It's hard to believe, but according to something called the Sperling Heat Index, the Tampa Bay area is only the 10th most sizzling area in the country during the summer.
According to formula, the results come from combining daily high temperatures, dew points and nighttime lows. Phoenix is the warmest part of the country, followed by Las Vegas, and then three big Texas towns — Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, respectively. Miami and New Orleans are next and then the Tampa Bay area comes in at number 10.
"You want to avoid the places with a high heat index," Sperling is quoted as saying in today's USA Today, in what one could charitably call an obvious comment.
According to the index, the Tampa Bay area does have the third highest relative humidity at high temperatures at 56 percent, ranking only behind Miami and New Orleans, which were tied at 57 percent.
Meanwhile, the West Coast dominates the coolest areas in the summertime, with Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco leading the list. San Jose is the fifth coolest area (Denver is fourth), followed by Buffalo, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Detroit and Pittsburgh.