“Man, it’s a hot one.” – Rob Thomas, 1999
The former Matchbox Twenty singer used that line to open up his guest appearance on Santana’s megasmash comeback hit “Smooth” over two decades ago, but never have those words been truer in the Lone Star State than right now, it seems.
Quite frankly, Texans are getting metaphorically crushed under the weight of oppressive heat, and it’s only been getting hotter.
Just this week, San Angelo broke its previous high mark when the thermometers topped 114 degrees, three degrees hotter than the previous record of 111, according to the National Weather Service.
And triple digit tallies are quickly and unfortunately becoming the norm as June stretches on.
Del Rio reached 113 on Tuesday, and Laredo climbed to 115 on Monday, a day which also marked the first 100+ degree day this year in Houston. The Texas Tribune reported Laredo, Del Rio, San Angelo and Junction hit the highest heat ever recorded.
Corpus Christi logged a never-before-seen 125-degree heat index — a combined measurement of temperature and humidity — on Saturday, said Liz Sommerville, the service’s lead forecaster there.
Temperatures in the southern and southwestern parts of the state are expected to range between 105 and 112 as the week wears on.
“The core of the heat may focus more over southern and western Texas late this week, before expanding again next weekend into the following week,” the National Weather Service reported.
So how hot is TOO hot for humans to tolerate? A recent study says the threshold may be lower than you think.
In a test involving actual people at the Noll Laboratory at Penn State University, it was determined that humidity is a deciding factor as to when humans reach their "critical environmental limit" while doing what was described as minimal daily activities.
At 100% humidity, the body's core temperature reaches dangerous levels when the surrounding temperature is just 88 degrees Fahrenheit. That tolerance increases to 100 degrees if the humidity drops to 60%, according to the study posted in Scientific American.
The report suggests that "staying well hydrated and seeking areas in which to cool down – even for short periods – are important in high heat."
So far though, Rob Thomas has yet to issue any further comments.
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