Iowa Summers

[Kestralyn]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

In the US, the dividing line lies roughly along the 100th parallel. It goes from about 1/2 way across the Dakotas, ... <clipped>

Do you have a source for this, by any chance? I've always wondered about it, and I'd love to see some actual research

I grew up in eastern ND (right on the Red River), and I only remember a couple of days each summer that I considered humid. Living in north-central Oklahoma now, and summer is just NASTY humid/hot here. But still, not as bad as Houston!

Everyone says Iowa summers are humid, but I suspect that it is relative, as are most weather opinions.

[Pearlbob]

I think the summers in Iowa are extremely cool and non-humid compared to western TN. It's all relative.

[mthawki]

Describing Iowa summers in the same breath as the words "cool" and "non-humid" is the funniest thing I've heard in a LOOOOONG time! The same moisture that flows from the Gulf of Mexico through western TN, makes it all the way up to Iowa. The only place in the midwest that has anything that could be called humidity relief would be the Ozarks because of the slightly higher elevation.
I remember one cool and non-humid summer in Iowa where the heat index hit 131. Good times!!! That was the same summer that the heat wave killed over 500 people in Chicago because of the lack of a/c. People basically baked in their apartments.

[Pearlbob]

I think I said "COMPARED" to west TN. The humidity in Iowa is nothing compared to the delta. It really is funny to me when I go back in the middle of July and August and the humidity up there is nonexistent, in my eyes. It's in the 90's in TN for many months, whereas up there it gets to the 90's maybe a few weeks at most (I lived there a long time). Heck, it was in the 80's just last week in TN. And it's March. It's all relative, and I don't know what the weather in Virginia is like, but compared to here...Iowa is nothing.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by mthawki

Describing Iowa summers in the same breath as the words "cool" and "non-humid" is the funniest thing I've heard in a LOOOOONG time! The same moisture that flows from the Gulf of Mexico through western TN, makes it all the way up to Iowa. The only place in the midwest that has anything that could be called humidity relief would be the Ozarks because of the slightly higher elevation.
I remember one cool and non-humid summer in Iowa where the heat index hit 131. Good times!!! That was the same summer that the heat wave killed over 500 people in Chicago because of the lack of a/c. People basically baked in their apartments.

Not so, MT. I lived in the SE before moving to Iowa. The humidity in Iowa can get just as bad as the SE, but not on a CONSISTENT basis. The humidity in IA comes and goes, as fronts move up from the south, down from the north, or over from the west. In the SE (TN, VA, SC, FL, etc.) it is consistently humid all summer long. Has to do with the SE's proxmity to the ocean and gulf, and IA's position in the middle of the continent. BTW, I now live in MN. The humidity here can get as bad as IA's (dewpoints in the 70s!), but we have fewer humid days than IA does (and I suspect IA has fewer than MO, etc.). And again, if you want to live in the Midwest but want to escape the humidity, go west ot the 100 degree meridian, which puts you roughly in the western halves of ND, SD, NE and KS.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by Kestralyn

Do you have a source for this, by any chance? I've always wondered about it, and I'd love to see some actual research

I grew up in eastern ND (right on the Red River), and I only remember a couple of days each summer that I considered humid. Living in north-central Oklahoma now, and summer is just NASTY humid/hot here. But still, not as bad as Houston!

Everyone says Iowa summers are humid, but I suspect that it is relative, as are most weather opinions.

Kerstralyn, do a Google search on 100 degrees longitude, you'll find lots of info. West of 100 degrees is basically where unirrigated farming is not viable. It's where the farms stop and the ranches begin. Some call it the point where the East ends and the West begins.

A couple summers ago I went on a long camping trip out west. The first day I drove west from home in St Paul along US 12, to the place where I hit the 100th meridian. It was a town called Selby, SD. That's where I spent the first night. (Hey, what's wrong with a little drama? Makes for a good story! )

[Chase2U]

I'm with Ben around. Ive lived in florida several times so the southeast is familiar to me. The humidity here is just as bad as it is there. Most say differently but I have to say the summers here can get super hot and humid. I would imagine some of it has to do with the jet stream, which has changed in the past several years do to the global warming. I'm not someone who gets much into the melting of planet earth, but I also remember the winters we used to have as children and it is not even close to the same. I've been to cali where theres no humidity but the smog is something terrible. Most say check arizona but I wouldnt live there for all the tea in china . As far as I'm concerned Iowa's not all bad when it comes to weather. Our season of fall is one of the best from anywhere I've been and more than makes up for a hot summer. Plus its Iowa we all have room to spread our wings...

[lhargitt]

I spent the first 23 years of my life in IL. I sure used to complain about the humidity. Now, I live in Charlotte, NC. Yes, the midwest is humid, but not on such a consistent basis as the SE. I would trade IL summers for this anytime!