| Hot
Weather Fact File
2241/ Yuma in Arizona
averages 175 days every year where the temperature is above
90 degrees. By contrast, Honolulu in Hawaii averages only
23 days a year above 90. However, it does have the highest
winter (December-February) normal temperatures at 72.8°
F of the US States.
2242/ The highest and
lowest temperature ever recorded (over the last 130 years)
in the UK are 38.1 °C (100.58F) in Gravesend-Broadness,
Kent, 10th August 2003 and the joint lowest being : -27.2
°C in Braemar, Grampian, 10th January 1982 and 11th February
1895 - -27.2 °C Altnaharra, Highlands, 30th December 1995.
2243/ The UK has only
recently (August 2003) broken the magical 100F temperature
barrier. By contrast only two states in the United States
have recorded highs no greater than 100 degrees. These are
Alaska and Hawaii.
2244/ The highest and
lowest temperatures ever recorded in the US are 134° F
/ 56.7° C, Death Valley, California, 10th July, 1913 (neither
the 140° F / 60° C at Delta Mexico 8/1933 or 136.4°
F / 58° C at San Luis Mexico, 8/11/1933 are internationally
accepted) and the lowest being -79.8° F / -62.1° C,
Prospect Creek, Alaska, 23rd January, 1971. The lowest of
the 48 contiguous states was -69.7° F / -56.5° C,
Rogers Pass, Montana, 20 January, 1954.
2245/ Warmer weather
means an increased incidence of food poisoning of 5 per cent
(an extra 4,000 cases in th UK) for each 1C.
2246/ Between 1960 and
1966, the highest average annual mean temperature in Dallol,
Ethiopia was recorded at 94 °F in the shade on a typical
day! The Longest hot spell in the world was in Marble Bar,
Western Australia, where the temperature was 100 °F (38
°C) (or above) for 162 consecutive days, between Oct.
30th, 1923 to Apr. 7th, 1924.
2247/ Although more people
then usual die during a heatwave, if there is a 1C temperature
increase all year round this is offset by a decrease in winter
mortality. Overall a 1C increase would lead to a reduction
of about 7000 deaths a year in the UK.
2248/ Death Valley lies
mostly in eastern-central California. It was named Death Valley
by one of eighteen survivors of a party of thirty attempting
in 1849 to find a shortcut to the California gold fields.
In terms of latitude is it located at about 35 degrees North,
so it is in a good location for large amounts of sunlight.
It is considered a middle latitude region.
2249/ Overheating can
kill your pet. Never leave an animal in a car since the temperature
can rise so rapidly even with windows open. If you're travelling
carry cold water to cool your pet. Be sure to rinse them off
after swimming, and keep them in a shaded cool area when they
are on the beach. The following comes directly from the Humane
Society of the United States: "On an 85 degree day, for
example, the temperature inside a car WITH THE WINDOWS OPENED
SLIGHTLY can reach 102 degrees within ten minutes. After 30
minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. On warmer
days, it will get even hotter. Every year pets left in this
situation suffer irreversible brain damage or death."
2250/ The amount of sunlight
reaching the earth's surface is 6,000 times the amount of
energy used by all human beings worldwide. The total amount
of fossil fuel used by humans since the start of civilization
is equivalent to less than 30 days of sunshine.
2251/ Tree crickets are
called the poor man's thermometer because temperature directly
affects their rate of activity. Count the number of chirps
a cricket makes in 15 seconds, then add 37. The sum will be
very close to the outside temperature!
2252/ Hair lightens in
a heatwave. It is made up of blue, yellow and red pigments,
and blue is the weakest. The heat from the sun causes the
scales on the hair shaft to lift and these weaker blue molecules
become damaged. The hair is left with a lighter, bleached
colour from the yellow and red molecules that are left behind.
2253/ If you think you
are alone in finding the hot weather a little too hot for
comfort , then take on board these sage words from author
Jane Austen (1775-1817) - "What dreadful hot weather
we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."
2254/ Iced tea was invented
by Richard Blechynden, an English tea merchant who couldn't
sell his hot beverage at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair because
of the hot weather. Quick thinking meant he added ice to the
tea and it is now a favourite American beverage.
2255/ Rubber products
melted in hot weather, froze and cracked in cold, and adhered
to virtually everything until the day in the mid-19th century
when inventor Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped some rubber
mixed with sulfur on a hot stove. Goodyear's discovery of
what came to be known as vulcanization strengthened rubber
so it could be applied to a vast variety of industrial uses,
including, eventually, automobile tires.
2256/ In 1900, A.T. Burrows
defined a heat wave as three or more consecutive days in which
the shade temperature reaches or exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The National Weather Servicein the United States still uses
this formula for most of the country with exceptions for certain
areas. The threshold in most of California's interior is 100
degrees.
2257/ In hot weather,
the best time of the day to refuel your car to reduce ozone
pollution is in the evenings since it is cooler in the evenings,and
hence refueling in the evenings reduces evaporative emissions.
In addition, there is no sunlight available to aid in the
formation of ozone.
2258/ Britain has the
third highest consumption of ice cream in Europe, after Denmark
and Sweden. The average Briton consumes eight litres a year.
Americans lead the field, eating 21 litres each.
2259/ Ice cream Sundaes
were originally called Ice cream Sundays but the Y was dropped
to avoid offending religious leaders
2260/ The highest temperature
ever recorded at the South Pole was 8F.
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