No local readings have been entered. Brackets mark the work still owed by an actual hot day.
FIELD STATUS
Date and time: [record]
Location: [lakefront / downtown / alley / courtyard / inland road / other]
Task: [record the actual work, including whether it involves lifting, climbing, paint, masonry, roofing, gardening, or protective equipment]
1. AIR
Temperature: [record]
Relative humidity or dew point: [record]
Heat index: [record from NWS, if applicable]
The heat index combines air temperature and relative humidity. It is useful, but it is not the verdict of the body or the temperature of the place. The National Weather Service chart puts 90 degrees with 60 percent relative humidity at a heat index of 100. That is an example, not a reading from Algoma.
The index also assumes shade and light wind. Full sun can add as much as 15 degrees to the apparent exposure. This is annoying because the work that most needs doing is often not waiting politely under a tree.
2. SUN, WIND, AND SHADE
Cloud cover: [record]
Wind: [still / intermittent / steady; direction if known]
Minutes in direct sun: [record]
Nearest usable shade or cooler room: [record]
Write down where the measurement came from. A shaded weather station, a phone forecast, and the sunny side of a brick wall are reporting different things. Do not average them into one reassuring number.
3. MATERIAL HEAT
Surface: [brick / asphalt / concrete / roof / soil / metal / other]
Instrument and reading: [infrared thermometer or contact reading; record]
Same material in shade: [record for comparison]
EPA describes roads, roofs, and buildings as heat-absorbing infrastructure that releases stored energy back into the surrounding air. Surface temperature is not air temperature, and neither is imaginary. Record both if the job puts hands, knees, tools, or a ladder against the material. “Hot out” is accurate but lazy.
4. THE LAKE EFFECT, WITHOUT THE SALES PITCH
Distance from Lake Michigan: [estimate]
Wind from lake or land: [record]
Comparison point farther inland: [record only if measured at a similar time]
Wisconsin DNR says Lake Michigan’s thermal mass moderates warm summers in the coastal ecological landscape, especially near shore. Moderates is not the same as abolishes. A cooler lake breeze may help one block and fail to reach the next courtyard, roof, or protected corner. Measure the difference before giving the lake credit.
5. BODY AND WORK
Work intensity: [light / moderate / heavy, with task]
Clothing and protective equipment: [record]
Water taken: [amount and time]
Rest: [time working / time cooling / location]
Bodily report: [sweat, thirst, headache, weakness, dizziness, cramps, irritability, or none observed]
NIOSH treats occupational heat stress as the total of environmental heat, metabolic heat from work, and the burden of clothing or protective equipment. That is a better model than congratulating yourself for being tough.
For moderate work in heat lasting less than two hours, NIOSH gives a general baseline of about eight ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes, while warning against exceeding six cups per hour. Longer heavy sweating changes the electrolyte question. OSHA’s simpler rule is that rest must become longer or more frequent as heat stress rises, preferably in a cooler place.
6. WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING
Expected regional phenology, not a sighting: August in the Door County
calendar includes gentians blooming, birds beginning southward migration, and
hazelnuts ripening. Direct observation: [species, place, time, or leave blank]
Heat is not the whole field, merely the part currently making demands.
STOP RULE
Stop when judgment or coordination begins slipping, not after the task is
finished. Confusion, slurred speech, loss of consciousness, seizures, or very
high body temperature can indicate heat stroke. NIOSH says call 911, move the
person to a cooler area, and begin cooling while help comes. The wall, garden,
ladder, and schedule can remain irritated without you.