Current official temperatures (3 pm)
BHM 98
TCL 98
ANB 96
Ft. Payne 100
MGM 100
MOB 94
Alex City 95
UAH campus 97
It’s very hot! But, since the sun heats the ground surface and that’s what heats the atmosphere, on days like this with very light wind, it is a lot hotter right at the ground than it is just a little ways above it. The official temperature is taken at 2 meters above ground level, or about 6 feet. But, right now at UAH, it is 97 degrees at 6 feet, but 103 at 1.5 feet! Here is a graph of temperatures since last night at 7 pm (times in GMT, subtract 5 for CDT), and the difference between the temperature at 1.5 feet and 6 feet.
Overnight, when the ground was radiating heat to space and cooling the air, it was cooler right on the ground than at 6 feet. But, after the sun came out this morning and heating began, the ground has heated much faster than the air, with 4-6 degree changes most of the afternoon. If our thermometers were on a parking lot, it might be 8 degrees or more.
