u/ArtichokeKooky6361

Nighthawkinlight is at it again! Providing practical DIY heat prep !

I’ve noticed that the cinder block walls that surround my backyard are radiating heat well into the evening, making my yard basically a large oven during the summer.

Besides plant cover, do others have ideas on how to reduce this effect?

Low vitamin D is common in AS patients. Get yours checked if you haven’t for awhile. It can really help!

A dangerous, long-lasting heat wave that has brought triple-digit temperatures across much of the central and eastern United States was expected to continue Friday and through the weekend. Typical warm summer weather is not likely to return to much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic until Monday.
Around 180 million people were under extreme heat warnings or heat advisories on Friday, and many had already faced several days of severe warnings to avoid going outdoors in the hottest part of the day. Forecasters expect some of the highest temperatures around Philadelphia, which could hit 104. New York was poised to reach 101 and Washington 103.
But the sweat-inducing forecasts tell only part of the story.

On Friday, a Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade in Philadelphia for the 250th birthday of the United States was canceled, with the event’s organizers citing “extreme heat” in social media posts. In the nation’s capital, organizers of the Great American State Fair postponed all daytime activities until 5 p.m. Eastern, citing the heat in a social media post.

That followed conditions on Thursday when the heat snarled rail travel along the Northeast Corridor. Even the New England coast, a prime vacation destination known as much for its relatively temperate summers as its seafood, slowed under the weight of the humidity as patrons retreated indoors to the comfort of air conditioning.

The heat also put stress on power grids, contributing to scattered outages in New Jersey, New York and Ohio for tens of thousands of utility customers on Thursday, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.
More records are expected in coming days. By Sunday, the National Weather Service expects that over 100 daily high records will have been shattered.

Key things to know about the heat wave
On Thursday, Central Park hit 100 degrees for the first time since 2012, while Philadelphia hit 103, tying its 1901 record.

Conditions are being made worse by high humidity, leading to oppressive heat indexreadings. This index is a measure of how hot it really feels outside.

Temperatures dipping down only to the low 80s or high 70s are allowing for little relief and forecasters warned of heat-related illnesses. Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. Here’s what it does to your body, and here are tips to stay cool.

While tying a single heat wave to climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that heat waves around the world are becoming hotter, more frequent and longer lasting.

The day-by-day forecast

Friday
“Dangerous, record-breaking heat” was expected to linger on Friday, across an area spread between Illinois and Maine and Georgia, the Weather Service said. Temperatures were predicted to be similar to Thursday, with afternoon highs in the mid-90s to low 100s. The heat index could reach 115 degrees.

By 11 a.m. Eastern, the heat index had already crept above 100 degrees across the region — in some cases well above. Washington was at 110 with an actual temperature of 97; Harrisburg, Pa., was at 105 with an actual temperature of 96; and in Richmond, Va., the index reached 104 with an actual temperature of 92.

Saturday
The Fourth of July could bring some relief, but only a little. The most significant cooling was expected across the Great Lakes and northern New England, with temperatures likely to dip into the 80s.
Parts of the Northeast will likely cool slightly, with Philadelphia, New York City and Boston likely to drop a few degrees from Friday’s levels. But generally everywhere from Massachusetts to the Carolinas was forecast to stay hot, with afternoon highs in the 90s to low 100s yet again.

New York City was projected to reach 99 on Independence Day and Philadelphia 100.
Brief rain and thunderstorms over the Mid-Atlantic and near Ohio could ease temperatures.
“The showers will be mostly scattered,” said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. “Where they do occur, it will provide temporary cooling, but once the sun comes back out, it will warm back up.”

The worst of the heat on Saturday was expected in the area around Washington, with a high of 102 expected, and southward toward Raleigh, N.C., where the high could hit 105.

Sunday
Temperatures were expected to ease more broadly on Sunday, with a continued possibility of rain and thunderstorms, particularly in much of the Mid-Atlantic.

Afternoon highs in the 80s were likely across much of the Northeast and New England, but the heat will remain across the southern portion of the Mid-Atlantic and into the Southeast.
Temperatures in the 90s are forecast for the area from Philadelphia to Washington, and triple-digit heat was expected across the Carolinas.

“The worst of it will be from Atlanta toward North Carolina,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.

How to prevent heat-related illness
To stay safe in a heat wave, prevention is crucial. Drink water throughout the day and before you feel thirsty, and avoid the outdoors during the hottest part of the day, generally from late morning until late afternoon.

It is important to recognize the warning signs of extreme heat exposure, and one of the earliest ones is heat edema, or swelling in your ankles, hands and feet, said Dr. Christopher Bazzoli, an emergency medicine doctor at Cleveland Clinic. Mild, early symptoms can progress into full-blown heat stroke.
If you notice that type of swelling, head to the coolest place possible — ideally, somewhere air-conditioned. If you have to stay outside, find some shade. Elevating your feet can also help contain the swelling.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion, a moderate form of illness caused by heat, can include nausea, faintness or dizziness, muscle cramps and a racing heart rate. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, get yourself to a cool place and rest and hydrate.
A more severe form of heat illness is heat stroke, which can be fatal. People suffering from heat stroke can develop a high body temperature (at or above 103 degrees) and hot and red skin that is either dry or damp. Symptoms also include headache, dizziness, nausea and a rapid heartbeat.

When will the heat wave snap?
Not for a few days. A return to typical warm summer weather with widespread afternoon highs in the 80s was expected from the Great Lakes into the Northeast by Monday.

New York City was projected to hit 81 and Philadelphia 83 on Monday.
But air-conditioners may still remain cranked up in some areas, particularly across the Carolinas.

“It improves for most people next week, but the Southeast will stay warm and humid, but nothing record-breaking,” Mr. Chenard said.

I'm currently sitting in the middle of a wonderful heat wave. Since the air conditioner was going to be kicking hard all week, I decided to offset a bit of the added electric bill and do some real world testing by running the A/C blower off of a 6 kWh battery stack & the solar panels. I try to exercise my batteries at least every month or so, and this seemed like a good time to do it.

The good - my rough calculations put the blower using about 5-6kWh per day - I've successfully offloaded that on to solar for 6 days. I never ran out of juice and I never had to switch back over to grid power.

The not so good - solar panels really struggle when the temps are rocking the mid to upper 90's. Like 50-60% efficiency struggle. Also the blower runs a whole lot more for cool than for heat. During the winter I can get 80-90% efficiency out of the panels, 800w of solar panels is enough to keep the gas furnace going indefinitely if the weather is reasonable. In a heat wave - not so much. Sunday - Tuesday I ran the normal 800w and the batteries steadily lost ground every day. Wednesday I broke out another 400w of portable panels around mid day and they slowed the bleeding, but couldn't catch up. Thursday I switched the portables out for 400w of rigid panels starting first thing in the morning thinking surely that would take care of it - but again, nope. 1200w of panels still couldn't recover the batteries to 100%. Today I added yet another 400w - and finally was successful. The batteries topped out just before 1:00 pm this afternoon and have been running at maintaining since then.

1600w of panels never pushed more than 1000w today with clear skies and mid 90's temps. Mostly I was getting around 900w after about 9:00 am.

I also tried throwing a 100w panel outside with a smaller battery. The panel was on a picnic table with the battery underneath in the shade. That panel never topped 45w, and I eventually had to give up because the battery overheated even in the shade. The big stack lives in the basement so that wasn't an issue with them.

If your backup power plans include solar panels in an area that can get hot - factor in high temps degrading their output, and if you'd need to take the batteries outside, you may not be able to charge at all.

Hi there. I wouldn’t describe myself personally as a prepper, though I am becoming increasingly prep inclined. I don’t want to doom spiral mentally however I am in a part of Europe that is currently undergoing an extreme heatwave with high humidity, and I’m no fool - I know this will likely be one of the coldest summers (somehow) of the rest of my life. As a result, I want to make adjustments in advance of next year’s summer to live more comfortably if I can.

So I was wondering - even if it looked a little ridiculous, what would be the best everyday clothing for dispelling heat, managing air circulation and sweat evaporation? Specifically in humid climates. I know that in dry, desert countries they have figured out that robe-like full body coverings are best, but I imagine in high humidity those don’t fare so well. I do think that some level of headwear might still be in order though, just to drain the sweat from my brow.

I’m also aware that light colours, less matte textures, and specific fabrics like cotton are better for handling heat, but those are more surface-level adjustments than what I’m looking for. I’m wearing a white tshirt right now that’s fairly loose fitting and I’m still bloody boiling!!!

I want to go a step further and think about options that are a bit more out-there. Are there specialist fabrics or clothes designed specifically to handle this sort of heat? Are there any cultures that live in perpetually wet and hot climates I can take inspiration from perhaps? I will gladly wear anything less ridiculous than a potato sack if I have to… sooner or later we’ll all need to change our clothing habits so might as well start dressing the way a post-climate-change person would