Agua wrote:timmeister wrote:80 degrees currently in Hattiesburg, MS and the heat index is 83. Light rain and pretty humid, 73%.
Hattiesburg is consistently one of the hottest places in Mississippi. I've driven through there regularly for many, many years and it is always several degrees warmer than anything even 5 miles south of it. I don't know what the deal is with Hattiesburg. I know when I went to school there, it was stifiling - the pine trees just kill any breeze unless its a thunderstorm (which then immediately adds to the intolerable humidity). Maybe its all the concrete? In any event, in a state notorious for uncomfortably warm temperatures, Hattiesburg is the worst.
I live in Oak Grove (West Hattiesburg) and there is a coal fired power plant owned by South Mississippi Electric Power Association (SMEPA) about 2 miles almost due south of my house. I know that the plant puts a lot of heat and CO2 in the atmosphere and could be the cause for the hotter temps around Hattiesburg, but I'm not a meteorologists and couldn't say for sure if it affects the temps around here. What I can say about the plant is that I have noticed that when there are summer time thunderstorms that develop around Hattiesburg, it seems that the area around the plant (almost an oval shape) doesn't get any rain but there's rain to the west, to the north, to the east and to the south. It's almost like the heat and CO2 from the coal electric plant is affecting the atmosphere and keeping the thunderstorms from developing around it. I know this sounds crazy, but I've seen it on radar on numerous occasions. Maybe someone here who's a met could chime in on this phenomenon.
Note: A typical coal plant generates 3.5 million tons of CO2 per year.
What I can say for a fact, is that we have acid rain caused by the coal power plant and it eats the clear coat off of your vehicle's paint job over time if you leave it out in the rain. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted by the plant causes acid rain, which damages crops, forests, and soils, and acidifies lakes and streams.
Note: A typical uncontrolled coal plant emits 14,100 tons of SO2 per year. A typical coal plant with emissions controls, including flue gas desulfurization (smokestack scrubbers), emits 7,000 tons of SO2 per year.
Anyway, it's just past 10:40AM here in the 'Burg and the temp is a comfortable 51°. I'm glad the muggy heat is gone for now and I'm looking forward to the Friday night temps being in the mid to upper 30's. Maybe winter has finally arrived.