Are there misconceptions about the humidity in Texas? (Houston, Dallas: home, college)

[jtur88]

You can't go by humidity. You have to look at the Dew Point to determine the amount of moisture in the air. Given a certain amount of moisture in the air, the dew point will remain constant, but the humidity (expressed as a percentage of the moisture the air can hold) will go down as the temperature goes higher.

That's why the humidity is almost always near 100% early in the morning---the moisture in the air is near the maximum it can hold at the cool morning temperatures. If the temperature drops below the dew point, moisture will begin to condense, in the form of dew, fog or rain.

Dew points in Dallas in midsummer typically run a few degrees lower than in Houston, which means there is more moisture in the Houston air. So air in Dallas, on a typical summer afternoon, it hotter but dryer.

The reason humidity feels hotter, is because your body cools itself by releasing water, which cools you as it evaporates. But if the air is already saturated, and holding all the moisture it can (humidity 100%), moisture on your skin will not evaporate, because the air can't take any more, so there is no cooling effect.

In short, if you want to know how humid the air is, look at the dew point. In summer, a dew point down around 70 is fairly comfortable, but over 75, you will really notice it---regardless of the temperature.

[5stones]

Lived in both places...
Houston is ALOT more humid than Dallas. Sorry.
Dallas is HOT and yes it can get humid, BUT ...Houston is sticky wet and just hits you, your glasses fog up etc... It's very rare for it not to be humid.

[hppy2b]

if your not use to high humidity then anywhere you go will feel bad..but corpus christi i feel is the worse close to the ocean and very high humidity may not say it is but it feels it..

[bluescreen73]

You're not going to notice that much of a difference between Houston and DFW, honestly, because they both have a humid subtropical climate.

DFW does typically have slightly lower relative humidity levels, but the tradeoff is that DFW also tends to get hotter faster and stays hotter longer than Houston during the summer.

DFW has record highs at or above 100 in every month between March and October, and 110+ records in June, July, August, and September. The all-time record high for DFW is 113 degrees.

Houston, on the other hand, only has record highs above 100 from May to September, and the temp has never been above 108.

[Sunderpig]

Normally, the humidity would be an issue, and the usual differences between here and Dallas would be more noticeable. But this year is definitely not normal (so far at least). It is essentially equally dry here as in Dallas, so the conditions are basically identical (dry and hot temps in the 90s+).

I used to live near Dallas though, and there is normally a difference. They may feel similar. Houston would have a bit more humidity, but Dallas could get hotter. So the heat index might be similar, but based on different factors.

[catman]

Houston is perceptibly more humid than Dallas, although it's usually a few degrees cooler as well. I'd prefer more heat than more humidity, but that's just me.

[Sunderpig]

Well said catman. Fretless Bass Forever? Cool. They are fun (sliding the notes around, etc). I prefer fretted basses, with a rich bright sound. But that's a personal choice...

[catman]

If I'm going to perspire, I like for it to be in an environment dry enough for it to do some good!

(I can get a bright sound out of my fretless!)

[ahzzie]

jtur88 is right. It's the dew point that determines the comfort level in any environment. I've also studied weather data from the past few years comparing Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. Both the dew points and humidity levels are virtually the same in all four with Houston's being only slightly higher at times. I laugh at people who say Dallas has a "dry heat" because it's just not true. I've been up there a few times in the summer and I cannot tell the difference. If you want dry heat, go to El Paso and compare that to "dry" Dallas.

[CptnRn]

-------------------HOUSTON -------------------------------------------DALLAS

Looks like some significant differences to me.