HEAT INDEX

Views such as the one above will become increasingly more abundant as moisture continues to funnel in off the Gulf and into our backyard. When humidity gets factored in with temparature we get a "feels-like" temperature, which is called the heat index. Did you know that there are several formulas for calculating this better assesor of heat? One of the more commonly used formulas is listed below if you care to do some calculator gymnastics.

HI = -42.379 + 2.04901523T + 10.14333127R - 0.22475541TR - 6.83783x10-3T2 - 5.481717x10-2R2 + 1.22874x10-3T2R + 8.5282x10-4TR2 - 1.99x10-6T2R2

T = ambient dry bulb temperature (°F)
R = relative humidity (integer percentage)

*note: R2 or T2 denotes exponential power, so R2, means R squared. Also 10-3, is 10 to the negative third power, etc...

Thankfully, we don't have to crunch the numbers to get them to air! The take home message is this: if we're very humid and we're dealing with high temps, let's say greater than 90 F, then the heat index poses a real threat! Just be aware of the danger heat can impose and stay hydrated!

Posted by Ted Zarras at 9:05 AM