What temperature is ‘too hot’ for Mainers? The Weather Channel finds out

The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel’s Forecast Factor blog surveyed weather.com users to determine each state’s boiling point, if you will — that is, at what temperature do residents of each state consider it to be “too hot.”

“It turns out the answer to the question ‘how hot is too hot for you?’ is dependent not so much on who you are, but where you live,” said The Weather Channel’s Paul Walsh in a statement. “The effect of weather on all us, as in politics, is all local.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, folks in states like Arizona and Nevada — where they claimed to be fine in temperatures as high as 100 degrees — reported a higher threshold for heat than people in northern states.

A woodpecker checks out the temperature on this June day in Steuben. (BDN photo by Johanna Billings)

A woodpecker checks out the temperature on this June day in Steuben. (BDN file photo by Johanna Billings)

Here in Maine, according to The Weather Channel survey, our tipping point is 88 degrees. That puts us in much cooler territory than, say, Texans, but indicates we can stand more heat than New Yorkers or Ohioans, who start complaining at about 87 degrees.

Ninety degrees seemed to be the limit for a major chunk of the U.S., with the residents of 21 different states — including even some warmer places, like Florida and California — saying that was their “too hot” line.

Here in New England, Connecticut people reported the highest temperature threshold, joining that bunch at 90 degrees, while New Hampshire folks agreed with their Maine neighbors that 88 degrees is hot enough.

People from Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island said the temperature becomes too hot to enjoy once it hits 85 degrees, a number tied for lowest in the country.

Zeroing in a little closer, The Weather Channel reported that the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area boasted the highest heat tolerance, shrugging off the temperatures all the way up to 103 degrees. The folks in area of Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan, in contrast, were at the cool end of the metropolitan spectrum, with a “too hot” number of 85 degrees.

For what it’s worth, Maine is at the middle of the pack in the country in terms of its range of temperatures, ranking No. 25 exactly with a 155-degree difference between its historical high temperature of 105 degrees (set in North Bridgton in July 1911) and historical low point of -50 degrees (set around Big Black River around January 2009).

Niko Storey, 7, leaps into a makeshift waterfall at his Old Town home in this July 2014 file photo. (BDN photo by Ashley L. Conti)

Niko Storey, 7, leaps into a makeshift waterfall at his Old Town home in this July 2014 file photo. (BDN photo by Ashley L. Conti)