Brainstorm Answer: 98.6 Degrees
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Today on The Weather Notebook, an answer to our recent Weather Notebook Brainstorm question. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory.

Humans have a normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees F. We most likely feel normal when our bodies are at that temperature. But when the outside temperature is at 98.6 degrees, we feel pretty uncomfortable. Why? That's the Brainstorm: Why do we feel so warm when the outside temperature is 98.6 degrees, even though the temperature inside our body is 98.6 degrees?

Well for the answer we go to someone who speaks with some experience...Mike Benson, a listener of affiliate station KANW in Albuquerque, NM, where the temperature is known to rise to such levels on occasion:

"Humans are warm-blooded so we generate our body temperature internally, like a little heat engine and when it's cold, everything's fine. The body can balance the amount of heat it loses with the amount of heat it generates internally and we can be comfortable."

Right. And if we get really cold, we shiver. Shivering actually produces heat.

"But when the outside temperature gets up to 98.6 or in that range, we have a hard time losing heat from the body and the body still generating heat, like it always does. So, we get uncomfortable and the body has to resort to tricks like sweating to help us lose some heat so that we don't overheat and cook ourselves slowly from the inside."

Exactly. It's the combination of the hot outside temperature and a normal body temperature that makes us so...well, hot. So, when the air temperature is 98.6, it's best to stay cool, to stay normal.

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