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Except for me the Carolinas and Georgia felt nearly as dry as a desert, (under deep blue skies )
considering highs stayed well in the 70's F and dewpoints probably ranging from 32-49 F.
Not surprised to hear that the Carolinas and Georgia were bone dry, but I did assume it was relatively dry in most of Florida as well. I would still presume North Florida was dry, while South Florida was probably the most humid place on your trip? Of course I should consider that Florida is surrounded by water.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdCanadian
New Orleans wasn't often "muggy," but with high RH% it was bizarre feeling frequent dampness throughout the day.
If I'd been doing a lot of walking, this dampness combined with a faster heartrate
meant some sweating might happen while not feeling very warm.
The spread between the dewpoint and ambient was high enough in Florida it never really felt damp, at least after sunrise.
When you add the heat of the sun, it was more of a parching-effect after excersize.
What was the dewpoint in New Orleans? I would have assumed NO would have been relatively dry like the rest of the south.
That map means nothing to me unless it explains how it arrived with those RH%'s.
Is it daily mean?
Is it lowest RH% of the day?
Is it RH% at a set time, not during peak ambient temps?
In most climates, RH%'s vary throughout the day, sometimes every hour of the day.
I have experienced the Carolinas in every season.
It seems that a comparable climate like the Birmingham area is humidity-wise, more like the crazy Gulf Coast than it is like the Carolinas.
I watched a lot of current condition broadcasts while in Myrtle Beach and the dewpoints didn't seem to change much throughout the day, which brought about a typical pattern of dampish, steamy/sultry or slighlty-suffocating mornings (depending on the temp ) and as the sun rose the RH% seemed to drop inversely to the increasing heat of the sun. Most days the RH% was seldom still 65% midday. More typically, 55-63% was the most common afternoon humidity.
As night falls, the dewpoint didn't really change, but due to loss of sun heat and higher air temps there was a marked slow-down in evaporation; you notice th humidity more. Maybe Myrtle Beach is far enough north to not be affected by the same patterns of Florida and the Gulf Coast.
I am unfamiliar with consistant 70+% afternoon humidity day-after-day in humid subtropical summers,
(probably common in New Orleans, Houston and Miami)
and if you read the stats I posted from BOM's website you'd also know that 70+% RH is far from "average" summer humidity in Brisbane.
(60% RH at 3pm is their highest monthly avg. )
I was worried you might be bored to tears in discussing this (lol).
I would guess that the map above is 24 average RH. Yes, of course you are right: The RH will fall as the sun rises and heats the air . However, the real interesting feature of the above map was more to exploit the myth that the Gulf Coast is so much more humid than other regions of the subtropical south. The highest values are thought to only occur in the Gulf States and Florida because they are closer to the source region (the humid tropics) and the air masses are less (only slightly less) modified by middle latitude influences. You may well feel less (slightly) humidity in Myrtle Beach than New Orleans.
However, I think you’re kind of missing me:
Suppose a person from a temperate middle latitude climate like Denver, Warsaw, or Moscow where to visit Brisbane, Miami, and New Orleans in July (January in Brisbane): I think that in the main, most people would find all of these climates hot/humid/sticky/tropical at times…etc. To say that Brisbane (given it’s genetic factors - low latitude, facing a subtropical/tropical warm ocean, a high summer rainfall/monsoon..etc)...would be noticeably less humid than New Orleans, and that the majority of people would notice it is in error I think. You know I sure, as I do, there are many sources of data – it’s hard to say which is 100% accurate. My real point was that I think we are trying to split the atom here: These are all lowland, humid, subtropical climates, facing tropical oceans, with high rainfall in the hot season. They are in the same climate zone (Cfa)…the differences at the time of high sun in sensible weather should be small.
I agree both Brisbane and the US South (like New Orleans) have the same climate, same general weather pattern, etc and outsiders unused to hot humid summers would find them all similar. But I think I would notice a difference. I would be happy with Brisbane's climate but would find the climate of the Deep South (like New Orleans) irritating and too hot, because, as I said before, a few degrees makes a big difference in high heat / humidity climates. For people who are used to some heat and humidity (people from the NE and midwest USA, maybe southern Canada) from the summer but perhaps not to the degree of subtropical climates, they would be able to notice a definite difference between the two.
Don't get crocs as far south as Brissie, but they're far less cold tolerant than gators (american crocodiles only live in southern florida).
Yeah I'll have to double check both the BOM and NOAA stats. I also used world climate for the NO stats, and from memory Sydney's July mean is about 12C but I'd have to double check. Either way though, winters in both centres are similar. I think New Orleans gets more true winter weather though (obviously).
Brisbane's more sub-tropical to me because it has more defined wet/dry seasons with a wet season in summer which is typical of most (not all) tropical type climates. Having alot of rain in winter like New Orleans seems more typical of temperate and equatorial climates rather than sub-tropical climates.
Wow, I didn’t know that. I always thought crocs were found down to just above Sydney? The last thing I am is a reptile expert (lol)…however, from what I’ve been told; Florida is becoming urbanized so fast they are losing habit faster…while southern Louisiana has massive uninhabited swamp lands/bayou areas - so it appears gators have more room to bread/age to large sizes. If you like that pic…you’ll love this one (caught last year near Franklin, LA after killing/eating a few small horses –lol). They claim (who really knows) it weighed 1000 lbs:
True, New Orleans sees more bouts of colder weather in the three winter months than Brisbane. The humid subtropical zones in East Asia and the USA are on larger mainland than the subtropical zones in South America and especially Australia. Places like Australia have no large landmasses to the north of them to provide cold advection.
I often think that it is an error in climate classification to use as one size fits all criteria to group climates. Rainfall is a good example: Your right - New Orleans has no real dry season, typical of many subtropical and tropical climates. However, in terms of dew points/heat/prevailing wind direction…etc…there is indeed a great difference in weather patterns between the hot season (May – Sept) and the cool season in New Orleans. A south wind and a dew point of 75 F are not very common in New Orleans in December… while it’s quite common in August.
Temps are another good example. It seems strange to call a climate like Sydney “subtropical” when that word to me means a climate with “tropical” characteristics. Most tropical climates are hot/warm places, with monthly mean temps in the 75 to 80 F range (24 – 27 C) range. Yet Sydney has no months that have a mean temperature in that range; and only three months even have a monthly average temp over 70 F (21 C) – how on earth could one classified it as a “sub tropical” climate? Cities in the temperate zone like Seoul, NYC, or Bucharest have warmer summer months. Yet, a city like New Orleans has 5 months with average monthly temps over 75 F …and 6 months (half the year) with a average temperature over 70 F.
I think climate zones are only broadly grouped together by their gentic factors.
Note the difference in dew points. Brisbane averages 17 / 21 C (daily low / high) while NOLA averages 21 / 25 C. That's a huge difference, especially given that NOLA's average high is several degrees C higher than Brisbane. The maximum heat index in NOLA would probably average at least 5 C higher than Brisbane.
This is why I would prefer Brisbane to New Orleans. It lacks the stifling summers and has warmer, dryer, sunnier winters. It is also less prone to the extremes of cold sometimes encountered in NOLA (due to the jet stream, I suppose).
Temps are another good example. It seems strange to call a climate like Sydney “subtropical” when that word to me means a climate with “tropical” characteristics. Most tropical climates are hot/warm places, with monthly mean temps in the 75 to 80 F range (24 – 27 C) range. Yet Sydney has no months that have a mean temperature in that range; and only three months even have a monthly average temp over 70 F (21 C) – how on earth could one classified it as a “sub tropical” climate? Cities in the temperate zone like Seoul, NYC, or Bucharest have warmer summer months. Yet, a city like New Orleans has 5 months with average monthly temps over 75 F …and 6 months (half the year) with a average temperature over 70 F.
Sydney is right on the borderline between temperate maritime and humid subtropical (under the Koppen scheme). However, I think it is far more deserving of the subtropical label than NYC, Washington, D.C, etc.
Just because it doesn't have blazing hot summers doesn't mean it isn't subtropical. Would you consider Norfolk Island to be temperate? For me a subtropical classification ought to be made based on mean annual temperature. Hence a mild summer may be compensated for by a mild winter (as in Sydney) and a chilly winter may be compensated for by a scorching summer (as in Dallas). Having said that, below a certain level of winter cold, subtropical plant species will have difficulty growing, so I think hardiness zones are also relevant.
Also note that the data for Sydney is from stations very close to the coast (this is also true for Brisbane). Inland stations such as Penrith (35 miles inland) experience hotter summers: Climate statistics for Australian locations
Note the difference in dew points. Brisbane averages 17 / 21 C (daily low / high) while NOLA averages 21 / 25 C. That's a huge difference, especially given that NOLA's average high is several degrees C higher than Brisbane. The maximum heat index in NOLA would probably average at least 5 C higher than Brisbane.
This is why I would prefer Brisbane to New Orleans. It lacks the stifling summers and has warmer, dryer, sunnier winters. It is also less prone to the extremes of cold sometimes encountered in NOLA (due to the jet stream, I suppose).
Yeah Brisbane's summers are really very warm, not truly hot. New Orlean's has higher temps and higher humidity hence higher dewpoints and heat-index. In summer, I think Rockhampton is a better match for New Orleans.
Sydney is right on the borderline between temperate maritime and humid subtropical (under the Koppen scheme). However, I think it is far more deserving of the subtropical label than NYC, Washington, D.C, etc.
Just because it doesn't have blazing hot summers doesn't mean it isn't subtropical. Would you consider Norfolk Island to be temperate? For me a subtropical classification ought to be made based on mean annual temperature. Hence a mild summer may be compensated for by a mild winter (as in Sydney) and a chilly winter may be compensated for by a scorching summer (as in Dallas). Having said that, below a certain level of winter cold, subtropical plant species will have difficulty growing, so I think hardiness zones are also relevant.
Also note that the data for Sydney is from stations very close to the coast (this is also true for Brisbane). Inland stations such as Penrith (35 miles inland) experience hotter summers: Climate statistics for Australian locations
Sydney has more in common with Brisbane than Melbourne and with summer averages on the coast of 20/26C and inland more like 18/31-32 I'd be also calling it subtropical. Sydney, as a whole (not just the coast) is a damn sight warmer than anywhere in Melbourne, which in its warmest parts averages a pathetic 15/26-27 in summer.
Sydney is right on the borderline between temperate maritime and humid subtropical (under the Koppen scheme). However, I think it is far more deserving of the subtropical label than NYC, Washington, D.C, etc.
Just because it doesn't have blazing hot summers doesn't mean it isn't subtropical. Would you consider Norfolk Island to be temperate? For me a subtropical classification ought to be made based on mean annual temperature. Hence a mild summer may be compensated for by a mild winter (as in Sydney) and a chilly winter may be compensated for by a scorching summer (as in Dallas). Having said that, below a certain level of winter cold, subtropical plant species will have difficulty growing, so I think hardiness zones are also relevant.
Also note that the data for Sydney is from stations very close to the coast (this is also true for Brisbane). Inland stations such as Penrith (35 miles inland) experience hotter summers: Climate statistics for Australian locations
I posted earlier in another thread about preferring mild temperatures. But Norfolk island may be a little too mild for me. 83.1F is the absolute max temperature ever recorded on the island. A bit cool for an absolute max if you ask me. Especially at a place only 29 degrees away from the Equator.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wavehunter007
Wow, I didn’t know that. I always thought crocs were found down to just above Sydney? The last thing I am is a reptile expert (lol)…however, from what I’ve been told; Florida is becoming urbanized so fast they are losing habit faster…while southern Louisiana has massive uninhabited swamp lands/bayou areas - so it appears gators have more room to bread/age to large sizes. If you like that pic…you’ll love this one (caught last year near Franklin, LA after killing/eating a few small horses –lol). They claim (who really knows) it weighed 1000 lbs:
True, New Orleans sees more bouts of colder weather in the three winter months than Brisbane. The humid subtropical zones in East Asia and the USA are on larger mainland than the subtropical zones in South America and especially Australia. Places like Australia have no large landmasses to the north of them to provide cold advection.
I often think that it is an error in climate classification to use as one size fits all criteria to group climates. Rainfall is a good example: Your right - New Orleans has no real dry season, typical of many subtropical and tropical climates. However, in terms of dew points/heat/prevailing wind direction…etc…there is indeed a great difference in weather patterns between the hot season (May – Sept) and the cool season in New Orleans. A south wind and a dew point of 75 F are not very common in New Orleans in December… while it’s quite common in August.
Temps are another good example. It seems strange to call a climate like Sydney “subtropical” when that word to me means a climate with “tropical” characteristics. Most tropical climates are hot/warm places, with monthly mean temps in the 75 to 80 F range (24 – 27 C) range. Yet Sydney has no months that have a mean temperature in that range; and only three months even have a monthly average temp over 70 F (21 C) – how on earth could one classified it as a “sub tropical” climate? Cities in the temperate zone like Seoul, NYC, or Bucharest have warmer summer months. Yet, a city like New Orleans has 5 months with average monthly temps over 75 F …and 6 months (half the year) with a average temperature over 70 F.
I think climate zones are only broadly grouped together by their gentic factors.
.
'I beat that darn gator to death with my pole! Aren't you proud of your ma?'
That's the problem with 'sub-tropical'. Even under Koeppen it's kind of vague. It seems either almost tropical or warm temperate. I think Sydney could be classified as sub-tropical because it virtually never sees snow; I personally classify sub-tropical as anywhere with an annual mean above 18C (64F) which would rule out most of the 'sub-tropical' southern United States. Some people classify Washington D.C. 'sub-tropical' - even if it is basically tropical in summer, it's winters are far too cold imo. Then you have semi-alpines part of the tropics with cool but constant temps. For me, heat is only one feature of the tropical climate: Nairobi is a truly tropical climate with yearly 'Spring-like' temps. It's the constancy, convective/monsoonal rainfall pattern, and the annual migration of cyclones and anti-cyclones throughout the year that truly defines tropical and sub-tropical.
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)
Of course I should consider that Florida is surrounded by water. 
) and as the sun rose the RH% seemed to drop inversely to the increasing heat of the sun. Most days the RH% was seldom still 65% midday. More typically, 55-63% was the most common afternoon humidity. 
and with summer averages on the coast of 20/26C and inland more like 18/31-32 I'd be also calling it subtropical. Sydney, as a whole (not just the coast) is a damn sight warmer than anywhere in Melbourne, which in its warmest parts averages a pathetic 15/26-27 in summer.
