How hot can it get inside a closed vehicle?

Ever wonder how hot it can get inside a closed vehicle...one that has all the windows closed?  The National Weather Service conducted an experiment back in July, 2006, to find out just how hot it can get.  The results shown below suggest that temperatures inside a closed vehicle on a sunny day can be on the order of 35 to 40 degrees warmer than the air temperature outside the vehicle!  Don’t take any chances during sunny weather - don’t leave children or pets inside closed vehicles!

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An unscientific experiment was conducted at the National Weather Service office in Sullivan, WI.  The object was to determine how quickly a vehicle would heat up inside to levels that would pose a health hazard to children and pets in the vehicle with the air conditioner turned off.

The vehicle was parked with the sun to the rear and the front driver and passenger compartment shaded from direct rays from the sun.  The vehicle was dark blue, so it probably absorbed hear quicker than a light colored vehicle.

A thermometer was placed inside the closed vehicle and outside the vehicle to compare.  We then compared the interior and exterior readings against each other at timed increments.

The interior of the vehicle was first cooled to 83 degrees using the air conditioner.  Then the engine and AC were turned off and monitoring started at 12:45pm.  After only 10 minutes, the vehicle interior heated to a deadly 119 degrees while the outside temperature was 92 degrees.

Here are the results of what was observed over the next couple hours.

These readings confirm that when high temperatures occur outside, it is important not to leave children or pets in a parked vehicle, even for short periods.  As this unscientific study showed, temperatures can reach deadly levels in a matter of minutes.

(Posted 7-9-08)