Extremes of heat and humidity are of concern because of their impact on human health and agriculture. Presented here are several indices of summertime extreme heat. Hansen et al.'s (1998) "Common Sense Climate Index" (CSCI) proposes three measures of summer heat:
1) seasonal mean temperatures,
2) cooling degree days, and
3) frequency of ‘hot' days each year.
Gaffen and Ross's (modified) indices are the 85th percentile values of daily maximum, minimum, and average temperature, based on hourly temperature and humidity data in the United States. Each of these indices is given as a single value for each year.
Statistical relational tests of these indices will be presented and the results analyzed. We intend to show the effects of:
1)neglecting the influence of humidity on heat stress, and
2)use of monthly versus daily data. These results should provide guidance for further development of summertime heat indices for global climate change studies