I thought it felt pretty hot and dry outside today...guess I was right. Take notice of the humidity and the dew point. (See screen shot below.)
If I understand weather correctly, that means if the air pressure (barometric pressure) stayed the same, it would have to drop 104 degrees before dew can form, a.k.a., rain. I think it's a pretty safe bet you can leave your sunroof open today.
I compare weather in AZ and MI pretty often, and one thing that makes absolutely no sense to me is how it will say that in Phoenix in the winter that it's 65, with 7% humidity, and it feels like it's 65. Then, in East Lansing in the summer/spring/fall it will say it's 65, with 63% humidity, and it feels like 65. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?? In my experience, humidity plays a pretty big factor in how the air temperature feels. People always used to say back in MI that the air feels "thick" on humid days, which were usually hotter days. What they were actually describing is that they could feel the humidity in the air, which in turn "holds" the heat better. Think about it like this...lets say you have a cup of water and a cup of air. You then heat both the water and the air in the cups to 200 degrees. Now, after two minutes you have to put your hand into one or the other, which one would you choose? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. I'll take the cup of air for $200, Mr. Trebek.
This is how I have always pictured how humidity works: the higher the humidity (which I think you could call dew point), the more water vapor you have in the air. Since water holds heat better than air alone, it will feel hotter. SO...going back to where I started...how can both places "feel" like 65? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I feel like it's unscientific to make that kind of statement. Since moving out here I have consistently been off by 10 to 15 degrees when guessing the outside temperature. I will say it feels about 70, but it's actually 80 - 85. Well, do you really need me to tell you why? It makes perfect sense...there's very little humidity out here, so the air temperature has to be that much hotter to compensate for the lack of water vapor.
Anyways...I'm done talking now, and I think you get my point by now. According to the Weather Channel, if it's 65 with 5% humidity, it feels like 65. But also if it's 65 with 63% humidity it feels like 65 as well. I need to look into this more, because that just makes no sense to me what-so-ever, and I have never experienced it like this before. If anyone knows why, please let me know!
If I understand weather correctly, that means if the air pressure (barometric pressure) stayed the same, it would have to drop 104 degrees before dew can form, a.k.a., rain. I think it's a pretty safe bet you can leave your sunroof open today.
I compare weather in AZ and MI pretty often, and one thing that makes absolutely no sense to me is how it will say that in Phoenix in the winter that it's 65, with 7% humidity, and it feels like it's 65. Then, in East Lansing in the summer/spring/fall it will say it's 65, with 63% humidity, and it feels like 65. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?? In my experience, humidity plays a pretty big factor in how the air temperature feels. People always used to say back in MI that the air feels "thick" on humid days, which were usually hotter days. What they were actually describing is that they could feel the humidity in the air, which in turn "holds" the heat better. Think about it like this...lets say you have a cup of water and a cup of air. You then heat both the water and the air in the cups to 200 degrees. Now, after two minutes you have to put your hand into one or the other, which one would you choose? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. I'll take the cup of air for $200, Mr. Trebek.
This is how I have always pictured how humidity works: the higher the humidity (which I think you could call dew point), the more water vapor you have in the air. Since water holds heat better than air alone, it will feel hotter. SO...going back to where I started...how can both places "feel" like 65? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I feel like it's unscientific to make that kind of statement. Since moving out here I have consistently been off by 10 to 15 degrees when guessing the outside temperature. I will say it feels about 70, but it's actually 80 - 85. Well, do you really need me to tell you why? It makes perfect sense...there's very little humidity out here, so the air temperature has to be that much hotter to compensate for the lack of water vapor.
Anyways...I'm done talking now, and I think you get my point by now. According to the Weather Channel, if it's 65 with 5% humidity, it feels like 65. But also if it's 65 with 63% humidity it feels like 65 as well. I need to look into this more, because that just makes no sense to me what-so-ever, and I have never experienced it like this before. If anyone knows why, please let me know!
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2 comments:
I think you're right about the heat in Arizona...it's not that bad. Though if it ever does get humid it's miserable.
I wonder if the "feels like" temp. becomes more noticeable as the temp rises. Perhaps 65 feels roughly the same no matter the humidity. However at 110 this humidity makes a BIG difference.
To go back to your cup of air vs cup of water illustration (which is very helpful), think about the two cups at 65 degrees after 2 minutes...not much difference compared to 200 degrees.
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