104º but it feels like 112º

It’s 104 degrees with a heat index of 112 and it’s only 3:35 p.m. It will almost certainly get hotter over the next few hours.

I’m reminded of a Dave Barry column years ago in which he wrote about “when birds are bursting into flames in midair and nuns are cursing openly on the street…”

This is that kind of heat wave.

I decided to stay home for lunch rather than banish the dogs to the back porch while I drove downtown to dine with Maria. They deserve all the air conditioning they want, being stuck in fur coats as they are.

Here’s what the National Weather Service has to say about it:

Issued by The National Weather Service
Memphis, TN
3:12 pm CDT, Wed., Aug. 4, 2010

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THURSDAY.

* HEAT INDEX READINGS HAVE CLIMBED TO AROUND 115 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL AGAIN ON THURSDAY. SOME HEAT INDEX READINGS MAY APPROACH 120 DEGREES ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40.

* THE HIGHEST HEAT INDEX READINGS WILL OCCUR BETWEEN 10 AM CDT AND 6 PM CDT EACH DAY.

* HEAT INDEX READINGS OF 115 DEGREES OR GREATER CAN BE DEADLY TO MOST PEOPLE IF THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. YOUNG CHILDREN... ELDERLY PEOPLE... THOSE WITH ILLNESSES OR HEART CONDITIONS... AND THOSE WHO WORK OR PLAY OUTDOORS ARE MOST AT RISK.

* OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL LIKELY NOT DROP BELOW THE UPPER 70S ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA... AND MAY NOT DROP BELOW THE MID 80S IN DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS. THIS WILL MAINTAIN ELEVATED HEAT STRESSES AT NIGHT FOR THOSE WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING. PROPER PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO STAY COOL DURING THIS DANGEROUS AND PROLONGED HEAT WAVE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF DANGEROUSLY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE LIKELY. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS... STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM... STAY OUT OF THE SUN... AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

&&

More Information

... POTENTIALLY DEADLY HEAT WAVE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY...

.THE HOTTEST AIR OF THE SUMMER HAS SPREAD INTO THE MID SOUTH. THE HOT TEMPERATURES IN COMBINATION WITH HIGH HUMIDITY WILL RESULT THE CONTINUED DANGEROUS HEAT WAVE. HEAT INDEX READINGS WILL CLIMB TO AROUND 115 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON AND THURSDAY. SOME HEAT INDEX VALUES COULD HIT 120 DEGREES.

OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL FAIL TO DROP BELOW 80 DEGREES IN SOME LOCATIONS... AND POSSIBLY THE MID 80S IN DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS WHICH COULD SET AN ALL-TIME WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD AT MEMPHIS. THIS WILL RESULT IN EXTREME HEAT STRESS ON THOSE WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING AND THOSE WITH PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THE OUTDOORS. PROPER PRECAUTIONS FOR YOUR SAFETY SHOULD BE TAKEN TO STAY COOL.

This is serious stuff and I pity the poor bastards who are suffering through this without air conditioning. CNN counts nine heat-related deaths in the South and Midwest so far, but I expect there will be more. Considering that much of our electric distribution system got rebuilt about 18 months ago after the January, 2009 ice storm, and much of it was hurry-up patchwork just to get the grid back up, I’m pleased and surprised that we haven’t had any power outages. Things could really get ugly if the A/C shuts down.

It occurs to me that I could shift the office window air conditioner down to the bedroom and run it with a generator if need be, but I hope it doesn’t come to that. I don’t expect it and I’m not panicked, but it’s always a good idea to think ahead and anticipate worst-case scenarios.