Holy Hellish Humidity, Batman! RT @wxchannel: Dew point values of 80 to 86 degrees in Iowa. Disgustingly humid. http://twitpic.com/259n2b
Holy Hellish Humidity, Batman! RT @wxchannel: Dew point values of 80 to 86 degrees in Iowa. Disgustingly humid. http://twitpic.com/259n2b
That’s a normal day in July or August for the DC area, stop your belly aching.
There’s no way that’s correct, dcl. I know DC is hellish in midsummer, but dew points in the 80s are highly unusual anywhere in the U.S., unless I’m very much mistaken.
That’s bad. DC doesn’t get this bad, normally. Might be close today, though. At least, it feels like it.
Relative humidity here has hovered around 50-60%, with a dewpoint in the high 60s. The highest I think I saw the past few days was relative humidity in the low 70% range. So DC humidity is not in its most oppressive state just yet.
I hate it when people say “we get worse [insert weather phenomenon here] so stop complaining”. Unless there is a HUGE difference, its a rather jerkish thing to say. People acclimate to weather, so yes, it might be more severe in one area than another on a regular basis, but that doesn’t mean temperatures outside the norm (or humidity, etc.) aren’t still significantly uncomfortable for other people. If it gets in the high 80’s and 90’s in Washington thats a big deal and really quite hot. I don’t care if it gets in the 100’s in Arizona on a regular basis, the people there are both better equipped for it (just about everyone has AC for example) and acclimated to it. Same would be true if it got below freezing in Los Angeles. Just because they aren’t getting mid-west style blizzards wouldn’t mean a single digit to teens temperature in Southern California wouldn’t be hard on the residents there.
Below freezing in Southern California wouldn’t be that bad from the standpoint that most people in CA have heaters, but not everyone near the coast has A/C, so summers can actually be much worse. Also, as the temperature drops to the freezing point, the air dries out and holds less moisture, so 45 degrees and moisture-laden air near the coast can feel just as miserable as 30 degrees but dry.
Fair enough, the dew point is only 71 at this precise moment… though the meaning of such a dew point is relative to the current temperature. Looking at the current relative humidity between here and there, it appears to be in the same ball park. In Delaware the relative humidity looks to be presently pushing 80% or more and it is not actually raining there. Now that’s freaking humid. Relative humidity in the 50 – 70% range really isn’t so bad. You just feel really sticky because sweat doesn’t evaporate very well.
David, if this were Arizona with that kind of Humidity I’d agree. This is Iowa, this isn’t really that unusual for Iowa either.
You know what’s really fun? 104 degrees, relative humidity pushing 75% and going out doing hill repeats on a bike… (Note, if you are not use to heat, humidity, and doing hill repeats, don’t try that, it could very well kill you even if you are use to it, and yes, I know that wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had.)
In my day we walked four miles to school at the bottom of a river, uphill both ways and we liked it………….
Yes, it is bleeping hot here. (“Bleeping hot” is the scientific term for temperature/heat index above “State Fair hot.”) And yes, it’s a wet heat. I went outside and my glasses fogged up.
It was 80 degrees at 8 AM and 95 by 12:30.
The weatherman on WOI, pointing to state dewpoints in the upper 70s to 81, said he had only seen a couple 83’s in his life and the highest ever recorded was 87.
It’s just past 6:30 now. The temperature is still 95, dewpoint 78, 60% humidity, and my computer room is taking the brunt of the setting sun.
Days like this are our punishment for complaining about single-digits-below-zero temperatures with two feet of snow on the ground.
I’ve never really understood how dew point and relative humidity work — a major failing for self-described “weather nerd,” I know — but I’ve always had the impression that dew point is more useful as a measure of “how freakin’ awful it feels” than relative humidity. Case in point: if the dew point ever reaches the 60s in Phoenix, which is rare but does happen during monsoon season, OH MY GAWD does it ever feel humid, notwithstanding that with a temperature of 115 or whatever, the relative humidity is still quite low. Likewise, a dew point in the 70s is damn soupy regardless of whether the temperature is 85 or 98, even though the relative humidity is much lower if the temperature is 98. So to me, hearing about dew points in the 80s is just horrifying. I don’t care what the relative humidity is — dew points in the 70s are oppressive, and in the 80s, that’s just terrible.
P.S. Likewise, if the dew point is 55 and the temperature is 65, it doesn’t feel all that humid, yet the relative humidity is higher in that scenario than if the dew point is 71 and the temperature is 89… which feels really, really humid.
My personal motto when it comes to humidity: “It’s the dew point, stupid.” But I admit this is not scientifically based, and maybe I’m wrong. It’s just my personal impression from nearly three decades of a) watching weather, and b) hating humidity.
Case in point: if the dew point ever reaches the 60s in Phoenix, which is rare but does happen during monsoon season, OH MY GAWD does it ever feel humid, notwithstanding that with a temperature of 115 or whatever, the relative humidity is still quite low.
Well no shit, Sherlock. When normal temperatures in Phoenix feel like an oven, of course 30% relative humidity is going to feel like a nightmare.
I’ve never really understood how dew point and relative humidity work — a major failing for self-described “weather nerd,” I know — but I’ve always had the impression that dew point is more useful as a measure of “how freakin’ awful it feels” than relative humidity.
My personal motto when it comes to humidity: “It’s the dew point, stupid.” But I admit this is not scientifically based, and maybe I’m wrong. It’s just my personal impression from nearly three decades of a) watching weather, and b) hating humidity.
That’s why they invented the “heat index” (the flip version of “wind chill”). Not only does it do away with the dew point vs. relative humidity debate, it allows the common shmoe to compare Phoenix heat to Miami heat.