Another good reason to winter on SPI

You gotta love it when the action 4 chief meteorologist in the VMS describes the next five day forecast as:
Great!
Nice
Warm
Warmer
Pleasant
Perfect

But that is not what I am blogging about today

The NYT has an article today about flu and why it is most prevalent in the winter. Turns out that flu virus stays in the air much longer when conditions are cold and dry -- heat and humidity are its enemies.

“By varying air temperature and humidity in the guinea pigs’ quarters, they discovered that transmission was excellent at 41 degrees. It declined as the temperature rose until, by 86 degrees, the virus was not transmitted at all.

The virus was transmitted best at a low humidity, 20 percent, and not transmitted at all when the humidity reached 80 percent.

The animals also released viruses nearly two days longer at 41 degrees than at a typical room temperature of 68 degrees.

Flu viruses spread through the air, unlike cold viruses, Dr. Palese said, which primarily spread by direct contact when people touch surfaces that had been touched by someone with a cold or shake hands with someone who is infected, for example.“

Link