>It was a Million Degrees when I was on vacation

Summer 2009 temperature exageration continues. I have heard new claims since the remarkable new world record set in Turkey in June when I heard “normal highs along the coast of Turkey of 118! Yes, new record for Turkey that would be, wow. But better still, it gets to between 135-140 degrees, yes it was quoted that by late July and August it gets to between 57-60 degree C along the Turkish coast, hotter than the WORLD RECORD.

Next one I heard was in Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands off West Africa a few weeks ago, “It did’nt feel too hot thanks to strong winds, but hey, it was still 108, hummm, yeh I think that would feel HOT, i don’t think any wind would make 108 feel cool! more rather a blow torch I would think. The actual temperature was likely 85 to possibly 90 at best since the Canaries are generally in that range throughout summer, sometimes getting to 100 when winds blow off the Sahara but winds and 85 doesn’t feel too bad. Where does the 108 come from tell me? I was in Gran Canaria in August 2003, Yes it was hot and skies every day were cloudless like they should be under the same dominant subtropical high pressure as the Sahara Desert but temps were probably only around 90 at the very highest, cooling ocean breezes made for relief although some days had minimal breeze but it still wasn’t near 100 never mind 108 which would be highest ever temp in all of the Canaries. By the way, Benidorm on the Med coast of Spain was hotter and that was the third claim that I heard, same person who claimed that they experienced sun burn but because of winds that blew beach towels across the sands, the 108 degrees they experienced wasn’t that bad.. Average for the city of Benidorm is 79, so warmer than 108 in Benidorm is EXTREMELY HOT eh… I do see where Benidorm was warmer than Tenerife, winds and upper 80s for Tenerife, 90s for Benidorm would seem about right.

Next one…. Did anyone know that Florida (Orlando area) got to an astonishing 118? The way it was told, it was AIR TEMPERATURE that hit 118 This would steam past the 109 degree state record for sure. Even combining the humidity with heat, 118 is certainly higher than I saw so far this summer, possibly heat indexes around 110 is possible in central Florida but heat index of 118 is high never mind even considering air temperature.

Like mentioned in an article I wrote a few weeks ago about people who come home from vacation and talk about temperatures that are simply not possible, why do folks exagerate and to the extreme, yet others go, “oh my, that’s amazing, I couldn’t stick that kinda heat, sure you couldn’t, especially when that temperature these people are quoting would be the hottest ever recorded on the planet. This is information either they themselves are making up or locals, other tourist, whatever are telling about stupid stats that logically speaking would never be the case. The three claims I have hear so far this summer has been downright rediculous. 130 in Greece? That was told a couple of years ago to me. The record for Europe is 123 in Portugal.

Australia is another one of those places where someone has experienced something that’s beaten the world record of 136 degrees. Perth, Western Australia has been in the “122-131” range. What’s the record for Australia? 123.3 degrees which surprised me as I thought that would have been higher.

It’s always interesting whether it be summer heat, winter cold or snow, it’s always exagerated by someone…

Thanks for reading.

-Mark