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I really, really hate when the humidity sinks below 30% or so. Even under 40% is uncomfortable. It's actually nice for the first hour or two, but then your skin starts to itch and become irritable, the air you breathe in seems to light, your eyes get bloodshot, and it is just, in general, uncomfortable.
In the 40's, 50's, and even lower 60's, humidity can make all the difference. If it's 50F, sunny, but the dewpoints are in the single digits, I'm going to feel cold - but if it's sunny and the dewpoints are in the 40's, I'll only need a light jacket, if that.
The worst of all is walking or working in a large building, like a mall, in the Minnesota winter. They may heat it to a warm temperature (70-75F) relative to outside (often <0F at night), but it is so dry you wonder if you are going to go blind from it, your eyes are so uncomfortable.
Personally, I like when it is warm, humid, and mostly cloudy - I'd prefer 80F with 70% relative humidity and a hint of sunshine through the clouds to 75F, sunny, with low relative humidity. Most locals prefer the latter, even though this tends to be a humid climate; when the dewpoints rise above 60, they think they're going to die or something. Maybe that's why the warm climates they move tend to be arid (Arizona, Nevada, etc.)
Yeah, that's one of my biggest issues with Fairbanks in the winter. It's just way too dry. I start to get mild nosebleeds after a few days. Our house has been way too dry since we got a wood stove, too. A pot of water on the stove helps, but I think next winter we'll have to get a real humidifier.
I guess it would depend on the temp and sunshine intensity. If it's below 70F, you can jack the humidity up to 95% or down to 30% and I'm OK with it. Where I live, humidity levels below 50% are so rare a day of celebration is declared when it happens so I'm probably not qualified to make an opinion.
I don't find it particularly annoying these days but as a kid I would get nosebleeds on occasion when it was hot and dry. Only really notice it being particularly dry when humidity gets below about 15-20% when my skin sometimes gets irritable and you become thirsty faster. Provided you drink lots of water its usually not an issue.
I think low humidity with cold weather is much more irritating; when I was in Shanghai the combination of strong winds, cold temperatures and low humidity did horrors for my skin and lips.
Last edited by sulkiercupid; 03-17-2012 at 05:32 AM..
My experience is hardly prototypical for the entirety of the species, but I've never had a problem with low humidity. I've never had nosebleeds or any other dryness symptoms. In fact I'd consider 20% humidity to be optimal for me, when a storm system isn't coming through; I've always found that figure to offer the most pleasant conditions. I'm quite sensitive to high dew points - anything above 50F is not optimal, and I don't care to put up with any dews above 60F.
Curiously I don't seem to be affected by high relative humidity at cooler temperatures - humidity doesn't play into my sensation of cold (at any temps below 50F). Of course if it's raining on me I get wet, and then I feel colder, but that's different. A simple raincoat is all that is needed. Temperatures from 30F to 55F are pleasantly mild, if unwelcome by me in winter, and I treat a 40F or 50F Spring, Summer, or Autumn day the same way many other people treat a 70F day. My enjoyment of these temperatures seems about the same if the relative humidity is 100% or 10% .
It seems that I'm sensitive to high dew points ("mugginess") and prefer dry air, but other than that I'm not affected, certainly not to the degree some are, and at temperatures below 50F I'm not affected at all.
I would even say that I love high humidity.
My favorite type of weather is a combination of warmth (30°C's) and high humidity.
I usually dislike very dry heat (e.g. 40°C, 10%)
I hate very dry, cold weather.
I am fine with both high and low humidity only when the temp is in the 20-25°C range.
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