In most of the Northern Hemisphere, July is the hottest month. But when folks grumble about feeling uncomfortable, they often say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” That’s so true.
How Can You Tell That It’s Humid?
You can quickly judge moisture by glancing up.
- A deep blue sky means dry air.
- A light blue sky with a nearly white horizon means average humidity.
- A sky that’s milky overhead is very humid. That’s the summertime norm in the Carolinas and the Gulf States.
Warm air can hold far more water than cold air. And the best measurement of the air’s dampness is dewpoint. That’s the temperature at which the current air mass, if cooled down, would not hold its moisture anymore, so its water changes from invisible gas to countless liquid droplets. It’s when fog forms and dew appears. When you breathe on a mirror, it fogs up because the cool glass has lowered your breath to its dewpoint.
What Is Humidity?
Let’s make sense of humidity. Let’s say it’s early morning, the air is 68°F, and it’s holding all the water it can. This means that there’s fog outside or dew on the ground. Since this air is saturated at 68º, this air has a dewpoint of 68. Its relative humidity is 100%. The temperature and dewpoint are the same.
But six hours later at midday, the air is 95°F. This hot air is now capable of holding twice as much water, so the relative humidity is now 50%. Thanks to the increased temperature, the relative humidity has changed radically. Yet it’s the same air as before, moisture-wise. Its dewpoint is still 68°.
So dewpoint is a much better gauge of air moisture than relative humidity. It’s the language spoken by meteorologists and weather nerds.
When Is Air Humid?
What’s important to know is that a dewpoint of 65ºF or higher means very humid air. A dewpoint in the low 60s is somewhat humid. A dewpoint in the 50s is pleasant. A dewpoint in the 40s feels wonderfully dry, like the air in Montana.
Here’s one more very cool fact: Air never cools below its dewpoint. So by looking up the current dewpoint, you instantly know the lowest the temperature can get to tonight. That’s assuming some new air mass isn’t marching in.
How does humidity affect the sky watcher? Let’s have more fun with humidity!
If it’s extremely hot and humid where you live, practice summer weather safety. See these sun safety trips and heat index chart.
Reader Comments
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Summertime Humidity
Hate the summers heat and humidity. I'm already counting down the days for Fall and my favorite season Winter. I'm much more comfortable in colder weather than summer. Now I'm very irritable, sluggish, can't breathe, loose weight from lack of eating. For those who love summertime heat,you can have this horrible heat I'm praying for the quick end of summer.
Reply to Alex
I feel the same. I'd rather have much cooler weather all year long. This heat and humidity is awful.
Houston
Good morning Bob! Thanks for another good article! The dew points in Houston have been in the high 70s almost all summer, each morning it is 79° and I have seen several handfuls of 80°and 81° dew point readings. I’ve lived here all my life and it seems like this summer has been the worst. Even five years ago our dew points rarely got above 76. I’m not sure what the change is, but I don’t like it! So many people don’t even know what I’m talking about when I mention this reading, so I’m going to send them your article! Happy stargazing and I hope you have clear skies for Mars viewing!