The Facts about Heat and Artificial Turf

Recently, much has been said and written about artificial turf and warm temperatures.  This issue has received even more attention given the recent spell of unseasonably warm temperatures.  No one can really deny the obvious heat generated by artificial turf on abnormally hot days.  However, like everything else in the turf debate, it is critically important to conduct an eyes-wide-open, fair analysis of the perceived problem.    First, we don't live in Texas, Florida, Arizona or even southern California, so we must take an honest look at how the heat actually impacts our outdoor activities

Let's look at the facts about warm weather in Pittsburgh over the last 30 years, as published by the NOAA's National Weather Service:

The average annual HIGH temperature is 60.7 degrees.

The average HIGH temperatures in June, July and August are 79.1, 82.5 and 81.4, respectively.

The average annual number of days with a HIGH of 90 degrees or above is 7.5.

The average number of days in June, July and August with a HIGH of over 90 degrees is 1, 3 and 2.5, respectively.

Temperatures get above 100 in July ONCE every 5 years.

Temperatures get above 100 in August ONCE every 10 years.

The most intense heat wave experienced in Pittsburgh was from July 8-15, 1936 when the daily temperatures were 95, 101, 101, 94, 98, 93, 102 and 91.

On the other hand:

The average annual number of days with a HIGH below 32 degrees is 32.

The average monthly precipitation in June, July and August is 4.3 in., 3.83 in., and 3.48 in., respectively.

The average annual precipitation is 38.19 in.

The average annual number of days with precipitation in excess of .01 in. is 151.2.

The average annual number of days with precipitation in excess of  .10 in. is 83.1.

The average annual number of days with precipitation in excess of .50 in. is 24.3.

The average annual number of days with precipitation in excess of 1.0 in is 5.9.

The average number of days in June, July and August with precipitation in excess of .10 in is 7.9, 6.8 and 5.8.

What do these 30 year statistics tell us?  Living in Pittsburgh it is considerably more likely that it will rain in June, July and August than it is that the High temperature will exceed 90 degrees.  In fact, on average each year, we will have about 143 more days with rain than we will have days with a temperature of over 90 degrees.  It is about 4 times more likely that that High temperature will be below 32 than over 90 degrees.  

So, if you're asking me to choose between not playing on one of the 8 days above 90 degrees or not playing on one of the 151 days that it will rain, I'm certainly going to choose the former.  This analysis further underscores the significant increase in playing time that would be afforded to our community with the addition of turf.  Even if we imposed a strict "No Play Over 90" policy to the turf, we would still experience far fewer cancellations than we would rain outs on a grass surface.

 

Next, it is important to understand that playing games and practicing in the heat have always required some element of time management.  For example, the student-athletes who use the HS turf in the late Summer months for football, soccer and field hockey training generally do so early in the morning and later in the day to avoid the more extreme heat of the day.  That's just good common sense.