I was startled when I was driving home from work on Monday and saw a video board at a business state that the temperature was 105.
I knew it was hot…and that the thermometer had almost certainly reached triple digits —- but 105? Just out of curiosity, I called the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service, and they told me the official high for the day was 100. That’s recorded at the NWS office next to Mid-Continent Airport in west Wichita.
It was a fresh reminder that the temperatures touted on various signs around the metroplex have to be taken with a grain of salt. If the thermometer at the bank or the university is out in the sun or next to a parking lot, it’s going to read several degrees warmer than what the “official” temperature is. There’s a reason, after all, that standing for extended periods on the asphalt of a parking lot or city street can seem like being in a frying pan on a warm, sunny day.
Likewise, if a thermometer is in the shade, it will likely read a few degrees cooler.
One thing I have wondered about — but am likely never to find out — is which thermometers around Wichita produce the largest gap between what they register and the official reading at the weather service office. I’m sure there have to be some whoppers out there.