ARLINGTON, VA — Summer temperatures are rising into the 90s with Florida-like weather blanketing the South and parts of the East as hot air parches much of the West, prompting a spike in air conditioner shipments and use of a new technique from the National Weather Service to warn citizens of advancing heat waves, notes the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI).
Weather forecasters this year are using the Mean Heat Index, a measure of how hot a person actually feels over the course of a day. It differs from the traditional Heat Index in that it is an average of the hottest and coldest times of each day. A reading over 85 is considered dangerous, giving the public and government officials a warning that could prevent heat-related deaths.