Well, it turns out it s neither it s the heat index. The heat index is the wind chill factor s evil twin. Technically it s a measure of the contributions that high humidity makes with abnormally high temperatures in reducing the body s ability to cool itself. The heat index is a relatively new invention, having been developed by a committee of meteorologists under the direction of the Marquis de Sade. Meteorologists are those people who stand in front of computer generated maps on the nightly news and look off to the side so they can talk about a low pressure system which is stalled over Kansas while they point to Maine.
Meteorologists have the best job in the world.
To really confuse the issue, summer isn t always hot. In South Africa and Australia you never hear anyone complain about the heat in the summer. That s because they get it in the winter. It turns out that a 100-year weather event can actually occur more than once in a century. To understand why this is, picture a globe.