How would you compare the humidity levels of Austin and Houston? (West: live, dryer)

[AsgardDevice]

Without knowing a lot about how dew points work its hard to really get a good gauge on this stuff. I went to Los Angeles in the summer once and the weather people said the humidity was 85% so I figured it would be muggy but nope it was sooo dry feeling when compared to Houston, Louisiana, and Florida.

So, for those of you that are experienced with Austin summers and summers in other places, how would you rate their summers in terms of how muggy and oppressive it feels? In Houston sometimes it feels like the air is very brutal and causes me to sweat just being outside. Not like in Nevada where it can be 100 degrees and I'm okay so long as I'm not baking in direct sunlight.

I hear people say Austin air is dryer and I understand there's droughts and less rainfall, but let's be clear.. it's not west coast dry, right??

[11thHour]

Originally Posted by AsgardDevice

Without knowing a lot about how dew points work its hard to really get a good gauge on this stuff. I went to Los Angeles in the summer once and the weather people said the humidity was 85% so I figured it would be muggy but nope it was sooo dry feeling when compared to Houston, Louisiana, and Florida.

So, for those of you that are experienced with Austin summers and summers in other places, how would you rate their summers in terms of how muggy and oppressive it feels? In Houston sometimes it feels like the air is very brutal and causes me to sweat just being outside. Not like in Nevada where it can be 100 degrees and I'm okay so long as I'm not baking in direct sunlight.

I hear people say Austin air is dryer and I understand there's droughts and less rainfall, but let's be clear.. it's not west coast dry, right??

Both can be brutally humid, but overall Houston is worse.

[Redlionjr]

Austin is not west coast dry but it's less Humid then Houston and you can tell the difference in the summer time.

[RMFW]

Strong to quite strong.

[tstone]

A couple degrees hotter and maybe 10% points lower than Houston. Same goes for SA and DFW, although DFW can get even hotter and the wind is more like a blast furnace. Peak heat indexes are about the same in all of those places. Pick your poison.

However-- early mornings in Houston are still hot & sweaty, while things cool off nicely in the other cities.

[wallawallahoohoo]

Houston is more humid due to being right by the Gulf, to top that off I think the actual land level of the city is lower than sea level... but don't quote me on that. However, I do prefer humidity as my hands and lips chap like no other in dryer places. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna age/wrinkle quicker without constant application of lotion and oils.

[CptnRn]

Austin is not a dry climate, it is far more humid then most of the central and Western United States, but still not as humid as Houston.


Austin-------------------------------------------------------------Houston



Wind speed also makes a huge difference in comfort.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by wallawallahoohoo

Houston is more humid due to being right by the Gulf, to top that off I think the actual land level of the city is lower than sea level...

No.

Downtown and the inner city areas are about 50' above sea level. The lowest part of Houston proper is the Clear Lake area at 20-30'.

[TheOverdog]

Austin and Houston are pretty much the same in terms of humidity, only a few points difference. Look at dew point numbers instead of relative humdity to get a feel for an area. A dew point above 60F and you are going to be sweating. Houston & Austin both are pretty much above 60F in dew point every day the entire summer.

LA dew point will be more like 50F in the summer most of the time. I think Arizona & Nevada are pretty similar to LA, if not lower.

[hoffdano]

I have lived in both cities.

Look closely at the data posted by CptnRn. Houston is at the top or above the national average range all year. Austin is in the range, generally not at the top. Look at afternoon temperatures from June through Sept. That is where Austin and Houston are different. Austin has noticeably drier afternoons in the summer. I am no meteorologist, but I think what we experience is that the breeze and heat burns off the humidity in Austin, but in Houston the Gulf continuously brings humidity in. The prevailing winds are from the southeast.