Humidity in Virginia (Richmond, Roanoke, Charlottesville: living, cost of living, vs)

[Aquarian76]

1) Which region has lowest humidity? AND-
2) Where is lower humidity than Richmond?

[Serious Conversation]

Anywhere at elevation is going to have much lower humidity than Richmond. The Wytheville/Hillsville areas are fairly high elevation and would be a good relief from Richmond.

[Aquarian76]

Thanks for mentioning specific areas

[ersatz]

Ok, Aquarian 76. You did it. You totally pushed all my buttons. I am an enthusiastic Virginia booster AND a Weather Geek.

I also hate humidity and am exquisitely sensitive to changes in it. This is unfortunate, as I have often lived in brutally humid places (Lived in the Saharan desert border on the ocean. So parched and yet so humid!!) Because of my sensitivity, I have read a lot about humidity, and one of the best measurements of it is the "dew point". The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (assuming constant air pressure) in order to achieve a relative humidity of 100%.

Yes, Wytheville is less humid than Richmond, but not by all that much. Want to see the numbers? (I looooove numbers.)

I researched statistics for July 2020, just as an example.

Richmond had an average dewpoint of 70.07 degrees Fahrenheit in July 2020.

https://www.wunderground.com/history...IC/date/2020-7

Wytheville had an average dewpoint of 68.3 in July 2020.

New Orleans is considered to be the most humid city in the USA. They had an average of 75.3 Fahrenheit in July 2020.

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboa...-07-29/monthly

Las Vegas is considered to be the driest city in the USA. That month, they had an astonishing dewpoint of 39.0

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboa...-07-29/monthly

Virginia is a really great state with mountains, ocean, rolling valleys, vital cultural opportunities, deeply steeped in American History and has a vigorous economy. Hope you consider it!

[ship4u]

Originally Posted by ersatz

Ok, Aquarian 76. You did it. You totally pushed all my buttons. I am an enthusiastic Virginia booster AND a Weather Geek.

I also hate humidity and am exquisitely sensitive to changes in it. This is unfortunate, as I have often lived in brutally humid places (Lived in the Saharan desert border on the ocean. So parched and yet so humid!!) Because of my sensitivity, I have read a lot about humidity, and one of the best measurements of it is the "dew point". The dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (assuming constant air pressure) in order to achieve a relative humidity of 100%.

Yes, Wytheville is less humid than Richmond, but not by all that much. Want to see the numbers? (I looooove numbers.)

I researched statistics for July 2020, just as an example.

Richmond had an average dewpoint of 70.07 degrees Fahrenheit in July 2020.

https://www.wunderground.com/history...IC/date/2020-7

Wytheville had an average dewpoint of 68.3 in July 2020.

New Orleans is considered to be the most humid city in the USA. They had an average of 75.3 Fahrenheit in July 2020.

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboa...-07-29/monthly

Las Vegas is considered to be the driest city in the USA. That month, they had an astonishing dewpoint of 39.0

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboa...-07-29/monthly

Virginia is a really great state with mountains, ocean, rolling valleys, vital cultural opportunities, deeply steeped in American History and has a vigorous economy. Hope you consider it!

Ersatz, thank you for that helpful information. We are considering a move to Virginia and are also concerned about humidity. We now live in northern Ohio, east of Cleveland, and the humidity is very low in comparison to when we lived in Maryland, north of Baltimore. But, the winters here are brutal.
Do you have some knowledge about where a happy medium might be found where lower humidity doesn't mean living with harsh winters? How about areas near Staunton?
Thank you for your explanation about dew point's correlation with humidity.

[Watchful]

Originally Posted by ship4u

Ersatz, thank you for that helpful information. We are considering a move to Virginia and are also concerned about humidity. We now live in northern Ohio, east of Cleveland, and the humidity is very low in comparison to when we lived in Maryland, north of Baltimore. But, the winters here are brutal.
Do you have some knowledge about where a happy medium might be found where lower humidity doesn't mean living with harsh winters? How about areas near Staunton?
Thank you for your explanation about dew point's correlation with humidity.

Coming from eastern Ohio, the winters in Virginia - Staunton, Charlottesville, Roanoke, etc. - will most definitely not seem harsh!

The area is very very green so we do have some humidity....but having moved here from the Houston area I don't much notice it haha!

[nm9stheham]

The perception of being humid has a lot to do with dewpoint but not all of it. Seemingly small changes in dewpoint mean much larger changes in actual moisture content of the air. Going from a dewpoint of 70F to 68F is a drop in moisture in the air of almost 10%. And the same moisture content at a higher actual temp just feels hotter because it IS hotter! LOL

Having said that, for the OP: I lived in OH and IN for 7 years, and the nice dry summer weather that you get up in the Great Lakes area will rarely show up in VA in summer. Your going to have more like the humidity in Cincinnati or St Louis in summer. You do indeed get some feeling of relief at the higher elevations in VA, just becasue of the lower actual temps.

In winter, pretty much all parts of VA get cold days with high relative humidity; IMHO it tends to be worse for that in the higher elevations (having lived in western VA for most of my life), simply because the temps are colder at higher elevations.

So perhaps the best compromise for you is in far SW VA, like in the Wytheville/Abigdon area as suggested. Actually, it won't be all that much different than further up the Great Valley, around Staunton. C'ville is east of the Appalachians and is hotter than Staunton on average by several degrees. Actual rainfall in the Great Valley is typically lower that east of the Appalachians. Stuanton averages 41 inches per year vs 44 inches per year in Richmond, not a huge difference, but part of the overall humidity picture..

What you WON"T get in VA in winter is those looooong spells of grey winter skies, like you have no doubt experienced over and over in NE Ohio. The Lake effect weather gets blocked in western PA and the high mountains of WV and does not not tend to get east of the western edge of the Appalachians. For me, moving back to VA from IN, THAT was the big change that I liked: a good mix of sun and clouds in winter, not endless days of low, grey skies.

[Bigfoot424]

I've been in VA since 73 and you will not escape the humidity no matter where you are in this state. But the nice thing about VA is that if you don't like the weather then wait a day or two and it will be much different. I''m now in the Shenandoah Valley and we saw numerous days this summer with relief from the heat and humidity. But the wife and I have been in AZ for the last 10 days or so and the super dry weather here has been nice but also caused some issues for us so both have their disadvantages.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by ship4u

Ersatz, thank you for that helpful information. We are considering a move to Virginia and are also concerned about humidity. We now live in northern Ohio, east of Cleveland, and the humidity is very low in comparison to when we lived in Maryland, north of Baltimore. But, the winters here are brutal.
Do you have some knowledge about where a happy medium might be found where lower humidity doesn't mean living with harsh winters? How about areas near Staunton?
Thank you for your explanation about dew point's correlation with humidity.

ship4u - I'm glad you thought those numbers were helpful. Personally, I love Staunton. It's a cool town, reasonable cost of living, and punches well above its population weight in cultural opportunities. Winters are mild, except for certain years when they aren't.

You are wondering about your best choice and I have a further suggestion. You seem concerned about humidity, but that is obviously not what is most important to you (otherwise you would be thinking hard about Las Vegas ) Why Virginia? What factors matter so much to you that made you and your loved ones consider Virginia?

I am recently retired but I learned a lot on the job and one of the most useful tools I ever learned was how to build Weighted Decision Matrixes to help with unclear difficult decisions. Strangers on the internet can provide some insight but, ultimately, you and your family are best able to make decisions based on what truly deeply matters most to you. So, talk frankly with your family so you can jointly figure out what factors mean the most to you, then create your matrix. You might be surprised what floats to the top. https://www.weighteddecision.com/

[ship4u]

Originally Posted by ersatz

ship4u - I'm glad you thought those numbers were helpful. Personally, I love Staunton. It's a cool town, reasonable cost of living, and punches well above its population weight in cultural opportunities. Winters are mild, except for certain years when they aren't.

You are wondering about your best choice and I have a further suggestion. You seem concerned about humidity, but that is obviously not what is most important to you (otherwise you would be thinking hard about Las Vegas ) Why Virginia? What factors matter so much to you that made you and your loved ones consider Virginia?

I am recently retired but I learned a lot on the job and one of the most useful tools I ever learned was how to build Weighted Decision Matrixes to help with unclear difficult decisions. Strangers on the internet can provide some insight but, ultimately, you and your family are best able to make decisions based on what truly deeply matters most to you. So, talk frankly with your family so you can jointly figure out what factors mean the most to you, then create your matrix. You might be surprised what floats to the top. https://www.weighteddecision.com/

Thank you very much for the information and thoughtfulness. Rather than hijack this thread, I will put a new thread together for suggestions to our situation.
Thanks again!