The Heat Is On

I used to think I knew summer and winter. And spring and fall. But then I came to Japan and realized that I was, oh! so wrong... Winters in Lima (Peru's Capital City) meant freezing 15°C. Summers came with hellish 28°C...

Last week's maximum temperature raised here up to 36°C, and both a friend who used to live in Panama City, and another who used to live in Pucallpa (one of Peru's hottest cities) complaint about this one-hell of a weather... the hottest summer they'd ever lived...

Is that true? I did a quick search on Panama's and Pucallpa's maximum temperatures, and found that they reach easily 36°C. So, are they lying???

Well, I discovered they're not. There's a temperature index called humidex, which compares real temperature with subjective temperature through relative humidity. What?!?!?! Well, it's simple: the human body releases heat through sweat. When the weather's dry, sweat evaporates easily and the body keeps a fresh temperature. But when the weather's humid, sweat doesn't evaporate and the body can not keep a comfortable temperature. And you feel hot.

So what happens in Kyoto? Real temperature reaches 36°C but, because the relative humidity is so high, the subjective temperature raises up to 44°C or 46°C. And that's hot!

So now I truly believe that weather in Lima is that of a permanent spring. And I miss that...

Man, it's so hot here!