry heat”, try this:

  1. Set your oven to 110.
  2. When it reaches the appropriate temperature, sit in front of the oven and open the door.

The term “dry heat” is silly, when you think about it. That implies there must be a “wet heat”? I mean, anything over 98 degrees is hot—even if you’re naked. Anything over 110 degrees is BLOODY hot (even if you are naked)! And studies show that after 117 degrees, the body stops functioning normally.

Having lived in both “dry” and “wet” heats (the US Southwest, the Amazon, Grenada), I would have to say each “form” of “heat” is equally (in)tolerable. I’m convinced this is the reason natives in “hot” regions are naked or nearly-naked. When I was in the Amazon Jungle for example, as soon as I shed my “modern” clothes for a yanchama (bark skirt of the Bora Tribe), I immediately felt cooler. LOTS cooler.

So, “dry heat”, “wet heat”, “humid heat”…each term really say very little. Folks say 90 degrees at 90% humidity is like 105 degrees in the “dry heat”. But believe me: they are VERY, very different. In one, you’re just wet. All the time. In the other, you are UNABLE to stay wet (or cool). All the time.

And there is a big difference between 100, 110, 115, 117, and 120+ temps. I can feel the difference between them. Up to 110 I can handle…just keep fluids in me and wear a hat & sunscreen. At 110 my eyes start to get really, really dry (sit in front of an oven at 110 degrees and see what I mean), but I keep liquefied and I’m fine.

By 115, I can drink a gallon of liquid and sweat it out in half-an-hour; I start to wonder why I'm in the heat. At 117 I walk slower and my Jedi-like reflexes significantly diminish. And at 120+, I get headaches—no matter how much liquid I consume.

And sunscreen—however much—has little effect in 120 degree heat.

Now, just for fun, think of this scenario: What would happen if humidity was 100% and the temperature was 100 degrees?

Answer: you would drown from breathing—every breath you took would be water vapor and your lungs would fill.

Weird, huh?

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