Is Oregon a humid state??? (Portland, Hermiston: living in, mold, dryer)

[browneyedgrl506]

Hey, I was wondering if Portland, Oregon is humid, and if so, what percentage of the time is it? I heard that humidity is really good for your skin!

[backdrifter]

There is high humidity, but the relative humidity (what we normally think of as "humidity", the kind that makes you sweat and feel like you're in a sauna) is very low in Oregon.

Not sure what effect this has on the skin...

[davefr]

Originally Posted by browneyedgrl506

Hey, I was wondering if Portland, Oregon is humid, and if so, what percentage of the time is it? I heard that humidity is really good for your skin!

Yes, that's why we have mold and mildew on our backs 8 months out of the year and our favorite pet is a slug.

Summers usually tend to be dry but there are still some very muggy days.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Depends on where you live and what time of year.

The coast is a very high humidity.

The Willamette Valley is high during spring into early summer.

East Oregon is a low humidity area, in part, due to it's elevation.

[Silverfall]

Coming from the Midwest originally...we are NOT humid out here. Not how midwesteners and some southern states think of humidity.

Even the muggy days aren't even close to midwest humidity.

[juggler]

Nope, Oregon is not humid in the traditional sense. Even the worst "muggy" days here wouldn't even begin to compare to a typical summer day in Houston.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by BLAZER PROPHET

East Oregon is a low humidity area, in part, due to it's elevation.

Elevation doesn't have a thing to do with humidity. How wet or dry a place is has everything to do with it.

You're right, East Oregon is low in humidity. But, as an example, Hermiston is only around 900 feet elevation, maybe a thousand feet. Humidity there is nearly non-existent, often running only between 10-20 %. On the other hand, the Eagle Cap Wilderness in NE Oregon, much of it over 8000 feet, is one of the more humid parts of eastern Oregon (and it's not really humid, just more than most other areas). Steens Mountain in SE Oregon is over 9000 feet elevation. It is not humid at all, again, frequently running 10-20%.
The difference here is rainfall, moisture, and proximity to large bodies of water (oceans.) Hermiston gets 6-9 inches of rain a year, Steens Mountain roughly the same. Eagle Cap Wilderness is wettest part of eastern Oregon.

So while Portland can be pretty humid, Hermiston, at not toooo much greater elevation is much much dryer.

Now that you know waaaaaay more about eastern Oregon humidity than you ever wanted to, I'll leave you alone...

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by skinem

Elevation doesn't have a thing to do with humidity. How wet or dry a place is has everything to do with it.

Sure it does. Anything that affects either the temperature or the pressure of an air parcel will change the adiabatic lapse rate and therefore affect the relative humidity. Altitude affects both, which is why higher elevations are often drier than lower elevations in the same locality.

Lifted condensation level - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[cbz]

Hi - I've lived in the NE all my life - with many adult years in New England. After living in Portland for almost 5 years - I describe it as not being muggy and humid - and that's in comparison to the humidity i "felt" while living in the NE. Sure, there is some humidity with all the rain (which is about 8 months or so) but it's not the stifling can't breath thick type of humidity that I think about when I was living in the NE, New England and Viriginia.

Hope this helps - good luck!

[Smiled]

Portland is very humid, except in summer. The humidity is good for your skin, but anything outside that gets wet in November, left outside, won't dry out until March.
That answer your question?