Record Heat

Near-record heat continues across the southern tier of the United States this week. Today heat records are forecast to fall along the east coast of Florida. Orlando International Airport's standing record of 99 F. was set on 08/08/1987. We decided to go for a long walk on the beach on one of the hottest days ever. Probably not a great idea.

There was next-to-no sea breeze and a gentle <1 foot swell coming in off the Atlantic Ocean this afternoon around 3:00 when these images were made. Above: Ponce Inlet lighthouse. The camera is pointed due west from the north jetty of Ponce Inlet, Florida.



Above: Looking the opposite direction. It looks cool, but it wasn't. The air temperature was officially 95° F. (35° C.) at the time I was shooting these images. The dew point temperature was officially 74° F. (23.33° C.). That calculates to a heat index of 106° F. (41° C.). I would guess it felt a bit hotter as the dew point was probably higher than 74° along the beach. . .

To best describe how hot it was. . . I can only say we were sweating profusely.



Above: You can almost see the heat as a large freighter is towed into Ponce Inlet. I have to say I'm much more an environmentalist and would rather be on a beach that didn't have a parking lot in the foreground. But. . . it is what it is and we decided to visit this beach as it had been about a year since we'd been here.



Above: Far in the distance -- looking north -- you can see how the coastline curves and the massive mess of condos and hotels that is Daytona Beach. There is a thunderstorm beyond Daytona, over the ocean. I thought these "street" signs ironic.

We've spent a lot of money over the years making sure people know where to drive on the beach. . . and no. . . we didn't drive our car onto the beach. We paid $5.00 to park in an off-beach parking lot and walked about a mile to get to the water's edge. Imagine what all that salt water does to the cars that drive in those 'traffic lanes.'

Click on the image to enlarge.



Above: A pod of Bottlenosed Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) played in the very gentle surf.



A couple hours before dark when we got back to the west side of Volusia County -- 30 miles inland from the ocean -- there were a few clouds but the temperature was no less oppressive. The official air temperature at 7:00 pm was 96° F. (35.56° C.) with a dew point of 71° F. (21. 67° C.) which calculates to a heat index of 103° F. (40° C.).

Above: A shot of some crepuscular rays. That is rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. These rays stream through gaps in clouds or between other objects. Crepuscular rays are near parallel but appear to diverge.



I've found these rays particularly prevalent on extremely hot and humid days, generally late in the evening. These are sometimes referred to as "God Shots," or "Jacob's Ladder." Both references to a ladder to heaven described in the Bible's Book of Genesis Chapter 28, verses 10-19.

The rays are more prevalent on humid days as the sun light is bent and refracted by moisture and other airborne compounds and particulate matter that scatter the light and make the rays visible.

Below: The reverse of crepuscular rays are anti-crepuscular rays. Generated in the same way. . . these anti-crepuscular rays appear to converge at the antisolar point (directly opposite the setting sun).