Is dry heat overrated?/Houston/El Paso humidity?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Clodius et Claudius.

Hello, I am from Irvine, a suburb 65 km/40 miles southwest of Los Angeles.

The summers there are very hot (often topping 35 C or 95 F) but the humidity is very low, averaging at 20%. I think the heat is intolerable here! In Hong Kong, it often reached 35 C and the humidity was on average 96% (reaching 100% occasionally) but the heat was better than Las Vegas, at 42 C (110 F) and very low humidity.

I have heard people claim that dry heat feels much more comfortable than humid heat because you sweat less. I certainly did sweat profusely in Hong Kong, but at least there was some ocean breeze and shade from clouds, whereas in Irvine/Las Vegas there is NO SHADE, NO CLOUDS, and NO BREEZE. The sunlight was immensely painful; it was like being barbequed, and I still sweated profusely.That's why I think dry heat is overrated.

Stereotypically, Texas is desert, but now I know that only the El Paso area has dry heat. I've heard Houston is humid. Is it as humid as Miami? Hong Kong?

I've heard someone say that they didn't want to get off the plane in Houston due to the humidity. Then, my mother (who has been to Houston in the summer) said that Houston was HOT but not that humid.

FYI, during the summer, Hong Kong averages 96% humidity in the daytime, reaching 100% w/o rain sometimes, and 85% is considered a "comfortable" level. It takes a miracle for the humidity to drop below 85%!

Would someone please tell me how Houston and El Paso stacks up to Hong Kong/LA and whether dry heat is overrated in your opinion!

I have lived in dry heat, middle of the road, like California and true humidity like Texas and DC. When temps get close to 100 degrees, it is hotter than Hell, dry or not dry. The big difference is the cooling off at night, not the actual temp. I remember being in Phoenix many years ago over Labor day: temps at night were still hovering around 100. We lived in Texas at the time, and I don't think Texas, at night ever felt any hotter than Phoenix did that night. Give me very little humidity and temps in the mid 80s, but I know this is just a dream.

BTW: Houston might have humidity almost as bad as Hong Kong, but El Paso doesn't. Yes, we have been in Hong Kong a couple of times and not during the summer, the humidity is really bad.

[HBsteve]

These posts on the horrible OC weather really crack me up.

I lived in Houston for eight years. For about 6-7 months of the year, the heat and humidity make things extremely uncomfortable. You go from air conditioned house (the A/C ran all night, otherwise you would have had great difficulty sleeping, as we did when our power was out for two weeks after Hurricane Ike) to air conditioned car, to air conditioned work, and back. Sure you can do things outside, but you'll sweat like crazy. And no all that sweat isn't making you cooler. All that sweat is stuck on your skin because the air is already saturated. Unable to cool itself, your body heats up more than it would if that sweat could evaporate as it does in a dryer climate. The dew point in Houston right now, at midnight local time in late August, is 70 - which is uncomfortable. It peaked today at 76 (per wikipedia, 75-80 is "extremely uncomfortable, fairly oppressive"). The dew point in Santa Ana over the past three days peaked at 65 and most of the time was closer to 60.

In Orange County, within about 5 miles of the coast, the ocean breeze provides considerable cooling (unlike the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures can approach 90 in the summer) and it is common to not have or need air conditioning. Further inland, it does get hot, and air conditioning is very common. I live in Northern OC and the A/C runs a lot in the daytime, but isn't needed at night. For mid-day outdoor activities, it is hot, and you do sweat a lot. But the sweat evaporates and you feel cooler than you would in Houston or other places in the southeast. There's a reason the southeast is labeled "humid subtropical" on a climate map while coastal California is "Mediterranean".

Is the OC weather perfect 365 days a year? No. Is it closer than pretty much anywhere else? Yes. But it's ok if you want to complain about it. We all need a good laugh.

[JohnSoCal]

I have lived in many different climates in Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and many US states. I lived 8 tears in SE Florida, 5 years in Phoenix, Pacific Northwest, and California. The only place I have found with a better climate than Southern California was Caracas Venezuela where it was typically 82-84 high and 60 low with low humidity all year around.

I realize that everybody has their own weather preferences so the best climate is the one that suits you.

[8to32characters]

I prefer the mild humidity of coastal California vs. the extremely dry desert air of Arizona. Very dry air isn't healthy for human beings, as it often causes a host of ailments, up to and including nosebleeds, chapped lips, cracked hands, and calloused feet. In some people, extremely dry air can cause/trigger eczema, asthma, bronchitis, or sinusitis. Valley Fever is a major health concern in the desert areas of North America, too.

[k374]

Originally Posted by HBsteve

In Orange County, within about 5 miles of the coast, the ocean breeze provides considerable cooling

false. I live 2 miles unobstructed from the beach as the crow files and I keep my apartment windows open, when I get back from work it's an oven. I don't have any AC so I have to use a fan which doesn't do much cooling. Not good. I was outside the past weekend and I did sweat due to the humidity and there was no breeze to cool off. Perhaps in Houston I would sweat even more, that much is true, but it's bad vs worse, not utopia vs worse...that was my point.

In addition, not everyone lives near the beach. The vast majority of people in Southern California live inland where it is much hotter and much more uncomfortable. Yes, while the lucky few who are privileged enough to live in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach get to enjoy cool ocean breezes most do not have this luxury. Try heading to Northridge sometime and you will see how terrible the weather is there.