Midlands Hotter than Other Parts of State
The first heat advisory of 2010 was issued Monday. For those who live in the Midlands, that’s a stern warning. According to weather experts, the Midlands is hotter than other parts of the state.
Brutal sunlight, A/C units in overdrive, water sprinklers running overtime, and no chiming for pretty wind chimes. It’s all evidence of summer in Columbia, a city known for being Famously Hot. Tim Beheler, an electrician from Charlotte, doing work in the Capital City, found that out the hard way.
“It’s a different humidity level down here, a different heat.”
He’s actually right, according to university of South Carolina Earth and Ocean Sciences professor, Dr. Venkat Lakshmi. He says being sandwiched in the middle of the state makes us a prime target for unbearable heat.
“If you go the mountains, it’s cooler. If you get closer to the coast, the beaches, you have land breeze. We are in the middle with neither mountains nor the benefit of land and sea breeze.”
If you are wondering why the humidity is so bad, here’s the professor’s explanation.
“Humidity comes from evaporation from the lawn, trees, these things are transpiring, putting out moisture into the atmosphere. If moisture doesn’t blow away because of wind, the moisture stays here, making it more uncomfortable for us.”
So uncomfortable that it can make a smoldering day feel an additional ten degrees hotter. That’s why Tim Beheler is glad his job rewiring a local building is in indoors.
