Effects of the heat index (shade values)
| Fahrenheit | Celsius | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 80–90 °F | 27–32 °C | Caution — fatigue is possible with prolonged exposure and activity. Continuing activity could result in heat cramps |
| 90–105 °F | 32–41 °C | Extreme caution — heat cramps, and heat exhaustion are possible. Continuing activity could result in heat stroke |
| 105–130 °F | 41–54 °C | Danger — heat cramps, and heat exhaustion are likely; heat stroke is probable with continued activity |
| over 130 °F | over 54 °C | Extreme danger — heat stroke is imminent |
Note that exposure to full sunshine can increase heat index values by up to 15 °F (8 °C).
Cool chart, huh? Since we’ve been here, the heat index has averaged 110 degrees Fahrenheit. No wonder I feel dizzy sometimes. I have never been more grateful for air conditioning than I have been since we came here.
I wonder sometimes what the winter will be like. The temperatures get down around 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Think about it. In the fall, you wake up in your house one morning and think, "Wow! it’s really cold in here" and you go check the thermostat and, sure enough it’s 57 degrees. It IS cold in there, so you turn on your furnace and smell the summer dust burning in your heating ducts as your house gradually warms up and gets cozy. You think about making bread or cookies or maybe even making soup, and you start considering what your kids might be for Halloween.
When I initially saw the average December and January temperatures here, I thought, "Oh, that’s not too cold. We’ll manage, no problem." Now that I’m here, I realize that none of the windows or doors tightly seals shut and there is a something significant lacking in EVERY building I have seen so far. There are NO furnaces or heaters in any of the buildings and they all have cold tile floors and cement or tile walls. Now I think about waking up and walking down the hall shivering to look at the thermostat and see 57 degrees and thinking, "Yeah, that’s cold, alright," and I realize I can’t turn on the furnace when that happens! I hope we can buy space heaters or I am going to want to run home to Mommy ASAP.
Some days I have to remind myself, "1.9 million other people live in Guangzhou and survive just fine, I can survive this."
Weathering The Journey 