It's warm outside. (famous, humidity, percentage)

[YAZ]

Originally Posted by imalert

Is this just dry heat or does it include high humidity? Always lived on the east coast & it gets very hot with very high humidity. Humidity is horrible, which is why I'm considering a move to either Arizona or Texas.

I spent some time near your home, (Olney/Silver Spring, MD) in the summertime. 110 & dry is a bit more tolerable than 93 & muggy. But everyone's different.

Typically we get some relief in the evenings, while I've experienced some particularly hot & sultry nights in the D.C. area. Your mileage may vary, so I suggest that you spend some time here if you can....before you make the move.

[HX_Guy]

Yeesh, it's pretty miserable out there today so far. Temps are supposed to be a little lower today (110º) but humidity is up and there's a 20% chance of rain later.

I worked outside unloading a van for about 30 minutes at 7:30 this morning and I was soaked in sweat, just dripping...so nasty.

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by YAZ

I gotta admit, with the dew point real high like it was last night......makes it tough to do my outdoor chores when I get home from work. On the plus side...if this keeps up....we just might get some of that wet stuff that falls from the sky.

Forget about using that incredible heat source that we call an oven. It's grill time with a salad.

Another month or so and Mr. Swamp Cooler will be back from his hiatus. Using his services makes Mr. Bank Account very happy.

The pool is a welcome sight in the evening as I don't like frying my skin or applying SPF-1000 every two hours.

If you buy ice cream, then you'd better be on your way home NOW.

Well said.
I used my swampy all day yesterday. The humidity during the day was less than 10%. Kept the house a very cool 79 but as night approached, the humidity went up and I was forced to use the A/C.
I love my swampy........

[RenW]

Originally Posted by imalert

Is this just dry heat or does it include high humidity? Always lived on the east coast & it gets very hot with very high humidity. Humidity is horrible, which is why I'm considering a move to either Arizona or Texas.

Where exactly are you from? (State, nearest metro) The reason I ask is that in this particular instance I believe it is important to make a direct comparison. My husband and I moved here from Illinois where the relative humidity high is 90%+. We've yet to personally find it humid here, but that is because we come from a very humid region.



But people will mention the humidity here this time of year and if you look at the graph for Phoenix it is more humid in August, September, October than it is in the summer months preceding them.



From the graph it is most humid in the winter time, but it isn't noticeable in a bad way because of the pleasant temperatures. It doesn't get as humid or muggy as it did in Illinois. We really don't notice the humidity at all here, but we came from an area with a humidity extreme. Even during the most humid Summer months it still feels pretty dry. As we get acclimated to the weather over the years I'm sure we will notice a more distinct difference.

You can check out graphs of your own area yourself if you wish.

There are some benefits of high humidity that you don't get here as well. If you want a lawn or garden you have to water them diligently and/or have an irrigation system. I honestly wouldn't suggest a green lawn due to water issues. Plus with a more natural desert landscape you don't have to mow a lawn! Whatever is not watered and doesn't have desert plants is going to be brown in dry areas of the country. Your skin will get dryer out here and need to moisturizer more. (Lower humidity also causes the appearance of fine wrinkles more.) Like everything there is a trade off.

[RenW]

Okay, I should have looked at your profile! Apologies. The humidity map for your area looks like.



Pretty similar to Illinois. I don't think you would find it humid here (at least not at first), but personal experiences are different. There is just no getting around the fact that it is HOT in the summertime. It is more pleasant at higher temps because of the dry heat but once it gets to a certain point it can feel blazing, uncomfortable hot for most people. (That point seems to be different for different people.) You really need to experience it to determine what your own reaction is going to be.

[ElleTea]

Im outside right now. Humid? Not to me

[enigmadsm]

personally, I find 110 with 30% humidity more uncomfortable than 90 with 80% humidity but that's just me.

the heat can literally cause things to be scolding hot and burn someone. I haven't encountered that with humidity.

[magnum0417]

Temps are nice but no rain in Tempe due to the flipping heat island sucking all the Casa Grande moisture dry. Almost as bad as that old timer of a weathercaster (not a meteorologist) on 10 every other word going "uh....uh....it breaks down in PHX....uh....uh......) Just say the heat island evaporates the rain moving north from Casa Grande !!

[PhureeKeeper]

RenW, Your graph should show heat index, not just percentage of humidity. How many days of the awful, stifling humidity did you encounter in IL? I imagine it wasn't from mid-May through September.

[ajchambers13]

Originally Posted by observer53

That is the new record for 7/24. 120s are VERY rare. That summer of the 122 and 120 was TWENTY FOUR YEARS ago, and hasn't happened since. Even the over 115's are hardly a daily or even weekly occurrence every summer.

Yes, the weather here gets exaggerated, like the claims of regular 100's or above 8 months a year.

I agree! People overstate the temperatures a lot... regardless its still hot! But I remember last year on the last Sunday of June Phoenix did hit 119. Close to 120 but not quite.