That's so we can compare Houston to Waco to Dallas to Boston or New York. The temperature is recorded on a thermometer in a ventilated white box that's 3 feet by 3 feet, about four feet above the ground in a shaded, grassy area by the airport. Most people don't live in a small white box. If you're sitting on concrete in between buildings where there's no ventilation, yes, it could get up to 125. People live in the sun.
People walk on asphalt.
The truth is, the thermometer by your tennis court is really a better indication of how hot it is. But I will admit, the National Weather Service thermometer is real high-tech. It looks like something out of the Sharper Image catalog. Channel 13's Ed Brandon said I ought to stop complaining. The summer of 2000 is like a cool spell compared to the searing, deadly heat of 1980.