heat unit

Of all the units that measure all the things, Scoville heat units have got to be the most antediluvian.

A mild Seattle summer day, with a high of 70 degrees and a low of 50, yields 10 heat units.

But the cold truth is the Seattle area ranks next-to-lowest in the nation for annual heat units, the measure of what tomatoes require to ripen.

The strength of peppers is measured in Scoville heat units, or SHUs, which is the number of cups of sugar water it would take to fully neutralize the spice.

On its western reaches, the gorge is among the coolest places to grow grapes in the Pacific Northwest; on its eastern border, the heat units approach Napa’s.