It sure was a hot one: Sampling temperatures in downtown Rochester during a heat wave

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4 days ago

It's the kind of heat that wraps around you like a blanket.
A weighted, smothering blanket.
But how hot was it on June 23 in Rochester? I decided to find out for myself.
I went for a stroll from the Democrat and Chronicle's downtown offices to get a firsthand read on the temperatures. I had a tidy 1.5-mile route planned out with a few different stops in public spaces, armed with an indoor temperature and humidity monitor.
The office was a comfortable 74 degrees, though a bit humid according to the monitor. When I stepped out onto Clinton Square, I was greeted by a blast of furnace-like heat and bright, hazy skies. For all of the days that are cloudy in Rochester — roughly 200 on average — it couldn't be this one. So I retreated to the western side of the street, enjoying some shade from tall buildings.
My first stop was the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, one of the designated cooling locations in the city. While it was apparent how hot it was outside, there are public spaces to beat the heat. (Although not at any of Rochester's R-centers this week due to scheduled summer preparation.)
Inside, I grabbed a desk next to some of the denizens of the George W. Cooper Doll Collection.
I propped up my temperature monitor and killed some time. I wanted to spend about 15 minutes at each location to ensure it had time to acclimate to the ambient temperatures. There were a few people taking advantage of the cooler indoor space, though the library was, by and large, quiet and empty.
After reading about Gov. Kathy Hochul's desire to open a new advanced nuclear facility in upstate New York somewhere and at some point in the distant future, I checked the monitor and found it was 82.6 degrees inside. So quite a bit cooler than the outside, but not the meat locker chill found in some air conditioned spaces.
My next stop was Washington Square Park, which offers plenty of shade and additional seasonal seating. There were only a handful of people in the park, though the more time I spent in the outside air, the more I appreciated the gusty breeze powering through downtown. Despite the shade and healthy bit of breeze, the heat was still noticeable and oppressive, as if held at arms-length by those favorable circumstances but not gone.
At the end of the waiting period, the shady wooden table I sat was still at 94 degrees. That's warmer than the official weather station temperature at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport at the time (just 91 degrees). It wasn't unpleasant to be outside moment to moment, but it was the kind of heat you could feel would weigh on you.
And make no mistake, there hasn't been much respite from the heat during this particular heatwave. There were two temperature records set in Rochester on June 22, and neither was the maximum temperature. Instead, it was for high low temperature at 77 degrees (besting the previous record of 72 degrees) and average temperature at 83.5 degrees.
Those warmer overnight lows are a climate change indicator and they're increasing more rapidly than daytime temperatures. There's nowhere to go from the daytime heat when the nighttime temperatures are still warm unless you have air conditioning.
The humidity doesn't help, as anyone who has experienced a New York summer can attest. The June 23 humidity wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't dangerously high, either. According to the monitor, humidity hovered in the mid to upper 40s during my walk-and-stop journey. This compared favorably to the figures at the airport. Still, the heat index, a measure factoring in temperature and humidity, exceeded the air temperature.
Here are the heat index figures at the stops on my walk, using the National Weather Service's heat index calculator:
Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County: 83.6 degrees
Washington Square Park: 100 degrees
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park: 100.9 degrees
Parcel 5: 99.3 degrees
I walked next to Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square, where the spray elements of the reflecting pool were working, including a particularly large one on the north end. A few kids were splashing in the fountain, buffeted by the geyser of water, while others floated in the shallows. Older adults stuck to the shady benches and tables, myself included, where some indirect cooling was provided by spraying or misting water.
The results from the two parks were about the same in terms of heat index, an uncomfortable 100 degrees. The heat index is considered dangerous once it reaches 103 degrees, leading to heat cramps or heat exhaustion. Even short of that, anything in the 90- to 105-degree heat index space presents a risk of sunstroke, heat cramps and heat exhaustion with prolonged exposure or physical activity. Needless to say, I was taking it easy and brought water along with me.
I walked past the site of the Rochester International Jazz Festival but opted against taking any readings there since the venues weren't active. By the time things heat up at the jazz festival, temperatures would cool a bit.
So my final stop was Parcel 5, which remains an open expanse of grass, bordered by benches and trees. The parcel was completely empty aside from myself and I snagged a bench in the small bit of shade afforded by the trees there.
The results again mirrored the shade at other parks nearby, providing a measure of relief. Though the air temperature in the shade is often the same as direct sunlight, it can feel cooler by reducing direct sun exposure and protecting you from radiant heat from nearby objects. Shade can reduce heat stress by roughly 25% to 35% throughout the day.
It was hot again on June 24 and will be at other times throughout the summer, so remember to seek shade, drink water and find indoor places to cool down if you don't have access to air conditioning at home. Stay safe out there, Rochester.
— Steve Howe reports on weather, climate and the Great Lakes for the Democrat and Chronicle. An RIT graduate, he has covered myriad topics over the years, including public safety, local government, national politics and economic development in New York and Utah.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Downtown Rochester was sweltering. How hot it got