Yeah, but it's a dry heat

[bhsup]

With summer in full swing (not counting the imminent polar vortex about to hit the midwest which will cool things for a few days,) I thought I'd see how y'all feel about heat vs heat + humidity.

As someone who truly hates hot weather, more than is probably merited I admit, I personally would rather see a hotter and dryer day than a less hot but more humid day with an equivalent heat index. All temperatures will be primarily listed in the cultured Fahrenheit scale. For the benefit of uncouth barbarians, Celsius equivalents will be in parenthesis. The 0 is in front of 88 for aligning purposes because it was driving me nuts. Just disregard it, like I was unable to do...

100 (37.7778) degrees at 20% relative humidity is... 100 (37.7778) on the heat index scale.
088 (31.1111) degrees at 70% relative humidity is... 100 (37.7778) on the heat index scale.

The thing is, a dry heat really is much better. They may be comparable as far as the heat index is concerned, but high humidity is almost intolerable just from a comfort standpoint.

P.S. - Hope y'all like (and got the reference) the Jackson query meme. I made it just for this thread, which I guess doesn't really make it a meme, but I used imgur's meme maker...

 

[NovaKart]

Here in northern Iraq the temperature is a high of 44C with a humidity at 9%. I do prefer it to a place with higher humidity like in North Carolina where I break out in a sweat just walking to the mailbox.

I prefer colder temperatures because at least you can put more clothes on. Here the winter can be difficult because I only have a heater for the living room and bedroom. If I go to the kitchen or bathroom it's freezing. I just try and stay in my bedroom with the door closed as much as possible.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

A dry heat is usually preferable, I agree. I've never been to the desert, so I don't know how THAT level of "dry heat" feels, but the low-humidity days in the 90s or so are definitely much more enjoyable than the high-humidity, can't tell if it's cloudy or not because of the haze, days. Sometimes it can feel 20 degrees cooler if the humidity is low enough!

 

[shadowplay]

 

[classical_hero]

With dry heat you can sweat too cool off, but in humidity you can't. I remember a day a few years ago when I was working where it was something like 42 and very low humidity. That day was blast to work in because we were able to cool down the work area much easier and the conditions weren't oppressive. The next day was like 33 and high humidity and by the end of the day I was almost overcome with heat exhaustion do to the humidity draining me much more than the heat ever did. Thankfully I had the week-end to recover otherwise I would have had to call in sick the following day do to the after effects of the heat exhaustion. Dry heat for me easily.

 

[Light Cleric]

I used to live in Louisiana. I've not lived in deserts but I've been there on vacations. Humidity can go eff itself, I will take dry heat any day of the week. Dry heat doesn't make you want to crawl out of your skin or make your clothes stick to your body and your glasses fog up the moment you open the door. Your entire outfit just gets soaked by the humidity and your sweat combined, if you can even sweat at all.

 

[Camikaze]

Hotter and drier is better, though I guess it depends on how hot we're talking. The difference between a humid 15 C and a dry 15 C is much less than between humid & dry at 30 C. I might actually prefer a humid 15 C to a dry 15 C. Another advantage of humid heat is that it'll often be a precursor to a thunderstorm bringing cooler temps. Days of dry heat don't tend to end early.

It also depends how much you're out in the heat. Lower but more humid temperatures aren't as immediately like an oven as hotter but drier temperatures; stepping outside on a dry 40 C day isn't something you really want to do, especially around pavement, but at least if you find shade it's not so bad. You can go outside in a humid 35 C though, but it'll sap you quicker.

 

[dutchfire]

Dry heat is easier to avoid, by staying in the shade (and preferably away from asphalt and pavements). Humid heat is everywhere.

 

[Evie]

I can live without AC, but not without a dehumidifier. That says all.

 

[Narz]

I'm probably not the guy to ask because I don't mind extremely hot weather (as long as it cools down a little @ night, when I lived on Miami Beach in the summer with temps that never dropped below low 80's even at 4am for a month at a time with high humidity & a crappy A/C I got a little tired of it).

I pretty much hate dry weather in general though (whether hot or cold) so that's how I voted. I can still enjoy the outdoors even at 88F, no matter how humid, especially if I can go swimming.

A dry sauna I very much dislike, a steamroom is great.

 

[Phrossack]

As a Missourian, I'm subjected to the nasty combination of heat and humidity almost every day of the summer. Right now it's 84F/29C, which is kinda low and wouldn't be bad if the humidity weren't 72%. I've never experienced dry heat in my life. I'd love to live somewhere cool and dry, with some nearby lakes, mountains, and forests and few biting insects, but that's like wishing for a Baltic shore house in Berlin with a view to the Zugspitze.

 

[madviking]

i can deal with straight temperature. you can't deal with the humility.

 

[bhsup]

And now I know who I want running in 2016 and their slogan. John McCain aboard the STRAIGHT TEMPERATURE EXPRESS!!

 

[cybrxkhan]

i can deal with straight temperature. you can't deal with the humility.

Having lived in areas where both types of heat were common (humidity is the bane of the DC area during summertime, and SoCal/the southwest tend to have a lot of dry heat year-round), this pretty much sums my views.

Humidity makes you sticky and uncomfortable and suffocates ya. Dry heat, you can just go under the shade - you don't have that luxury with humidity.

 

[madviking]

dc is the bane of weather

 

[cybrxkhan]

dc is the bane of weather

Oh ho, according to your profile thingy you live in Charlottesville, that's close enough to DC.

I might miss a lot of things about DC, but the weather isn't one of them.

DC weather is only nice for a couple of weeks at the beginning of spring and autumn. Then it's either hot and humid, or really cold, or PMSing.

 

[madviking]

Oh ho, according to your profile thingy you live in Charlottesville, that's close enough to DC.

I might miss a lot of things about DC, but the weather isn't one of them.

DC weather is only nice for a couple of weeks at the beginning of spring and autumn. Then it's either hot and humid, or really cold, or PMSing.

i grew up 20 miles from dc

 

[cybrxkhan]

i grew up 20 miles from dc

Yeah, well, so what, I grew up ~10 miles from DC borders, ha!

(MoCo, btw, around the Gaithersburg-Rockville area)

 

[Goodfella]

^Less than 4 miles.

95 in Nevada is nothing to 85 in DC.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

High humidity is like drowning in the air, but it can signal the coming of rain, which is good.

I hate this time of year. I don't function well, either physically or mentally during June-August, plus it's the time of year for tornadoes and forest fires. When a fire is bad enough in the mountains, our air quality gets compromised here.

Come September-November, I'll feel much better. But for the next six weeks, I won't get a lot of sleep, and will tend to be grouchier than usual.