New on CBIBS: Heat Index

Submitted by david.riddel on 05/29/2012

Many people who enjoy spending time on and in the Bay are planning summer getaways and adventures. And it’s getting hot! It’s important to keep tabs on temperatures before heading outside, because while warm temperatures can mean fun times with friends and family, high heat and humidity can be dangerous.

To help monitor conditions out on the water at CBIBS buoy locations, the CBIBS team has added “heat index” to the parameters tracked at each buoy location. Heat index is not a data point tracked by a sensor, but instead is a number that describes how hot it “feels” to the average person.

CBIBS is now set up to pull air temperature and relative humidity observations from each buoy and run them through a complex formula. The result is displayed as “Heat Index” in each buoy’s listings. Heat index is calculated where temperatures are over 80°F and the relative humidity is at least 40%.