Right now in Jacksonville, the air is about 92°F, but the model estimates the asphalt under your dog's paws is closer to 131°F — a gap of roughly 39°F, because heavy cloud cover is taking some of the edge off the direct sun. That reading puts Jacksonville in the danger range, where pavement can scald paw pads in under a minute. Humidity is nudging the human "feels-like" to about 101°F, which matters for your dog too: muggy air makes it harder for a panting dog to shed heat, so treat a borderline reading as the hotter of the two.
Across the 10 hours left today, the pavement in Jacksonville is projected to top out near 131°F around 2 PM, when the air will be about 92°F — a 39°F gap between the forecast your weather app shows and the surface your dog walks on. The surface is holding roughly flat over the next three hours, so there is no meaningfully cooler hour coming soon — choose shade and grass rather than waiting it out.
In an average August, Jacksonville sees highs around 88°F and overnight lows near 76°F. Even at those moderate highs, a dark surface in direct sun can run 40–60°F hotter than the air, which is enough to tip midday walks into the caution range. As a seasonal rule of thumb, the safest windows are before about 10:00 AM and after about 5:00 PM.
Jacksonville loses its all-day safe window in 6 months of the year — April through September — and August is one of them. The year peaks in July at an average high of 89°F against 65°F in January, a 24°F swing that decides how much of the day belongs to your dog.
The nearest city we track is Gainesville, roughly 62 miles from Jacksonville — far enough that its reading is no substitute for this one. Sun angle, humidity and cloud cover can all differ across that distance, which is why this page models Jacksonville on its own coordinates.
Whatever the number says, confirm it with your hand: press the back of it flat on the pavement for seven seconds. If you can't hold it there, neither can your dog. On a day reading this warm in Jacksonville, flat-faced breeds like pugs and bulldogs, plus seniors and young puppies with thinner pads, should sit out the heat entirely — subtract about 10°F from any safe threshold for them. If you must cross hot ground, protective booties or a quick coat of paw wax are the only real barrier between paw pads and the asphalt.