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[Loki]

A friend and I are having a disagreement as to what time of the day is the hottest. I say it is around 2 PM due to a comment a former professor of mine made; he stated that the time of maxmum Earth-generated radiation (i.e., the time when the earth radiates the heat it has absorbed from the sun) is around 2 PM. Obviously, the sun is at its apex at around noon, but I always thought that around 2 PM would be the hottest, since the sun is still pretty high in the sky, plus the heat given off by the Earth is at its maximum (supposedly).


Any ideas? Google isn't very helpful.

 

[fart]

i believe it's 2-3pm, but i don't have a source on that and i'm not a physicist

jinx?

 

[Fuzzy]

The temperature during the day isn't dependent on what time it is. There's no such thing as the hottest time of day for every day.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

In short, noon is when you have the most direct sunlight(*), and that's what's responsible for heating up the atmosphere. But, just as water doesn't start boiling the second you put it over a flame, it takes time for the atmosphere to heat up. So the hottest time of day is some time in the afternoon, but exactly when in the afternoon depends on where you are and what time of year it is.

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=628

 

[ronito]

Whenever I walk into the room baby.

 

[Loki]

The temperature during the day isn't dependent on what time it is. There's no such thing as the hottest time of day for every day.

Of course-- I'm talking about the average.

 

[White Man]

It's like 20 degrees hotter than I want it to be right now. Next time I move, it's going to be somewhere like Alaska. Or the Soviet Block.

 

[Loki]

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=628

Yeah, I read that link prior to making this topic. Let's assume we're talking about right now (i.e., early summer) on the East Coast of the US. Anyone?

 

[Incognito]

Um, the hottest period of the day down here in Texas is generally around the 4 to 5pm area. At least, that's what our forecasters tell us.

 

[BugCatcher]

Can't you just look up the hourly temperature forecast and see where it peaks? For example: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin...?query=63101&hourly=1&yday=176&weekday=Sunday
You should be able to show pretty quickly that the hottest time of day is in the afternoon.

 

[Incognito]

Can't you just look up the hourly temperature forecast and see where it peaks? For example: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin...?query=63101&hourly=1&yday=176&weekday=Sunday
You should be able to show pretty quickly that the hottest time of day is in the afternoon.

For Loki? He needs at leat 10,000 words with a number of correlating graphs. :lol

 

[suaveric]

On average, it's about 2-4 pm. But there is quite a lot that can change that.

 

[Joe]

yeah around 3pm. the sun is always at its highest peak at 12pm then it takes time to "absorb" the heat.

 

[Tenacious-V]

It's between 2-4

 

[Loki]

Um, the hottest period of the day down here in Texas is generally around the 4 to 5pm area. At least, that's what our forecasters tell us.

That's what my friend says. She says that she's heard forecasters say the same thing (she's in NJ). But we'll see...


I guess I could just look at those graphs, yeah. EDIT: That doesn't really solve the issue, since I say 2 PM and she says 4-5 PM. It skips from 1 PM to 4 PM, so it's not helpful.


EDIT: Hardy-har-har @ Lonestar.

 

[MIMIC]

I'm with the 2-3pm crowd.

 

[BugCatcher]

I said it was an example! I figured you could take it from there Go here and put in your zip code: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/

Like this: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapCli...1545410&textField2=-84.4039916992188&site=ffc

My google search: http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja&safe=off&biw=1053&q=hourly+temperature+zip+code&lr=

If you need anything more detailed than an hourly graph with a dotted line showing when the hottest time of day is somewhere in the US, then I can't help you

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

It's between 2-4

That's what I heard with 4pm being the hottest time of the day something about concrete taking 4 hours to heat up.

 

[Loki]

I said it was an example! I figured you could take it from there Go here and put in your zip code: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/

Like this: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ifps/MapCli...1545410&textField2=-84.4039916992188&site=ffc

My google search: http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja&safe=off&biw=1053&q=hourly+temperature+zip+code&lr=

If you need anything more detailed than an hourly graph with a dotted line showing when the hottest time of day is somewhere in the US, then I can't help you

Okay, this link helped, since it has an hourly graph; the previous graph, which featured intervals of 3 hours, wasn't helpful, since I said 2 PM and she said 4 PM, and the interval went from 1 to 4 PM. Thanks.


It seems that no matter the 48 hour period you graph it for, they have the "high" at 2 PM, so I'll just assume that's when it is generally.

 

[Alyssa Hu$tle]

Wouldn’t it depend on factors like the seasons and such? I know here in Melbourne Australia we are warned to stay out of the sun b/w 10am and 2pm in Winter, and 11am and 3 pm in the summer.

It would also depend on other factors such as the amount of cloud cover, I would imagine. Or the amount of pollution that day.

 

[beerbelly]

My weather network channel says 1:18pm is the hottest time of the day.

 

[Incognito]

Wouldn’t it depend on factors like the seasons and such? I know here in Melbourne Australia we are warned to stay out of the sun b/w 10am and 2pm in Winter, and 11am and 3 pm in the summer.

It would also depend on other factors such as the amount of cloud cover, I would imagine. Or the amount of pollution that day.

That's not because of heat, though. That's for UV penetration.

 

[Loki]

Wouldn’t it depend on factors like the seasons and such? I know here in Melbourne Australia we are warned to stay out of the sun b/w 10am and 2pm in Winter, and 11am and 3 pm in the summer.

It would also depend on other factors such as the amount of cloud cover, I would imagine. Or the amount of pollution that day.

Well, like I said, I was inquiring about the "average", and I also mentioned that I was referring to right now (i.e., early summer) on the East coast of the US. So that narrows it down a bit.

 

[bionic77]

In the summer I also thought the hottest part of the day was between 2-4pm. It sure as hell feels that way.

 

[suaveric]

My weather network channel says 1:18pm is the hottest time of the day.

I think that's the time of day when the most UV rays are coming down.

 

[AirBrian]

Um, the hottest period of the day down here in Texas is generally around the 4 to 5pm area. At least, that's what our forecasters tell us.

Roughly the same here too. In the DFW area, it's 4-6 PM.

Your graph, Loki:

http://www.weather.com/activities/o...-graph.html?locid=75025&begHour=11&begDay=177

 

[Loki]

Roughly the same here too. In the DFW area, it's 4-6 PM.

Your graph, Loki:

http://www.weather.com/activities/o...-graph.html?locid=75025&begHour=11&begDay=177

Thanks, Brian. The link bugcatcher posted cleared everything up, though.

 

[AirBrian]

Thanks, Brian. The link bugcatcher posted cleared everything up, though.

Oops, I missed that link. That's really a handy little link (and it also confirms the 4-6 PM for my area).

 

[Tarazet]

In my bed, it's 2 am, baby. Grrrrrrowl.

 

[Dilbert]

Wow. The answer depends on a ton of possible factors: time of year, humidity content of the air, percentage of cloud cover (especially in the morning hours), type of ground cover...and I'm sure I'm forgetting some of the possible contributors.

If you're happy with the answer "sometime in the afternoon," that works for me too.