Plans this weekend need to include plenty of water and shade

If you watch 27 First News meteorologists, we put a "Feels Like" graph up of the Valley from time to time. The graph shows current heat indices for the certain cities around our neighborhood but how to they differ from regular temperatures? The temperatures just measures the heat in the atmosphere but the heat index measures the heat and humidity in the atmosphere. Again, why should we even care what it heals like if we know that its already going to be hot outside?

Hot is just plain hot. Right?

Well there is more to it than that! In a brief science lesson, when people sweat the water evaporates off there body and cools them down. However, in humid conditions, the evaporation process is slowed down so people do not cool off as quickly as say standing in dry air. This is fine if people are in cold and humid air but  not when its 90 degrees outside. People need to cool off but with the humidity is over 50%, this hinders the process to stay cool.

So if we look at the chart of heat index, we know the foretasted temperature is going to be in the mid to lower 90s with a Relative Humidity of around 50%. Connect the dots and we get a heat index or a "Feels like" temperature of around 100 degrees!

So if you are planning on going out this weekend here are some rules you will need to follow to stay cool in this extreme heat:

Rule 1: If you are planning on going for a run or being outside for a long period of time, limit your sun exposure. At the peak of the day, temperatures in the sun can be over 10 degrees warmer than in a shady spot.

Rule 2: Drink plenty of water. This rule is a given but some people do not realize that if you are planning on doing strenuous activities, that you need to start to hydrate a hour before you start sweating.

Rule 3: Done with your game or outside activities? Make sure you have some damp towels in your cooler to help cool you off quickly and decrease the change of suffering from a heat related illnesses. Oh and hydrate some more now too. Yes I put it in there twice, because it is just that important.