2002 National Electrical Code

The summer of sweat: An unhealthy heat lingers longer than usual

It's been hotter.

It's been drier.

But for sheer weather misery, it's hard to top July 2011.

Just how miserable has this month been? With Saturday's high-temperature topping out at 105 degrees at the Fayetteville Regional Airport, July wracked up its ninth day at or above 100 degrees. The Heat Index, that "feels like" combination of heat and humidity, topped 120 degrees twice.

July wilted gardens, roasted crops, sent electrical and water usage to record levels and changed fields and lawns from a lush green to that lifeless December brown.

The heat sent dozens to the hospitals, created conditions that charred thousands of acres, forced military and civilian groups to alter or abandon events and gave the phrase "Extreme Home Makeover" a whole new meaning.

The unpleasant and unhealthy combination of heat and poor air quality forced many elderly residents to stay indoors - a double whammy for folks such as Tremontie Renfro, who don't have central air conditioning.

Renfro, a 65-year-old who lives in the Hollywood Heights area, has spent much of the month hunkered next to a 20-inch box fan that desperately tries to cool one end of her tidy brick home.

"There was one morning last week when I thought it might be nice to visit my sister in Autumn Care," she said. "I stepped out onto the car port, and the heat, it liked to knock me over. It just chased me back inside.

"I hate being cooped up like this, but it's just so awful."

Let's get one thing out of the way:

It's July. It's North Carolina. It's supposed to be hot.

Fayetteville's high in July over the last 30 years has averaged between 90 and 91 degrees.

But this summer, a huge dome of high pressure settled over the Eastern U.S. in the second week of July. Locked in place by air currents over Canada, the system shimmied to the east, then west, then east again, never able to move offshore.

Beneath this dome, the atmosphere became a sort of convection oven, heating and rotating the air by day, but letting the heat escape overnight. By the third week of July, the entire eastern third of the country was baking.

"It's been an unusual stretch," said Meteorologist Gail Hartfield of the National Weather Service in Raleigh. "The temperatures themselves aren't all that unusual for July in the Fayetteville area. It's been hotter.

"The length of time the heat has lingered is unusual. What you'd expect to see are a few days of hot weather, then a break. It's the type of weather you'd be more likely to see over Texas this time of year. But the heat has been entirely home-grown.

National Electrical Code 2002 (softcover) (National Fire ...

Reference No. 1 power, the 2002 National Electrical Code is now available with the No. 1 electrical publisher today, Delmar Publishers! The most important reference in the electrical industry, the National Electrical Code (NEC) is updated every three years and outlines minimum standards for all types of electrical installations. Adopted as law by states, cities and municipalities, the 2002 edition of the NEC features newly adopted articles on transient voltage surge suppressors (Article 285), sensitive electronic equipment (Article 647), fuel cells (Article 692), and more! The latest administrative rules (eg, Article 80) and safety rules (eg Article 100 of the flash protection and Article 430 on motor disconnect locations) are also included. An excellent resource for anyone involved in electrical design, installation and inspection, NEC 2002 provides 100% of the information needed to meet Code and avoid costly errors in electrical installations of all types. Delmar is pleased to make this authoritative reference by the NFPA - containing the criteria most widely accepted and most frequently used for electrical installations in the U.S.- Available directly from us for the convenience of our customers who work in and around the electrical trades. It can be used independently or as a companion to any electrical book, including Delmar wiring sets of best-seller, as well as guides to understand and use the NEC.

2002 National Electrical Code

National electrical code, 2002

McGraw-Hill's illustrated index to the 2002 National electrical code

National Electrical Code 2002

Illustrated guide to the National Electrical Code