KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When you're watching your favorite on-air meteorologist talking about the heat, they usually show you a graphic of the air temperatures and/or the heat index value.
Those are pretty standard measurements taken at the different weather observing sites across the county.
There is another way to measure the heat our bodies experience, though, and it is arguably a more accurate assessment of just how much of a toll the summer conditions are taking on our bodies.
The wet-bulb globe temperature, which was developed in the 1940s and 1950s by the military to address heat-related illnesses, takes into the weather elements that impact people that are exerting themselves outside.
The biggest difference the wet-bulb globe temperature takes into account vs. heat index is the impact of sunlight.
When official temperature readings are taken at the weather observing stations, they're recorded inside a white ventilated box, which aims to get a pure air temperature reading.
That pure air temperature reading is useful in other ways but to accurately measure heat stress for someone performing sports or a job outside, sunshine must be accounted for.
Not only the amount of sunshine in a day, but the angle of the sun based on the time of day, season, and location on earth. Other variables like cloud cover and wind speed will help to lower or raise the wet bulb globe temperature.
All those variables are then put together to give you a wet-bulb globe temperature, like below. But if you notice that 90 degrees doesn't seem to be as "extreme" as the chart leads you to believe. However, it's important to focus on where that temperature falls in that chart, rather than the number itself.
Those levels then translate to a chart that recommends how much rest vs exercise (stress) someone can undergo in a given hour before a heat-related illness is likely to occur.
Athletic departments, sports medicine and occupational safety organizations use this chart to asses whether or not it's safe to spend a long time outside or how frequent breaks should occur.
In the last few years, MSHSAA and KSHAA have adopted the temperature policy for guidance on when games and practices can be held.
If you want to look at the wet-bulb globe temperature for your area, the National Weather Service has online resources available specific to theKansas City area and nationwide.
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