94 Degrees Here

[RileyG]

It's been in the upper 90s all week here so I feel for you. We've been under an Excessive Heat Warning and an Air Quality Alert all week as well so I've been staying inside except for a few minutes on the balcony from time to time. I have asthma as well as several other chronic health conditions and so even though I want to go swimming with my son, I'm afraid to do so because I'm afraid it will severely affect my health.

Prayers for you, Holly.

 

[chevyontheriver]

My wife and I are in Darwin, Northern Territory at the moment.

It's a subtropical climate (in my opinion tropical). It's technically the first month of winter and the start of the "Dry", but temperatures are around 20C minimum (68F) and sometimes verging on 35C maximum (95F).

I don't think I'd like to be here in summer in the "Wet".

As an aside, I remember picking up an American passenger and his family when I was driving a cab part time some years ago. He'd just flown into Brisbane from Darwin.

He complained that every time he went to Darwin (in the "Wet" season) they got clobbered by a cyclone. I could understand someone wanting to escape the bitter cold of northern USA around Christmas.

I didn't say anything but I remember thinking to myself "Then why keep going to Darwin around Christmas?"

We tend to think that aside from your interior desert that your climate is perfect. Not realizing it’s a whole continent.

 

[Chrystal-J]

My asthma is bad because of the heat.

 

[RileyG]

My asthma is bad because of the heat.

prayers for you!

 

[Lady Bug]

Maybe dumb question but how come when it's hot, it feels like there's no air movement in a building and we feel the instinct to put on a fan, but when it's cold, we don't feel the lack of air movement?

 

[Ave Maria]

Prayers for you, Holly.

Thank you very much RileyG. I appreciate it. The heat is not so bad now but it's still too hot at times for me to do something like walking to Mass or Confession. For example, I need to go to Confession on Saturday afternoon but it's going to be 95 degrees without the heat index and I'm very hesitant to walk in heat that high for fear that I could have heat exhaustion or heat stroke. But then again, I worry more about people whose health is far worse than mine and who are even more sensitive to the heat than I am.

 

[Bob Crowley]

Maybe dumb question but how come when it's hot, it feels like there's no air movement in a building and we feel the instinct to put on a fan, but when it's cold, we don't feel the lack of air movement?

When it's cold you don't need air movement to keep cool. You've got the opposite problem of trying to keep warm. All a fan does then is to add to a "wind chill" factor.

When it's hot, you depend on sweat to carry away your body heat. The breeze from the fan evaporates the sweat and cools you down. But with no breeze all you do is swelter.

 

[Bob Crowley]

We tend to think that aside from your interior desert that your climate is perfect. Not realizing it’s a whole continent.

It's not perfect, but most of the time most of the people would be reasonably comfortable.

But that's partly due to climate control, like it is in the USA - air conditioners, heaters, fans, wood burning stoves (with the smoke annoying the neighbours) etc.

We live in Logan just south of Brisbane in Queensland. At this time of year Brisbane's maximum is not far from Darwin's minimum temperature. Conversely Hobart's maximum in Tasmania is sometimes less than Brisbane's minimum.

I suppose it would be like comparing New York or Chicago to Miami or New Orleans in winter.

Except for our limited alpine area (which is snow free in summer), I don't think we'd have central heating in any Australian homes as it doesn't get cold enough anywhere, but I could be mistaken.

 

[WarriorAngel]

I can’t complain because I prefer hot vs cold.
I’m sorry you have a hard time.