The word for today is…

torrid (adj) – 1. (a) Parched with the heat of the sun; intensely hot.
(b) Scorching; burning.
2. Passionate; ardent.
3. Hurried; rapid.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : Torrid derives from the Latin verb torr?re, which means “to burn” or “to parch” and is an ancestor of our word toast. Despite the dry implications of this root, it is also an ancestor of torrent, which can refer to a violent stream of liquid (as in “a torrent of rain”). Torrid first appeared in English in the 16th century, and was originally used to describe something burned or scorched by exposure to the sun. The term torrid zone later came about to refer to tropical regions of the Earth. Torrid has taken on several extended meanings that we would use for hot, including “showing fiery passion,” as in “torrid love letters,” or “displaying unusual luck or fortune,” as in “a baseball player on a torrid hitting streak.”

Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother's and father's folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, some cats and assorted computers. His...