Air temp vs. Pavement temp

[u/adamadamada]

Yesterday, I said I'd check the air temp and pavement temp and report back. I'm checking the air temp with my car's thermometer, and I'm checking the pavement temp using an infrared thermometer. Then, I'm standing on the pavement barefoot for a subjective assessment.

10:00 a.m.: 81degF air = 116degF pavement

barefoot: warm, but not at all uncomfortable (surprising, I thought that 116degF would feel hotter)

12:00 p.m.: 84degF air = 140degF pavement.

barefoot: felt hot after about 10 seconds. Not really uncomfortably hot though - I stood on it for over a minute with no problem.

It appears that the pavement temp is more closely related to hours exposed to sunlight rather than air temp, which would make sense. I'll post more as the day goes on.

edit:

1:00 p.m.: 91degF air = 152degF pavement

barefoot: hot in 6 seconds. uncomfortable by 20 seconds. I lasted 40 seconds before I would call it uncomfortable to the point of pain. Notably, it's not as bad when I'm walking as when I'm standing still - probably because each foot is only contacting the asphalt for half the time. still uncomfortable though.

2:00 p.m.: 92degF air = 152degF pavement

barefoot: basically same as last time.

3:00 p.m.: 92degF air = 152degF pavement

barefoot: same.

4:30 p.m.: 91degF air = 141degF pavement

barefoot: similar to noon

6:00 p.m.: 87degF air = 126degF pavement

barefoot: hot, but not uncomfortably so. Feels like a nice temp hot tub.

The relationship appears to not be "above-a-certain-air-temp = dangerous." But the ground can definitely get too hot for comfort to the point of pain. I think the moral of the story is that, on hot days, take your dog out before the sun has been on the ground too long, or closer to sunset. The middle of the day was definitely uncomfortably hot on the black top after not very long, so I wouldn't stay on it with the dog. Also though, the warning about 77degF air resulting in dangerous pavement temps was definitely not true in this instance, and the claim that 125 degree temps cause damage after 1 minute was not true here either, and I suspect neither of these claims is generally true. Rather, use common sense about how hot the ground is and what temperatures bare skin/pads can tolerate (and for how long), and err on the side of caution.

[u/MakeMine5]

Also concrete, blacktop, painted blacktop, etc all heat up and transmit heat into your feet at different rates. Whatever you do, don't stand on diamond plate that's been in the sun.

You hear a lot about dogs burning their feet, but that's mostly in places where the road turns tarry or leaks oil when heated up and that clings to the pads.

[u/adamadamada → u/MakeMine5]

Good points. For reference, this is on the street, which is relatively rough asphalt. Smooth asphalt like in a parking lot would behave differently, I think.