Sweating Like a Native

We're having the first heat wave of the season here in Charlotte and today I learned a new term:

Heat Index.

The weather reports here give the temperature and the heat index. According to the all-knowing internet, heat index is the temperature your body feels when heat and humidity are combined. So on a day like today when it's 90 degrees and 70% humidity, it feels like 105 degrees. But if you're not used to humid heat - say because you're from a desert - the heat index doesn't get it quite right. There should be a special index for people like me and it adds another 10 degrees to the "actual temperature your body feels." Call it the "Julie's Melting in Charlotte" Heat Index.

It's going to be a long summer.