Edit: Thank you all for the detailed answers! You guys are awesome.
In: 2953
For those who read along and don’t even know what Wet-bulb temperature is:
>The wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached under current ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only.
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>Even heat-adapted people cannot carry out normal outdoor activities past a wet-bulb temperature of 32 °C (90 °F), equivalent to a heat index of 55 °C (130 °F).
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>– [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature)
I haven’t touched a thermometer in years so I thought this was a weird way of determining humidity by splashing water on a filament bulb and lighting it. Only after reading the comments to make sense of this did I have that “Oh!” moment.
I worked in steam tunnels that had 130°F ambient temps. We use the chart provided by the US Army to determine the length of time that we could stay in the tunnels and also the length of time of required rest with a certain volume of water ingested.
Wet bulb temperature is a better measure of how uncomfortably hot you feel.
The WBT is a measure of how cool sweat can make your skin by evaporating.
I remember they used to do this at work in the summer. If their test ever failed they would take it again in a different spot and call it a pass. Love you corporate America.
Note that Turnip’s temperatures are in C, not F. The explanation of WB is alps not fully correct. WB is the temperature that a wetted surface will reach from evaporative cooling in a constant breeze. This is the apparent temperature to your skin.
The temperature at which air is fully saturated is the dew point temperature. When air is cooled below the dew point condensation occurs. When the dew point is low then the wet bulb temperature will also be low. If the weather person says the dew point is 55 F, and the forecast low is 50 F you can be assured that there will be dew on the grass in the morning.
There are mathematical relationships that link WB, dew point, and relative humidity. Search up a Psychrometric Chart and you can see curves that allow you to read off all of these values if you know any two of them.
Must be just me…never heard of “wet bulb” temp…Ive heard of real feel/wind temp…but wet bulb? Nope.
Ok, stupid question no 2… If you are in this situation… Can you not just find a body of large water to cool you ?
Obviously assuming there is one.
Wet bulb temperature is the coldest your body can get via sweating. If your body can’t cool off, Ie wet bulb temperature is above body temperature, you can overheat and die.
The short answer is it is the measurement we use to determine if human life is sustainable outdoors.
The way humans keep cool is by sweating, the sweat evaporates into the air and cools our skin. If there is too much humidity in the air the sweat doesn’t evaporate and we can’t cool ourselves and we could overheat and die.
Wet bulb temps measure the temperature and humidity on a scale that we can accurately assess the point at which we will die outside if left without a way to cool down.
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