I've Never Been In Heat Like This

[tigerbeer]

maybe you guys should buy those little cooling fan gizmos that run on power provided by USB and set underneath the laptop. 100 something baht at any IT place.

yeah, but they have small piddly little fans compared to a 40cm house fan blowing straight in under my laptop

perhaps liquid nitrogen to be pumped into it

DB those little fans suck out the heat through the notebook and ventilates it.

never underestimate anything small my friend good things always comes in small packages

[retiredusn]

Currently..

97degrees F

47% humidity

Feels like 107 degrees f

I must be getting old your picture is Sky King

[marshbags]

Currently..

97degrees F

47% humidity

Feels like 107 degrees f

Humidity definitely makes it more uncomfrotable and acts as a barrier on the body adjusting and triggering off natures natural way of dealing with it.

Courtesy of " The Weather Doctor "

Summer Discomfort:

Mixing Heat and Humidity

We all recognize that summer is a time for warmer temperatures. But in addition to the effects of heat, personal comfort and health are strongly affected by the humidity -- the moisture content of the air. The combination of heat and high humidity may cause discomfort, heat stroke or even death to humans and animals. In fact, on average in the United States, only one weather condition, extreme cold, kills more people than high heat/humidity. For example, in July 1995, a strong heat wave killed over 600 people in the City of Chicago alone. In the heat waves of 1936, more than 4,768 Americans died from heat and high humidity. Because humidity affects the body's ability to cool itself, biometeorologists -- scientists who study the relationship between weather and life -- have looked for ways in which to combine the air temperature and humidity.

First, let us look at how the body reacts to heat and the role humidity plays in cooling the body. Then we will look at the indices which the Canadian and American weather services use to alert the public to the potential dangers of high heat and humidity.

How The Body Reacts To Excess Heat

When blood is heated above 37° C (98.6° F), the human body attempts to lose the extra heat by losing water through the skin and sweat glands, altering the rate and depth of blood circulation and, as a last resort, by panting. As body temperature rises, the heart rate increases and blood vessels dilate to increase blood flow from the body's core to the skin's surface. There, the blood is circulated through tiny capillaries threading around the upper layers of skin, and some excess heat drains off into the hopefully cooler atmosphere. At the same time, water moves from the blood through the skin, a process we refer to as perspiration or sweating. About 90 percent of the body's heat is lost through the skin, and most of that is lost through perspiration. When the air temperature is greater than 37° C, heat can only be lost through sweating.

Sweating by itself, however, does nothing to cool the body unless the water is removed by evaporation. In order to evaporate the sweat from the body, heat energy is required to change liquid water into the vapour state: 540 calories of heat energy per gram of water to be exact. That heat of vaporization is contributed by the body to the water -- that is where the cooling comes from. However, some water vapour also condenses back onto the body returning those 540 calories per gram of heat in the process. If the rate of evaporation exceeds the rate of condensation, the body will cool. The concentration of water vapour in the air, the humidity, is a prime factor in determining the degree of evaporative cooling.

Those who inhabit the areas affected by both heat and humidity often wonder about the relative comfort of desert heat, which exceeds 40° C (104° F). The answer lies in the water vapour content of the air: the humidity. In a hot, dry environment, more heat can be lost through evaporation than regained through condensation and the body cools.

When the humidity is high, however, much of the heat lost is countered by an almost equal heat gain. Thus the cooling of the body is minimal, leading to overheating. And overheating can cause discomfort at the very least and death at the very worst. Continued loss of water and a variety of dissolved chemicals such as sodium chloride -- salt -- from the body, if not replenished, can cause dehydration and chemical imbalances. Dehydration depletes the body of water needed for sweating and thickens the blood, requiring more pressure to pump it through the body, thus straining the heart and bllod vessels. In addition, the increased heart rate and blood flow may harm or kill those with heart or circulatory diseases. Research on the effects of heat and humidity on humans has shown the severity of heat disorders increases with age. Conditions which cause heat cramps in a 16-year old may cause heat exhaustion in a 40-year old and heat stroke in someone over 60.

Giving Discomfort A Number

The danger posed by heat and humidity has lead biometeorologists to develop various discomfort indices in order to define the danger and alert the public. Canadian and American weather services issue heat warnings with their weather forecasts similar to the windchill warnings of winter. In winter we are concerned about too rapid heat loss; in the summer, too slow a cooling rate.

Because these indices are, to some degree, subjective, the level of discomfort or danger will depend on a person's age, health and physical condition, on the type and amount of clothing worn, and their activity level. Besides the temperature and humidity, weather conditions such as amount of sunshine and wind speed also will affect the "feel" of temperature and humidity.

Humidex

The Canadian index, called Humidex, combines the temperature and humidity into one number which is intended to reflect perceived temperature. Here are the perceived conditions for a variety of Humidex values.

Humidex Comfort Level

Less than 29 °C No discomfort

30 to 39 °C Some discomfort

40 to 45 °C Great discomfort; exertion should be minimal

Above 45 °C Dangerous conditions, exertion should be avoided

Above 54 °C Heat stroke imminent

The Heat Index

In the United States forecasters use the Heat Index Apparent Temperature, more commonly known as the Heat Index, as their accepted measure of thermal discomfort. It is a simplification of an index developed by R.I. Steadman in 1979. Steadman originally included 20 factors in his index, but the American Heat Index is calculated only from temperature and relative humidity. Strong sunshine can increase the Heat Index value by up to 15 F. And when the air is very hot, strong winds can actually increase the body temperature rather than cool it.

The relationship between the Heat Index and heat disorders can be summarized as:

Heat Index Health Effects

80 - 90 °F Fatigue possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity.

90 -105 °F Heat cramps and heat exhaustion possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity.

105 -130 °F Heat cramps or heat exhaustion likely and heatstroke possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity.

130 °F or higher Heatstroke highly likely with continued exposure.

Tips For Enjoying Summer Heat

To best enjoy the heat of summer:

Avoid excess activity during periods of hot temperatures and high humidity.

Drink plenty of fluids and replace lost electrolytes (potassium, sodium, chloride, etc.) with foods or supplements.

Avoid the direct sun.

Avoid sunburn: the skin cannot loose heat effectively when burned.

Wear loose-fitting clothing.

Eat "light" foods such as fruit and vegetables and avoid heavy foods such as proteins which increase body heat.

Give the body time to adjust to warmer temperatures during the first hot days.

If necessary, seek areas with cooler temperatures: air-conditioned buildings, forests, lake or sea shores.

It really drains the energy from your body big time, with the obvious outcome, so listen to your body warnings, drink pleny of good fluids ( sorry not alcohol and do not overdo things.....Please.

Forgive the pun i sometimes add but Stay Coooool out there and re hydrate on a regular basis.

marshbags

You know it makes sense

Edited April 19, 2008 by marshbags

[Sir Burr]

Maybe a Mod could change the thread title?

I have mental images of small, yappy dogs trying to hump the OPs legs.

[altman]

Maybe a Mod could change the thread title?

I have mental images of small, yappy dogs trying to hump the OPs legs.

ok, i liked that.

i agree it does seem hotter, but here's some relief ...

rice bags. about 1 kg of dry rice sewn into a cloth bag. place into refrig for a bit an place on head neck and shoulders. cool. yes!

(also good when put into micro wave for heat on sore muscles.)

BTW, we ran an identical thread last year. maybe this is a seasonal thing?

[Gonzo the Face]

Maybe a Mod could change the thread title?

I have mental images of small, yappy dogs trying to hump the OPs legs.

U R A Curr Sir Burr. but after all this time the first to pick up on it congrats

[adjan jb]

Do drink alot of water - and also take alot of shower.

Do stay in shade .. one good way i find is to appply . Mint powder .

also .. another good way is try to wet the area around you ..

good luck and stay healthy

Loose weight ?

[gpdjohn]

Currently..

97degrees F

47% humidity

Feels like 107 degrees f

I must be getting old your picture is Sky King

Yep, you're right!

We're both gettin' old...

[tijnebijn]

maybe you guys should buy those little cooling fan gizmos that run on power provided by USB and set underneath the laptop. 100 something baht at any IT place.

I second that , I've got one with three blazers on it , it really works .

One more thing try to keep it as much as possible on stand by .

Those cooling fans cost me two hundred something , perhaps three , but I remember they were surprisingly cheap .

I do not hope though that the local saying is true , they say when it really gets very hot it is a sign that

the rainy season also will get very wet , hope no nam tuam .....

Edited April 19, 2008 by tijnebijn

[distortedlink]

its called global warming

Hit the nail on the head.

It gets hotter and hotter each year and is starting eariler.

The effects of global warming are especially felt here in the tropics. With the heat comes the polution. I have been suffering from a sore throat for quite some time.

But strangely the winter months of November to January felt colder than normal.

The world`s climates are really becoming messed up. Who knows whats in store for the future?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

its called global warming

Hit the nail on the head.

It gets hotter and hotter each year and is starting eariler.

The effects of global warming are especially felt here in the tropics. With the heat comes the polution. I have been suffering from a sore throat for quite some time.

But strangely the winter months of November to January felt colder than normal.

The world`s climates are really becoming messed up. Who knows whats in store for the future?

its more likely that because of all the cement, asphalt, roofs, deforestation and emissions of increased development creates a "heat island" effect. Its a well documented phenomenon in large cities like Tokyo. Global warming while its coming is barely a half degree increase at this point.

[Jefferson]

LOL.

It's most definitely NOT called global warming. It's called "The Hot Season".

The only thing out of the ordinary that I have seen were some rain showers at the end of the cool season.. Though that also happens some years, though perhaps a little less.

[cobra]

ah, this ain't hot...

John, the desert rat from Arizona, where it gets to 120 and it's really hot.

True enough, but remember the refrain " but it's a dry heat", when talking about the southwest, (AZ, Nevada, etc, ), the area just doesn't have the humidity of SE Asia.

Mixing Heat and Humidity:

We all recognize that summer is a time for warmer temperatures. But in addition to the effects of heat, personal comfort and health are strongly affected by the humidity -- the moisture content of the air. The combination of heat and high humidity may cause discomfort, heat stroke or even death to humans and animals. In fact, on average in the United States, only one weather condition, extreme cold, kills more people than high heat/humidity. For example, in July 1995, a strong heat wave killed over 600 people in the City of Chicago alone. In the heat waves of 1936, more than 4,768 Americans died from heat and high humidity. Because humidity affects the body's ability to cool itself, biometeorologists -- scientists who study the relationship between weather and life -- have looked for ways in which to combine the air temperature and humidity ...

(cut from Marshbag's excellent post),

[gpdjohn]

ah, this ain't hot...

John, the desert rat from Arizona, where it gets to 120 and it's really hot.

True enough, but remember the refrain " but it's a dry heat", when talking about the southwest, (AZ, Nevada, etc, ), the area just doesn't have the humidity of SE Asia.

Mixing Heat and Humidity:

We all recognize that summer is a time for warmer temperatures. But in addition to the effects of heat, personal comfort and health are strongly affected by the humidity -- the moisture content of the air. The combination of heat and high humidity may cause discomfort, heat stroke or even death to humans and animals. In fact, on average in the United States, only one weather condition, extreme cold, kills more people than high heat/humidity. For example, in July 1995, a strong heat wave killed over 600 people in the City of Chicago alone. In the heat waves of 1936, more than 4,768 Americans died from heat and high humidity. Because humidity affects the body's ability to cool itself, biometeorologists -- scientists who study the relationship between weather and life -- have looked for ways in which to combine the air temperature and humidity ...

(cut from Marshbag's excellent post),

Yep..a dry heat.

That's where I run into problems here, this humidity. No evap of sweat..

I'm trying to still acclimate to it, short runs, walks in the morning, early afternoon, plenty 'o fluids..

I find it is not as miserable as back home, but yeah, still can be somewhat uncomfortable.

[mcgriffith]

When blood is heated above 37° C (98.6° F), the human body attempts to lose the extra heat by losing water through the skin and sweat glands, altering the rate and depth of blood circulation and, as a last resort, by panting. As body temperature rises, the heart rate increases and blood vessels dilate to increase blood flow from the body's core to the skin's surface. There, the blood is circulated...

Excellent and most informative post, marshbags!

So know I understand why I feel such a chill when I'm at Spotlight....

[PeaceBlondie]

The American comedian Gary Shandlin is from Phoenix or Tucson, Arizona. He joked, "Oh sure, it's a dry heat: like a blast furnace!"

I take part in a Mexican forum, where they have similar seasons, and they are also complaining that April seems even hotter than usual.

[john b good]

The place that is credited with having the hottest average temperature in the world is Marble Bar which is in North Western Australia.

I spent some months working not too far from there and out in the field the temperatures got into the high 50's C

When the temperature dropped back to around 40 it felt so good.

And if talking about temperature differences I came back to Chiangmai late March one year to temps around 35 having left minus 40 behind.

70 - 75 degree change in a matter of 48 hours can take some time to acclimatise to.

[Ulysses G.]

i agree with op that it is getting hotter each year and attribute this in part to GW. there may well be incredibly boring lists / graphs from certain members saying its not as bad as other years but as we know there are lies damned lies and statistics.

1. its getting hotter

2. its getting more polluted

3. its getting drier

It was miserably hot last year. It is miserably hot this year.

Who needs evidence when we have precinct11's opinions to guide us?

[Gonzo the Face]

For what its worth, I checked Tywais posted link to weather underground at exactly 1PM and it indicated 97F/36C w/ 50% humidity

Must be some type of delay as at 13:28 it read 100F / 38C and 30% humidity and indicated that that was 28 mins ago.

Anyhow its Hot Hot Hot

[Gonzo the Face]

For those people who might say its hotter ' n He11 , take heart, you may have something to look forward to.

They also have a great amenity package, other than wing fluffing and halo polishin'

[gpdjohn]

For those people who might say its hotter ' n He11 , take heart, you may have something to look forward to.

They also have a great amenity package, other than wing fluffing and halo polishin'

Fluffing? Did you say "fluffing"?

"polishin' " ??

Saw a couple of those movies once...

[adjan jb]

i agree with op that it is getting hotter each year and attribute this in part to GW

GW Bush ?

[Priceless]

The op was saying its getting hotter each year. we know its the hot season. i agree with op that it is getting hotter each year and attribute this in part to GW. there may well be incredibly boring lists / graphs from certain members saying its not as bad as other years but as we know there are lies damned lies and statistics.

1. its getting hotter

2. its getting more polluted

3. its getting drier

I guess that I am one of those members posting "incredibly boring lists / graphs". You know, what bores me to death is all these less than brilliant members posting subjective opinions, claiming that they are somehow "truer" than facts.

Let's all join the battle for better education

/ Priceless

[mcgriffith]

And as the remarkable Crow Boy, my pal, revealed to me in a burst of almost Kabala-like wisdom-

"It's frikkin' hot, and everyone gets cranky, and they're all on the p_ss...."

Hey it's the same this year as every year. We can quibble about global warming, Dubya, the exact statistics for the last 300 years since the Dutch sailed up the river to Ayuttaya...

Bottom line is- it's hot. And our tempers are frayed.

Be like our Thai friends. Go sit under a tree in the late afternoon. Don't move too much. Have a pleasant conversation with your friends.

It will all pass, I promise you...and we will be complaining about the unremitting rains, before you know it....

[Ulysses G.]

The op was saying its getting hotter each year. we know its the hot season. i agree with op that it is getting hotter each year and attribute this in part to GW. there may well be incredibly boring lists / graphs from certain members saying its not as bad as other years but as we know there are lies damned lies and statistics.

1. its getting hotter

2. its getting more polluted

3. its getting drier

I guess that I am one of those members posting "incredibly boring lists / graphs". You know, what bores me to death is all these less than brilliant members posting subjective opinions, claiming that they are somehow "truer" than facts.

Let's all join the battle for better education

/ Priceless

I never get bored of Priceless being right!

[Dustoff]

Currently..

97degrees F

47% humidity

Feels like 107 degrees f

I must be getting old your picture is Sky King

Yep, you're right!

We're both gettin' old...

Is that the Songbird? Where's Penny (that little wench)?

I still haven't seen a reliable chart of historical daily temps for this region altho surely they are available somewhere, eh? Not that it makes any difference in how we deal with it.

These threads are commonplace every year. When it rains in March, everyone says it has NEVER rained in March in CM. When the temps get high in April, everyone says this is the hottest ever. And then, here comes May...

For me it IS hotter this year but likely because as I get older, my tolerance for heat/cold diminishes.

Just gotta learn to deal with it...

[mcgriffith]

Sky King, what a great show....and where is Ms. Penny when we need her most sorely to cool our hot and frayed tempers:

[Priceless]

Somebody quoted "lies, dam_n lies and statistics", which is attributed to Mark Twain (among others). I thought it might be interesting to see what he said about weather and temperature:

"When a person is accustomed to 138 in the shade, his ideas about cold weather are not valuable....In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy." [Following the Equator]

/ Priceless

[gpdjohn]

Sky King, what a great show....and where is Ms. Penny when we need her most sorely to cool our hot and frayed tempers:

Darn, ya beat me to it..postin the pic..

[bizzniz]

As I sit here with a icebag on my head, looking as though I have been on a all night drunk, I would like to ask, does anyone other than myself think that it is hotter this year [past 2 - 3 weeks] than it has been in years past?

The days seem a few degrees hotter and definitely the nights. Wake up in the morning and am wet with persperation...

Used to always sleep with at least a sheet for cover, but now want no cover at all.

Is there any website that record daily high temps on a day by day by the year basis.

It just feels hotter.

Gonzo

Hi, I was in Bangkok for a week ago, two days work in Sampeng, but I did fine, not drinking any water on the hole day.