Here in Gawker Media "HQ," the temperature, in the summertime, stays at approximately 43 degrees Fahrenheit (estimated), due to the wonders of air conditioning, necessitating the wearing of winter clothes inside the office during the most sweltering season of the year. Now—in a classic example of the mainstream media turning a minor everyday nuisance into something I can write a blog post about (thank god)—the Washington Post reports that office workers in DC are also very cold in the summer, because of the air conditioning. Coincidence—or trend????

A government climate report released yesterday confirms what we all guessed when we spent St. Patrick's Day sunning in our bikinis. Earth's hottest new club is America.

Congratulations Texas: You're officially hotter than a humorous image conjured by an ill-chosen newspaper headline.

July broke heat records in 11 American cities — five in Texas alone. August isn't looking much better: It'll be 109° in Dallas on Wednesday. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna vomit, drink a beer, and come back. [Weather]

Besides biting zookeepers so that the police kill you, and eating frozen mealworm novelties, what are the most effective ways to beat the heat? Well, I don't personally know of any other methods besides those two, sorry. But St. Louis motorcyclist Jacob Southard seems to have adopted a winning coolness-keeping strategy, and it's even making him micro-famous!

Today it is very hot. It is so very hot. It's just hot, y'know? Hot. How hot? Pretty hot, say our commenters. And everyone else. But here, just the commenters.

This video was uploaded to YouTube earlier today. And if I had to venture a guess, it looks like one young woman decided to beat the record-setting New York City heat by riding a Manhattan-bound D train completely naked from the waist down. No, it's not the most polite thing to do on the subway. But on a sweltering day like today, can you really blame her?

Central Park set an all-time heat record today: 102 degrees. Newark also set an all-time heat record: 104 degrees. Show offs. [City Room]

Sure is hot out there. But how hot?

While many central and southern states have been dealing with scorching temperatures for days now, it wasn't until this week that the heat wave began spreading east and enveloped the entire country. So just how much of the country is suffering from the sweltering heat? Check out the time-lapse animation from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to find out—and turn up the A/C while you're at it! [via Fark]

Whenever the thermometer creeps north of 90 degrees in NYC, you can be sure an intrepid wire photographer is going to head out and start snapping pictures of kids playing in fountains and people lounging in their underwear on park benches. Since it's so damn hot, here are some of the best "damn, it's hot" photos we could find.

It was ninety-something degrees in NYC today. Anthony Weiner's penis has been dominating the news for 24 hours now. Hotness besieges us on all sides! Need to beat that heat? Let's beat it together—with this handy list!

A town in England is planning on heating its public swimming pool with excess heat generated by a next-door crematorium. Sure, it's creepy, but think of the money that they'll save! And the ghosts that they'll get to swim with!

In what we interpret as a consequence of normal global weather fluctuations rather than evidence of the veracity of any pseudo-scientific liberal "global warming" agenda, New York City just had its hottest summer ever. How hot was it?

Today we looked at how hot it is. Or how not hot it is, rather. This of course was cause for debate among you commenters, one exchange in particular turning mean and hilarious with alarming speed.

"Wahh, I live in a Northeastern city and am unaccustomed to weather suitable for human life. Therefore I will complain about this alleged 'heat wave' we've been having." That's what I hear all the time. Hey: it's not that hot.

Hot town, summer in the city! As the mercury rises so does tension and desperation. Hungry for a story, the New York Times dispatched a reporter to fry an egg on the sidewalk. Fun, right? No! Blogs are crying foul.

Here is some unequivocally good news: The AP reports that New York's power grid is holding up "...So Far." Direct quote! Plus, "electricity demand typically jumps between 5 and 6 o'clock." That's, let's see...now! Everything's fine...so far. [Pic via]

It's hotter than Jennifer Lopez's career in 1999 outside today and if you don't have air conditioning, you're screwed. City officials have some lame tips for beating the record-breaking heat, but we've got better suggestions. Step in and chill out.

Sunday was the 4th of July. Everyone was either off work yesterday, or at work doing nothing. Today, therefore, is one of the slowest news days of the entire year. Luckily for our city's beleaguered journalists: it's hot!