While I was making some final touches on tonight's 10:00 show during our first commercial break (just before weather), I noticed that Minneapolis-St. Paul had a 10pm temperature of 78 degrees, while Rockford was down to 76. They were 2 degrees warmer than us despite having some breaks in the overcast (we were cloudy), being almost 3 degrees latitude further north than we are, and having sat in that post-frontal cooler air for as many as 6 hours longer than we have.
So why were they warmer than us? I'm pretty sure it's because of the urban heat island effect. Minneapolis-St. Paul is a much larger metropolitan area than is Rockford. There is a lot more concrete, asphalt, and a lot more buildings to catch and absorb the sun's incoming radiation and then release it at night. Furthermore, the Rockford airport is located on the edge of town while the MSP airport is located in the heart of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
This urban heat island effect is partially why so many people who live along the east coast with this latest heat wave are suffering. Big cities are generally hotter! Especially at night. --TS
No comments:
Post a Comment