Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 08, 2012 is:

torrid • \TOR-id\  • adjective
1 a : parched with heat especially of the sun : hot b : giving off intense heat : scorching 2 : ardent, passionate

Examples:
As she cleaned out the attic, Monica was shocked to find a box filled with torrid love letters that her grandfather had written to her grandmother.

"The deodar cedar, although really a cool climate tree, has adjusted very nicely to the South's torrid climate." — From an article by Joe W. White in The Times (Shreveport, LA), April 20, 2011

Did you know?
"Torrid" derives from the Latin verb torrēre, 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. By the end of that century the word had taken on the extended meaning that we know today — suggesting fiery passion.