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UV Index: Part One
Next time you call up your favorite weather site on the Internet, watch for the UV Index. For example, at www.weather.com the UV Index is included right under the daily forecast and might say: UV Index: 6 Moderate (more about what that means later).
Here’s a short background lesson on the UV Index, according to the NWS:The National Weather Service began t-sting an Experimental Ultraviolet Index forecast for 58 U.S. cities on - I-4-in cooperation with the
Environmental Protection Ageney—and11f~ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Weather service scientists at the NWS Climate Prediction Center developed the daily forecast product, and its supporting science.
In April 1995, the NWS removed the "experimental label” and made the UV Index a regular product. The NWS is encouraging private sector meteorologists to make similar UV indices widely available across the country. The NWS will also work with the EPA and CDC, private sector meteorologists, health and medical professionals, and the World Meteorological Organization to ensure that there is some consistency among different UV indices.6
HOW THE UV INDEX WORKS
The UV Index is reliable for approximately a 30-mile radius around the city for which it has been generated.
Here’s how it works: The UV Index assigns numerical values to the amount of UV radiation reaching the earth; lower numbers indicate less UV, higher numbers indicate more. When the sun is low in the sky and conditions are overcast, the UV Index will be a smaller number, when the sun is high in the sky and conditions are mostly clear or only partly cloudy, the UV Index will be higher.
Exposure levels are assigned this way:
Index Value |
Exposure Level |
0 to 2 |
Minimal |
3 to 4 |
Low |
5 to 6 |
Moderate |
7 to 9 |
High |
10+ |
Very High |
6Adopted from: The Ultraviolet Index. National Weather Service. April 1995.
© 2005 by the International Smart Tan Network
