Weather Tidbits: Car vs Air Temperature

This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing how the sun and outside temperature can impact the temperature inside a closed car. Shortwave radiation from the sun can penetrate through the windows of a car while the outgoing longwave radiation from inside the car cannot. This means that accumulated heat gets trapped within a closed car. Similar to the greenhouse effect. Thus, the car’s interior can heat up quickly even at modest outside temperatures.

Let’s say the outside temperature is 70 degrees. At this temperature, a car’s interior can rise to 90 degrees in 10 minutes and up to 112 degrees in an hour. At 80 degrees, a car’s interior can rise to 99 degrees in 10 minutes and up to 123 degrees in an hour. If the outside temperature is 90 degrees, a car’s interior can rise to 109 degrees in 10 minutes and up to 133 degrees in an hour!

This is important information to consider. You do not want to leave anyone inside a closed car for an extended period of time during a warm day, let alone a hot day.