Record temperatures are a possibility both Friday and Saturday as the ridge of high pressure that has been heating us up of late maximizes its strength. We will still likely see some high cloudiness overrunning the ridge on Friday, thrown our way from the remains of what was Hurricane Oho, but those should clear out by Saturday. Temperatures are expected to hover near 90 degrees through Saturday before a slight cooling takes place, but highs will still stay unseasonable warm through the middle of next week.

So if wrapping a thermometer in a blanket doesn’t warm it up, why do we feel warmer in a blanket? A blanket is an insulator. It is designed to prevent heat transfer from you to the outside world. We are endothermic (heat generating) creatures, and if we can keep the energy we create from being lost to the air around us, the temperature inside the blanket will rise. But if you wrap an inanimate object (like a thermometer) that doesn’t generate any heat in an insulator, unless it’s a perfect insulator (and there’s no such thing), eventually the inside of the blanket will reach the temperature of the outside of the blanket.

Of course it works the other way around as well. In extreme heat conditions (Death Valley in July), a heavy coat can keep you cooler than if you were naked.

And you’ll avoid some very unpleasant sunburn.