JoeyBike

I have been playing around with thermometers this week. The temp as stated by the "Weather Man" is taken in the shade. I want to know what the temp is IN THE SUN - where I AM.

The thermometer taped to the fork of my road bike is the same type heating/air conditioning repairmen use. I bought it at a grocery store for $5 as a meat thermometer. It is very accurate.

The black one with the bell under it is liquid filled and designed to attach onto handlebars. It seems to be accurate also.

I find that 95° in the shade = 120° in the sun, and 100° in the shade = 130° in the sun when the bike is at rest. Subtract 5 - 10 degrees up to 20mph under way. There is also a "chill factor" affecting your exposed skin depending on humidity and air speed. That's why it feels so much hotter when you stop, especially in direct sunlight.

Just FYI. I found it interesting.

- Joey

TempeRider

Here in the Phoenix area, 140 in the sun is not unusual. The TV news has to keep reminding people to not leave kids or animals in parked cars due to the heat - sadly at least once a year there is a news report that makes it clear why.

This time of year I soak my tee shirt in the sink when changing for my 6 mile ride home at 5 PM or so. It is dry by half way home!

JoeyBike

Do they actually say "140 in the sun"? Our news folk NEVER mention that. They give heat index which factors in humidity but still in the shade. How many people get heat related illness in the shade? It's the poor dopes working/playing in the sun that really need all of the information relevant to staying alive.

ibcrewin

The black tape might skew your results a bit. BUT, It's still freakin' hot!

TempeRider

The official numbers are of course in the shade, but occasionally someone will measure temp in the sun just for sensational purposes. The news folks also will measure the temp in a car sitting in a parking lot to make the point about not leaving pets / kids; 140 is a typical temp in a closed car.

Our record (June 1990) was 124. The had to close the airport for a few hours because the computers the airplane have to calculate flap settings etc, are only calibrated to 120. My wife tried the "fry an egg on the sidewalk" trick. It worked, but very slowly.

Rick in Tempe AZ where the low yesterday was 87*...

cbr2702

I hate you all. Here in Boston it's 58* and raining cats and dogs. June set records for amount of rain, most days of rain, and amount of cloud cover. The problem is that you guys are hoarding all the summer.

Wanderer

The temp in the sun is the same as it is in the shade.

The difference is that the sun energy can't get away from an object in the direct sunlight. It just gets absorbed, making that object hotter. Darker colors are even worse.

canyoneagle

I lived in Eastern Saudi Arabia for about 7 years, and it is quite humid there because of the shallow gulf. The runways were extremely long to accommodate the jumbo jets in the summertime - Bahrain (the island off the coast of Saudi) would regularly hit 50c (124F) with 80-90% humidity. It was pretty scary to be in a full airplane trying to take off.
Most of the international flights were late at night as well.

Take care in that heat! Summer's just getting going!

I-Like-To-Bike

The news folk also like to dramatize the weather in the winter by harping on the wind chill factor instead of the actual ambient temperature. As if people are still wearing summer swimwear exposing skads of bare skin to the elements when shoveling the snow.

jdmitch

yup, actual air temp is the same in both cases (presuming some air movement), objects get hotter in the sun due to solar gain... the reason weather people don't report this is there is really no definition of 'standard object' as so many things will effect a given object solar gain it's basically pointless...

Luddite

Up here we start complaining over probably 25C inland (nowhere near 100) but my ex husband who is from Rio de Janeiro used to say he could feel the sun here cooking him, totally unlike the sunshine in Brasil, apparently. I hate hot weather, gonna get up to 27C in the shade here today, gack!

sd_mike

As the highest recorded temperature is 136F, I doubt 140+. Ground temperatures regularly exceed 200F in Death Valley (their highest AIR temp being 134F), but remember, that isn't air temp. Still hot though.