With the mercury inching up the thermometer, our area was put under a heat advisory, which means we had to endure high humidity and temperatures approaching the 90s. Back when I was a Public Affairs Officer for the National Weather Service, I wrote about all kinds of weather and usually stumped people when I asked what kind of meteorological event impacts the most people every year. The answer is not tornadoes, floods, blizzards, or hurricanes but high heat.
While we may be feeling a little uncomfortable at present, the temperatures are not as bad as the 102° record measured on Long Island in 1999 or the state high of 108° at Troy in July of 1926. It's a good thing we’re not in the appropriately named Death Valley in California, where the thermometer topped out at 134° in 1913, which, by the way, is the world record.
When temperatures soar, everyone should keep an eye on their family, friends, and neighbors, especially the elderly and the infirm, who are the biggest victims of heat waves. Check on them often and make sure they’re cool. The Weather Service says to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms, and keep out of the sun, unless you’re at the beach and you can jump in the water. Make sure you use plenty of sunscreen. Be mindful of your kids—drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4. Don’t ever leave children or pets unattended in vehicles or in any hot area, for that matter.
To those suffering in the heat, think of the coldest temperature we’ve ever felt on Long Island. In 1988, it was -7° in Islip, which is a bit off the state record of -52°, as measured at Old Forge in 1979. The coldest we’ve ever shivered in the United States was in Alaska, where the mercury plummeted to -80° in 1971. If you wanted to experience the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth, you should have been at the South Pole in August 2010 when the thermometer bottomed out at -135°. The temperature swing between the hottest and coldest days ever measured on Earth is 269°–What a planet!