codyg1985’s Think Tank

It gets hot around here in August.  This August has been especially hot, for it has been 100 or more degrees for over a week now.  Fortunately, it is not very humid (humidity has been around 15-20%), so it does not feel as bad outside as it would normally during the summer, but it has still been heat for the record books.

One of my coworkers brought a laser thermometer to work yesterday, and he, along with me and a couple of other coworkers, decided to go outside and measure the temperature of the surrounding environment.  We did this between 2:00 and 2:45 PM on Monday, August 13.  The air temperature was about 103 F.  Here were some of our observations:

• The concrete pavement on the west side of our building that forms a ramp up to the door was around 125 F.
• The asphalt in the parking lot on the north and west side of our building ranged between 130 F and 155 F.
• The ground/soil was 115 F in the shade.
• A recently placed asphalt patch near the northwest corner of the building registered 155 F.
• A black lid on the side of a garbage bin on the west side of our building was 145 F.
• The top of the trunk of a new, black Nissan Altima was a unbelievable 175 F.  The top of the car was even hotter, at 194 F.
• A black Chevy Tahoe (with some dust on it) was a little bit cooler, with the temperature of the back being 165 F and the top being 175 F.  The window was cracked in the Tahoe, but it did not help the driver’s leather seat, which was a blistering 190 F.
• A white Ford F-150 was a relatively cooler 130 F along the side of it, but the black bed liner was 165 F.  The bed liner was in the shade, too.

Today we may set a glass of water outside to see if it will boil (unlikely).