In the height of summer, social media is flooded with photos of home thermometers showing “scorching” temperatures of +40°C and higher. However, official weather forecasts are significantly more modest. Why is there this discrepancy, and who should we trust? Experts from the Poltava Regional Center for Hydrometeorology provide the answer to this mystery, according to “Glavkom.”
Why can a home thermometer be misleading?
The secret lies in physics. On sunny days, the objects around us—asphalt, concrete, brick walls of buildings, and metal window sills—heat up much more than the air and actively radiate this heat. When a thermometer is placed on the sunny side or even in the shade but near heated surfaces, it records the temperature of the device itself and the surrounding objects.
How Professionals Measure Temperature
To obtain objective data on air temperature, meteorologists around the world use a special device—the Thomas Stevenson psychrometric hut, invented as far back as 1864. Despite technological advances, its operating principle has remained unchanged for over 150 years. The shelter gets its name from the psychrometer—a device for measuring air temperature and humidity, which is one of the main instruments inside.
At first glance, a psychrometric hut resembles a small wooden house on legs, but every detail of its design serves an important function.
The station is installed in an open meteorological site, away from buildings, trees, and other objects that could affect air circulation or cause additional heating.
