Record breaking heat wave

[kray]

For those of you in the US and Europe, how are you guys dealing with these deadly heat?

[BlueOak]

22 minutes ago, kray said:

For those of you in the US and Europe, how are you guys dealing with these deadly heat?

We hit 40 where I was. Which in a humid country like the UK could have been very high, the only saving grace was we'd had a drought so the air wasn't as heavy/humid as it usually is. The downside to that was a lot of fires. *Oh and for anyone wondering barely anyone here has AC, and the houses keep heat in, so add a few degrees more for humidity, and having poor ventilation in our houses. So sitting in 45+ at its worst I would say is a fair comparison for a country that is usually dry.

I closed all windows, drew all the curtains/blinds to keep the hot air out as long as possible, I didn't leave the house, and overworked the large fan by my side in small bursts so it didn't overheat, but by using it in short bursts I kept cooling off quick when I was sweating. Stocked up on bottled water for the fridge and a lot of ice to cool down if I needed it, I didn't in the end, but as i'd never been in that temperature I wasn't sure what was required. I opened the windows only when the outside was cooler than the inside. Ate light foods, Tried to do my cooking and errands in the mornings. Got everything in the fridge I could so it didn't spoil. Cold or Mild showers, 2 on the second day, and 3 on the hottest day.

I used it as an opportunity to make a case for AC in the UK, and to hit a few climate deniers with some basic facts. A week from now the world will forget so you have to strike while its fresh in people's memories. I don't know if the short campaign that was run on TV here did anything to shift the needle on climate change but I was thankful the mainstream were running it at least.

Thankfully where I sleep is a few degrees colder than the rest of where I live. Never worked out why, its a pain in winter but in a heatwave its glorious.

I've also seen it said that hanging a wet towel in front of a fan is good to cool off, putting your pillow in the freezer/fridge or using a cold towel over yourself at night if its too much. I didn't need that and got through it better than I expected, strange to say but thank goodness it had been a drought first, otherwise it would have been much worse.

@kray

Edited July 21, 2022 by BlueOak

[Yarco]

This is pretty typical weather for July / August in my area. I remember 100+ F humid days even as a kid in the 90s.

Before I had AC I found it helped to wipe my entire upper body down with cold water and then let it evaporate off. It's like the super-powered version of what sweating does naturally.

Also put an ice pack on the back of your neck. Largest artery in your body and will very quickly cool down your blood, which then circulates through and cools the rest of your body.

Now I just sit indoors with AC at a steady 21 C though 

The problem in Europe is that you guys don't have central heating, and you probably don't have enough room in your walls/floors to add ducts even if you wanted to. So you'd pretty much be limited to window-mounted AC units.

[Danioover9000]

@kray

   Try to limit your exposure to the sun, cold showers, make sure your ac unit is good, or was good before the heat wave, and limit down other non essential activities or body movements. Embrace the couch potato state.  

[BlueOak]

For people to better understand the relationship of humidity to temperature

https://i1.wp.com/gardendrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/HeatIndex.jpg

Annually we average around 70-90% Humidity in the UK. So at the low end of 70 we can take 36 degrees C, 96 F on the high end 32 C and 89 F before suffering extremely dangerous weather. So all I can say is thankfully the humidity was never dangerous for long, because this was air from Africa, only as the cloud came back over did it become significantly more dangerous for a time. At least for those not working or moving around in direct sunlight, or the weak/elderly, which of course 40 degrees needs some precautions for regardless.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/United-Kingdom/humidity-annual.php

Here are the effects and relationship explained in even more depth.

https://www.weather.gov/arx/heat_index

This is also why people mock england's temperatures both in summer and winter, then get here and realise its colder/hotter than they expect, as the usual moisture content of the air makes a big difference. Then they realise why english people speak about the weather a lot even if it only changes a small amount of degrees here or there because the effects are more pronounced.

Edited July 22, 2022 by BlueOak

[Stovo]

In the US you literally live in air conditioned houses and travel everywhere in air conditioned cars just to enter another building with air conditioning. 

By contrast, in Europe we don't have much air conditioning and we walk and cycle a lot more. That's why a heatwave of 30-40C in Europe is a big deal.

[hoodrow trillson]

Staying indoors with A/C on full blast and drinking cold drinks.  Maybe tonight I'll crack open a nice cold beer.   

[thepixelmonk]

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by thepixelmonk

[BlueOak]

12 hours ago, thepixelmonk said:

 

Yes these are people that not only lack the understanding of humidity's relationship with temperature but also lack the ability to press play on this link for example:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/decadaltemp.php

We can't expect news readers to understand the mechanics of it all but we can't expect them to understand the above, and also things like tipping points as talking points for the news.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/climate-tipping-points-earth/

Because these things can be studied in 5 minutes. It literally takes less than that for a child to click the first link and see the temperature rising.

[Yog]

I live naked, good for air circulation around critical parts.

We also got our first tornado here.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Yog

[Roy]

It's not that hot. Think of it as the coolest summer for the rest of your life!

[BlueOak]

8 hours ago, Roy said:

It's not that hot. Think of it as the coolest summer for the rest of your life!

40 Degrees at most times in england is simply going to be death on a large scale due to humidity. There is no other way to put it. This was not because it was dry African air.

 

*When I say large scale I mean a % of the population for clarity.

Edited July 28, 2022 by BlueOak

[Danioover9000]

   The heat wave has ended, and now begins the grey clouds wave.