Heat Wave (hot, warm, average, temperature)

[jgn1986]

I just checked weather.com and it showed that New York was sitting at 102 F. I had to do a double take. It's only 87 in Dallas (with over 60% humidity of course but...) it I am always interested in what constitutes a "heat wave." I've read that different parts of the nation have their own definition.

One guy from a yahoo article said that three days above 90 F is a heat wave in the Northeast. In Dallas..to me..a heat wave is when you get at least 3 weeks where the high temperature is above 100, the overnight low temperature does not drop below 80, the daytime heat index approaches 110 or higher on most days and it does not rain.

If they think 90 F temps are hot...try going outside at night...pitch black at 10 pm and it is STILL 90 F with humidity and no rain...that heat island effect is a son-of-a gun.

[Infamous92]

Originally Posted by jgn1986

I just checked weather.com and it showed that New York was sitting at 102 F. I had to do a double take. It's only 87 in Dallas (with over 60% humidity of course but...) it I am always interested in what constitutes a "heat wave." I've read that different parts of the nation have their own definition.

One guy from a yahoo article said that three days above 90 F is a heat wave in the Northeast. In Dallas..to me..a heat wave is when you get at least 3 weeks where the high temperature is above 100, the overnight low temperature does not drop below 80, the daytime heat index approaches 110 or higher on most days and it does not rain.

If they think 90 F temps are hot...try going outside at night...pitch black at 10 pm and it is STILL 90 F with humidity and no rain...that heat island effect is a son-of-a gun.

It gets like that on the East Coast too, this morning at like 1-2 AM it was still in the low-90's in the NYC area, the low was 85. That happened multiple times this year already lol. But I think that'd be extremely ultra rare for the East Coast to see 3 weeks above 100, plus Dallas is drier so the ground heats up more easily and they have more of a dry heat (but it can be humid at times). I'd count this as a heat wave though since this is our 3rd straight day above 100 degrees, I'd also count the last heat wave as a heat wave since it was over a week above 90.

I'm from The Mid-Atlantic region (lived in NYC, Long Island, NJ, & MD) and I never understood how "90 degrees" equates to being hot when it's only a couple of degrees above average. It could be 89 and people will be fine but when they say 90 people are like "OMG it's gonna be so hot" lol. The first couple of times it's all on the news and they place extra emphasis on it in the forecasts with those extra graphics and what not. 90 is normal weather to me, I'm sure it's normal to most people in the region too.

[jgn1986]

Originally Posted by Infamous92

It gets like that on the East Coast too, this morning at like 1-2 AM it was still in the low-90's in the NYC area, the low was 85. That happened multiple times this year already lol. But I think that'd be extremely ultra rare for the East Coast to see 3 weeks above 100, plus Dallas is drier so the ground heats up more easily and they have more of a dry heat (but it can be humid at times). I'd count this as a heat wave though since this is our 3rd straight day above 100 degrees, I'd also count the last heat wave as a heat wave since it was over a week above 90.

I'm from The Mid-Atlantic region (lived in NYC, Long Island, NJ, & MD) and I never understood how "90 degrees" equates to being hot when it's only a couple of degrees above average. It could be 89 and people will be fine but when they say 90 people are like "OMG it's gonna be so hot" lol. The first couple of times it's all on the news and they place extra emphasis on it in the forecasts with those extra graphics and what not. 90 is normal weather to me, I'm sure it's normal to most people in the region too.

And that's the thing...Dallas is about as dry as you get in the Eastern half of Texas...most other cities (Houston, Beaumont etc.) are way more humid (yuck!).

I agree...a lot of the northeast/mid-atlantic has weather that's similar to the south...it's just the duration of heat that is the difference...like cold weather in Texas...it gets really cold but it doesn't last nearly as long...and is much more hit and miss than in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic..except for maybe the panhandle.

[GeorgiaGirl14]

Originally Posted by Infamous92

It gets like that on the East Coast too, this morning at like 1-2 AM it was still in the low-90's in the NYC area, the low was 85. That happened multiple times this year already lol. But I think that'd be extremely ultra rare for the East Coast to see 3 weeks above 100, plus Dallas is drier so the ground heats up more easily and they have more of a dry heat (but it can be humid at times). I'd count this as a heat wave though since this is our 3rd straight day above 100 degrees, I'd also count the last heat wave as a heat wave since it was over a week above 90.

I'm from The Mid-Atlantic region (lived in NYC, Long Island, NJ, & MD) and I never understood how "90 degrees" equates to being hot when it's only a couple of degrees above average. It could be 89 and people will be fine but when they say 90 people are like "OMG it's gonna be so hot" lol. The first couple of times it's all on the news and they place extra emphasis on it in the forecasts with those extra graphics and what not. 90 is normal weather to me, I'm sure it's normal to most people in the region too.

Neither a low above 80, nor has it been in the 90s in the middle of the night has happened this year in the deep south. It most likely happens in my area east in the deep south, yet it hasn't this year.
95+ is a heatwave to me unless there is no humidity. Sadly, that is the average in July for the city right up the road from me (east not west).

[ColdCanadian]

What does no rain have to do with a heatwave?

Plants dry out in heatwaves, but mostly because they can't handle the heat, or the faster evaporation rate.

We can easily have rain (convective t-storm) in a heatwave cool us of to 85-88 F midday, only for the temps to spike back into the 90's F by 6-7pm.

A heatwave here usually means dewpoints above 72 F with highs above 90 F.

[IBrakeforTailgaters]

Around here, the meteorologists declare a heat wave when the temperature is 90 or above at least 3 days in a row. That said, we officially hit heat wave status again here today--but Mother Nature has given us some dry heat, which never happens this part of the year in the Southeast. About 5 hours ago, it was 92 degrees with a heat index of 91. That maybe only happens in April or May during our first burst of hot weather. I'm lovin' it, needless to say, as my car thermometer read 94 degrees as I left the gym and I had the windows down--no AC

[LurkerOfFate]

We have no defintion of heatwave in Australia it seems, but I did find this table describing what the offical definitions of 'warm' 'cool' etc are.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology - Weather Words

[deneb78]

Originally Posted by LurkerOfFate

We have no defintion of heatwave in Australia it seems, but I did find this table describing what the offical definitions of 'warm' 'cool' etc are.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology - Weather Words

Wow... very cold as defined as 1C or less.. so anywhere that gets frost is "very cold"... you're lucky you don't get a real winter there

[miamiman]

A heat wave in Phoenix is at least 3 consecutive days above 115.

As hot as Phoenix is, 3 consecutive days above 115 is extremely rare.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by LurkerOfFate

We have no defintion of heatwave in Australia it seems, but I did find this table describing what the offical definitions of 'warm' 'cool' etc are.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology - Weather Words

Thanks for the link.

I LOVE how 31 C (87-89 F) isn't officially considered hot in summer, anywhere in Australia.

I disagree with the classifications for summer minimums used south of 33 degrees, but north of 33 seems "spot on" with my preferences.

I agree with winter classifications of highs for every part of Australia.

I agree with winter classifications of lows from north of 33.