A summer of record-breaking heat hasn’t been enough to keep the seriously buff off the equipment at famed Muscle Beach on South Beach. But the surrounding scorching sand is often another story.
It measured a stunning 137 degrees at peak heat one recent sunny day, according to infrared surface thermometer.
“You can’t even walk barefoot for more than a minute.” said Juvens Dalger, a personal trainer leading a workout at training site at Lummus Park. And that South Beach sand wasn’t even near the hottest thing the Miami Herald measured at popular outdoor spots across South Florida. The National Weather Service has issued a string of excessive heat warnings over the last month and a half, with “feels-like” temperatures sometimes hitting 115. That’s nothing compared to the readings recorded on many things we touch, walk on and sit on. Employing a hand-held ETEKCITY Lasergrip 774 Infrared Thermometer, the Herald recorded surface temperatures across 10 sites in Miami-Dade and Broward counties between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on days with an heat advisory or excessive heat warning.The hottest spot: 177.9 degrees on the rubberized flooring at Bryan Park playground on Coral Way in Miami. That is literally hot enough to slow cook a rack of ribs, if you give it four or five hours. The swing set seat there measured 131 degrees.
More hot (and some cooler) stuff across South Florida:
▪ Edgewater district, Miami: 130 degrees on the concrete sidewalk at Margaret Pace Park overlooking Biscayne Bay. The grass measured at relatively cool 90, which all the dogs clearly appreciated.
▪ Little Haiti, Miami: 131 degrees on the soccer park turf.
▪ Miami Gardens: 111 degrees on an un-shaded bus stop seat. It was 10 degrees cooler in the shade.
▪ North Miami: 125 degrees on a rental kayak seat at Oleta State Park and 131 on the surrounding plastic of the hull.
▪ Wynwood: 159 degrees on the dashboard of a car parked for 30 minutes in the sun. A sidewalk in the sun topped 114 but one in the shade measured nearly 20 degrees cooler.
▪ El Portal, Miami: 89 degrees on the skateboard ramp at Skatebird Miami, where a roof keeps things cool and the place packed in the hot weather.
▪ Hollywood Beach: 116 degrees on the Broadwalk asphalt.
▪ Fort Lauderdale: 130 degrees on stands overlooking the Holiday Park tennis courts, which hit 110 themselves.
