Relative humidity (%) is on the vertical axis, while temperature is on the horizontal axis. Plotted together, these two variables show heat index. This chart is broken down into 4 categories of increasing concern: caution (light yellow), extreme caution (yellow), danger (orange), and extreme danger (red).

Be Heat Smart

When you are focused on “getting the job done”, your health, or the health of your helpers can suffer if you aren’t careful.  Many of you probably check the weather in the morning before starting your day.  You are probably looking to see if there is rain in the forecast and how warm it is supposed to get for the day.  That’s a great start.  One more thing you should add to your list of weather-related items to check for the day is the heat index.  The heat index is a measure that combines relative humidity (or dew point) and air temperature to approximate what the air temperature actually “feels like”.  The heat index is also what is used to help determine when it is “safe” to haul livestock.

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