Louisiana Heat Turns Car Dashboards into Ovens, Bakes Cookies

During a summer heat wave in Louisiana, ambient temperatures reaching 95 °F and higher cause parked vehicles to act like ovens. The greenhouse effect can push dashboard temperatures above 160 °F, allowing a "low‑and‑slow" bake that takes 2–4 hours. A test using ready‑to‑bake cookies on a truck dash produced fully baked cookies after three hours.

The experiment highlights the extreme interior heat of cars, which can become deadly for living beings within minutes. Officials have issued heat advisories and opened cooling centers, and experts stress that children and pets should never be left unattended in a parked vehicle.