heat_index#

metpy.calc.heat_index(temperature, relative_humidity, mask_undefined=True)[source]#

Calculate the Heat Index from the current temperature and relative humidity.

The implementation uses the formula outlined in [Rothfusz1990], which is a multi-variable least-squares regression of the values obtained in [Steadman1979]. Additional conditional corrections are applied to match what the National Weather Service operationally uses. See Figure 3 of [Anderson2013] for a depiction of this algorithm and further discussion.

Parameters:

  • temperature (pint.Quantity) – Air temperature

  • relative_humidity (pint.Quantity) – The relative humidity expressed as a unitless ratio in the range [0, 1]. Can also pass a percentage if proper units are attached.

  • mask_undefined (bool, optional) – A flag indicating whether a masked array should be returned with values masked where the temperature < 80F. Defaults to True.

Returns:

pint.Quantity – Corresponding Heat Index value(s)

Examples

>>> from metpy.calc import heat_index
>>> from metpy.units import units
>>> heat_index(30 * units.degC, 90 * units.percent)
<Quantity([40.774647], 'degree_Celsius')>
>>> heat_index(90 * units.degF, 90 * units.percent)
<Quantity([121.901204], 'degree_Fahrenheit')>
>>> heat_index(60 * units.degF, 90 * units.percent)
<Quantity([--], 'degree_Fahrenheit')>
>>> heat_index(60 * units.degF, 90 * units.percent, mask_undefined=False)
<Quantity([59.93], 'degree_Fahrenheit')>

Changed in version 1.0: Renamed rh parameter to relative_humidity

See also

windchill, apparent_temperature

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