summer

WTF Fun Fact 13498 – Record High Temperature

Both Alaska and Hawaii share the same record high temperature of 100°F (37.8°C). It’s quite the surprise for many since Hawaii is a tropical paradise, while Alaska is often associated with icy landscapes and freezing temperatures. Let’s dive into this.

Setting the Stage for a Record-High Temperature

Alaska: Often termed “The Last Frontier,” Alaska is known for its vast wilderness, glacial landscapes, and cold climate. Its Arctic and subarctic climates lead to long, harsh winters and brief summers. However, Alaska isn’t just a frozen wasteland. It has a variety of microclimates, and during its short summer, some regions can get quite warm.

Hawaii: The Aloha State is synonymous with tropical paradise, boasting a warm climate year-round. Hawaii’s location in the central Pacific Ocean ensures it has a tropical climate moderated by oceanic influences. This results in balmy, warm temperatures throughout the year but rarely sees extremes.

The 100-Degree Record-Setting Days

For Alaska, the record was set on June 27, 1915, in Fort Yukon. This town lies just inside the Arctic Circle—a region more associated with sub-zero temperatures than scorching heat. A combination of clear skies, long daylight hours (thanks to its position close to the Arctic Circle), and specific atmospheric conditions allowed for this record-setting temperature.

Hawaii, on the other hand, saw its record 100°F on April 27, 1931, in Pahala, a small town on the Big Island. This record is especially remarkable considering Hawaii’s consistent climate. The island’s oceanic surroundings and regular trade winds generally keep extreme temperatures at bay.

Why Do Hawaii and Alaska Have the Same Record High Temperature?

The Extremes of Latitude: Alaska’s high temperature record may seem surprising, but it’s important to remember that during the summer months, areas close to the Arctic Circle experience almost continuous daylight. This phenomenon, known as the Midnight Sun, means that the ground and the air can continue warming throughout the day and night.

Oceanic Moderation in Hawaii: The vast Pacific Ocean surrounding the Hawaiian Islands plays a crucial role in keeping the state’s temperatures relatively consistent. Water has a high heat capacity, meaning it can absorb and release heat slowly. As a result, areas close to large bodies of water—like Hawaii—tend to have milder, more stable temperatures. While Hawaii does experience warmth, it’s the consistency rather than the extremes that characterizes its climate.

Microclimates and Atmospheric Anomalies: Both states have diverse topographies and climates within their borders. In Alaska, interior regions, shielded from the marine influences, can see more significant temperature fluctuations. Hawaii has elevation changes, leading to cooler areas atop Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa compared to coastal regions. Specific atmospheric conditions, such as high-pressure systems, can lead to unusually high temperatures, even in areas where they might seem out of place.

The Bigger Picture

While this shared record is an interesting climatic quirk, it also underscores the complexity of our planet’s weather and climate systems. Two states, with seemingly opposite general climates, can have moments of convergence due to a multitude of factors.

Moreover, such records emphasize the importance of understanding local weather patterns and anomalies when considering broader climate trends. Just as one cold day doesn’t negate global warming, a single hot day in Alaska doesn’t define its typical climate. It’s the broader patterns and consistent data over time that give us insight into our changing world.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “The Hottest Temperatures Recorded In All 50 States” — Weather Underground

WTF Fun Fact 13114 – The Eiffel Tower is Taller in Summer

The Eiffel Tower is taller in summer (it also shrinks in the winter). The reason? Thermal expansion (and contraction).

How is the Eiffel Tower taller in summer?

At 330 meters high, you won’t be able to tell just by looking at it that the Eiffel Tower grows by 15 centimeters in the summer. At 132 years old, the Tower spent 42 glorious years as the world’s tallest building. And the structure wasn’t even meant to be permanent.

The Eiffel tower is made of iron, puddled iron (or wrought iron) to be exact. And to be even more precise, it’s puddled iron from the Forges de Pompey near Nancy, France.

At the time, architect Gustave Eiffel had relied heavily on iron and had not worked with steel in any significant way in his architecture. Of course, steel does not change during temperature fluctuations, whereas iron does.

The growing and shrinking Tower

According to the structure’s tourism website (cited below):

“When temperatures rise, the Tower increases in size! This is a natural physical phenomenon called thermal expansion. Heat causes an increase in volume that makes the Eiffel Tower a few centimeters taller. This expansion also causes the Tower to tilt slightly away from the sun. The sun only hits one of the 4 sides of the Tower creating an imbalance with the other 3 sides, that remain stable, thus causing the Eiffel Tower to lean. In this way, the sun’s movement over the course of a clear day can cause the top of the Tower to move in a more or less circular curve measuring approximately 15 centimeters in diameter.”

You probably can’t see it in your photos, but you read that right – the Tower does lean slightly in the summer since the sun only hits one side directly, causing it to expand.

This expansion goes away when the sun isn’t strong.

Thermal contraction is a winter problem. During the cold months, the metal structure shrinks from its normal height.

You might think all this contracting and shrinking causes the iron to become weaker, but the Tower is so large that there’s no risk of cracking. It was also built to withstand wind. In fact, it was designed to sway with the wind (or at least vibrate) to avoid structural damage. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Why does the Eiffel Tower change size?” — Toureiffel.paris

WTF Fun Fact 12724 – Creating Summer Indoor Entertainment

Without Willis Carrier’s 1902 invention of the air conditioner, we’d have a very different world. And it would have started with missing out on opportunities for indoor cultural experiences in the summer when people are most commonly off from work and school.

Carrier’s original design was meant for a publishing company in Brooklyn that needed to keep its paper from expanding and contracting so it could achieve proper print quality while it was hot and humid. But not long after that, businessmen saw the opportunities to add it to factories (which technically cut off some summer break for workers who could now work more safely in the summer) and then to department stores. The real cultural moment came when it was added to movie theaters in the mid to late 1920s and regular theaters in the 1960s.

For example, Carrier’s company put an air conditioner in Lincoln Center in 1961. This extended the performing arts season in New York City from “a single season to 52 weeks a year,” according to the Carrier website.

For more cool facts and stories about the history of air conditioning, check out:
Slate, “A History of Air Conditioning”
JSTOR Daily’s “Can We Live Without Air Conditioning?”
BBC, “How Air Conditioning Changed the World”

— WTF fun facts

Source: “The History of Movie Theaters and Air Conditioning That Keeps Film Lovers Cool” — WPLF

WTF Fun Facts 12723 – No Such Thing As A “Safe Tan”

It’s been decades since we’ve known that tanning beds cause cancer and yet some folks just can’t get enough. It doesn’t help that the tanning industry continues to tout the benefits despite copious scientific evidence that they’re unsafe at best (and, at worst, deadly).

Of course, sun exposure is damaging too, but some of us can’t avoid that – you actually have to walk in and pay for skin damage at a tanning salon dispute there being no physiological benefit (for example, there’s no such thing as a “healthy base tan”).

In addition, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine estimated that more than 3,200 people are treated for tanning-related injuries in US emergency rooms every year.

It’s hard to hear for many people as “tanning addition” becomes more of a problem, especially among young, white women.

But here are just a few facts from the American Academy of Dermatology Association to provide food for thought:

  • Even one indoor tanning session can increase the risk of developing skin cancer (melanoma by 20%, squamous cell carcinoma by 67%, and basal cell carcinoma by 29%).
  • Nearly 25% of young adults the Academy surveyed were unaware or unsure that tanning beds are not safer than the sun.
  • You can’t get enough vitamin D from tanning beds because the bulbs used emit mostly UVA light; however, your body needs UVB light to make vitamin D.
  • About 20% of 18- to 30-year-old white women who use tanning beds show signs of tanning addiction. When they don’t tan, they even report feeling fidgety or depressed.

And, finally, a Forbes article laid out the issues with indoor tanning as well as some research that shows our desire to tan may actually be influenced by genetics! — WTF fun facts

Source: “10 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT INDOOR TANNING” — American Academy of Dermatology Association