Portland has more humid summers than people think (Eugene, Phoenix: apartments, neighborhood)

[The Cactus Leaguer]

Originally Posted by pdxmilw

Man, I'd still choose the A/C. If you have a second story, it's pretty unlivable even on an 80 degree day without A/C. And my first story would regularly get to 90+ degrees when we have our hot streaks.

We went with AC mostly because my wife is from Ohio. But it was a good choice because the upstairs did not have great ventilation. Our current house also has AC but with better ventilation we rarely use it.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by pdxmilw

Man, I'd still choose the A/C. If you have a second story, it's pretty unlivable even on an 80 degree day without A/C. And my first story would regularly get to 90+ degrees when we have our hot streaks.

Yeah, that's more a case of typical stingy Portland management than truth IMO. I do like how in Eugene at least apartment management isn't always up in your grill.

[lluvia]

What about whole house fans as an alternative?

Cooling with a Whole House Fan | Department of Energy

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

Portland has always had warm Summers

try DC that can have 50 days in a row with above 90 degree temps and 100% humidity

Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe a few 90 degree plus 100% humidity days, but not 50 in a row. 100% humidity means its raining. DC doesn't get 50 days of rain in a row; much less mixed with at least a 90 degree temp reading to go with it, for that long of a stretch.

Portland has had a few humid days in the 21 yrs I've been living here, but I spent an entire summer in San Antonio, TX about 25 yrs ago, and that was beyond unbearable, and San Antonio's precipitation falls a lot harder than it does here in Portland, mixed with plenty of 90+ degree days itself, and if DC is the most humid city in the Northeast, it doesn't come close to what southern TX feels like.

To the poster who said about Portland being a humid city, I remember for 3 days I think it was about 5 or 6 yrs ago, the temp with heat index here was like 108, and in one office I was working at in Wilsonville, you could see dew running down the *inside* of the building windows, but it was so rare, of course, it drew everyone out of their cubicles to take a look at it, but Portland generally isn't thought of as a humid city.

I drive for a living and I'm usually in Eugene at least a few times a week, if not more, and Eugene feels a lot more humid than Portland does ( even though its lately been windier down there this year ) but Eugene is really the only area in OR ( other than when we get a massive heat wave that sticks at the coast ) where you'll feel some humidity, or at least the air feeling stickier there, than elsewhere....

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

While the Willamette Valley can have summer days that feel sticky to residents, that is just in comparison to how it feels the rest of the summer. If you look at the RH and dew point, most of the quoted figures are the day's AVERAGE, which isn't really the important number, it is the RH or dew point at the hottest parts of the day

Pulling out key data from July 2014, 2013 - yes, you can have a day like June 1, 2014. The day's high was 99° and the average RH was 52% - but at the time of the high temp, the RH was 23%, which is fairly dry. So the morning was cool and a little damp but the hot part of the day was dry.

The OP has an unfortunate need to find negative things about Portland - but perhaps he should keep in mind that Eugene is actually hotter and stickier than Portland in the summer. That same July day, the RH in Eugene never dropped below 48%.

I just now read your post after I responded to the thread. Yes, you hit the nail on the head here.

To me, it seems the warmer Portland gets, the more the humidity will lower. I consider that a blessing, really. I mean, when its raining or we're in our "rain spell", the humidity will be at or very close to 100%, but you never see it get into the 70's or 80's here and be raining, like the Midwest, South and East coast experience. Then, once the temp goes up, the humidity generally begins to fall, and when we have our heat waves of 90F or hotter, the humidity is rarely above 25%; making it feel more like Las Vegas at 90F--plenty warm for many, but manageable for far most people.

As I noted earlier, yes, Eugene is almost always, muggier than Portland. The first time I ever went to Eugene a little after I moved here, I noticed it immediately upon getting out of the car. I moved to Portland from SW Wyoming ( *very* dry air 364 days of the year, with or without snow ) and getting to Portland, I didn't notice the humidity at all. Like I said, Portland will have a rare day where it will be muggy by most standards and people's relative experience, but they're so far and few between.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by skylar0201

I just now read your post after I responded to the thread. Yes, you hit the nail on the head here.

To me, it seems the warmer Portland gets, the more the humidity will lower. I consider that a blessing, really. I mean, when its raining or we're in our "rain spell", the humidity will be at or very close to 100%, but you never see it get into the 70's or 80's here and be raining, like the Midwest, South and East coast experience. Then, once the temp goes up, the humidity generally begins to fall, and when we have our heat waves of 90F or hotter, the humidity is rarely above 25%; making it feel more like Las Vegas at 90F--plenty warm for many, but manageable for far most people.

As I noted earlier, yes, Eugene is almost always, muggier than Portland. The first time I ever went to Eugene a little after I moved here, I noticed it immediately upon getting out of the car. I moved to Portland from SW Wyoming ( *very* dry air 364 days of the year, with or without snow ) and getting to Portland, I didn't notice the humidity at all. Like I said, Portland will have a rare day where it will be muggy by most standards and people's relative experience, but they're so far and few between.

Rain actually has nothing to do with humidity. Dubai is humid as hell, but extremely dry year-round. The RH drops not so much because hotter means drier but rather because the RH is simply a measure of how much of the capacity of the air at that temperature is filled with water. A 90F day with a dewpoint of 60F is just as humid and hotter than a 75F day with a 60F dewpoint, but the RH will be a much lower percentage.

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Rain actually has nothing to do with humidity. Dubai is humid as hell, but extremely dry year-round. The RH drops not so much because hotter means drier but rather because the RH is simply a measure of how much of the capacity of the air at that temperature is filled with water. A 90F day with a dewpoint of 60F is just as humid and hotter than a 75F day with a 60F dewpoint, but the RH will be a much lower percentage.

I should have clarified myself. When I said that at 100% RH, that would be where it'd be raining, I meant that the moisture in the air would be so thick, that yes, it would feel just like you stepped into a hot shower wearing your clothes--they'd get wet pretty quick; which would equate to someone stepping outside like a hot shower running onto them, so when the poster spoke of DC being 90+F degrees with 100% humidity, I just meant that while DC and the East Coast is sultry, it isn't *that* sultry, and especially for 50 days straight.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by skylar0201

Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe a few 90 degree plus 100% humidity days, but not 50 in a row. 100% humidity means its raining. DC doesn't get 50 days of rain in a row; much less mixed with at least a 90 degree temp reading to go with it, for that long of a stretch.

Portland has had a few humid days in the 21 yrs I've been living here, but I spent an entire summer in San Antonio, TX about 25 yrs ago, and that was beyond unbearable, and San Antonio's precipitation falls a lot harder than it does here in Portland, mixed with plenty of 90+ degree days itself, and if DC is the most humid city in the Northeast, it doesn't come close to what southern TX feels like.

To the poster who said about Portland being a humid city, I remember for 3 days I think it was about 5 or 6 yrs ago, the temp with heat index here was like 108, and in one office I was working at in Wilsonville, you could see dew running down the *inside* of the building windows, but it was so rare, of course, it drew everyone out of their cubicles to take a look at it, but Portland generally isn't thought of as a humid city.

I drive for a living and I'm usually in Eugene at least a few times a week, if not more, and Eugene feels a lot more humid than Portland does ( even though its lately been windier down there this year ) but Eugene is really the only area in OR ( other than when we get a massive heat wave that sticks at the coast ) where you'll feel some humidity, or at least the air feeling stickier there, than elsewhere....

the first year I moved back there it was in the 90s for nearly 50 days in a row. People were dieing inside of the district. the humidity was probably in the 80 to 90% area

[Bluesmama]

I "feel" a little humidity on some day more than others. Like today. Today has felt a bit humid to me but I couldn't tell it at all yesterday. But I'm a bit hardy to it and even like a little humidity. I've lived in the extreme stuff before (Corpus Christi, TX) where I never felt clean.

[Squidlo]

Originally Posted by Bluesmama

I "feel" a little humidity on some day more than others. Like today. Today has felt a bit humid to me but I couldn't tell it at all yesterday. But I'm a bit hardy to it and even like a little humidity. I've lived in the extreme stuff before (Corpus Christi, TX) where I never felt clean.

Birmingham and Houston have humid weather. Portland can get "muggy". I can remember only a handful of days in 40+ years that were actually humid to the point where I was truly annoyed in Portland. Houston it is so common you just "get used to it".

Its all perspective I guess. I freeze when I visit Portland even in July.