It's not the humidity, it's the heat

[pebblerocker]

Everyone's talking about the humidity with the weather we've been having this week. Ooh, isn't it muggy? Yes, dreadful! It's not the heat, it's the humidity, they all say. I don't actually have an innate humidity sense at all, so I've been looking at the weather website in an attempt to learn one and the humidity doesn't look all that high -- only 67% yesterday and 74% today. Wikipedia's humidity article says a US agency recommends keeping humidity below 60% in houses (where mildew is an issue) so a little higher outside seems reasonable.

I'm coming to the conclusion that nobody has an innate humidity sense and they just like to talk about it! Maybe it sounds more exciting than just talking about temperature. My theory is: it's stinking hot, the sun's beating down, so you sweat, so you feel sticky -- it's not the air that's wet, it's your skin. We'd all be better off if we sweated something more evaporative, such as alcohol, to cool us down.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

it's not the air that's wet, it's your skin

It's both. The wet air stops your sweat evaporating. If you're sweating and sticky, it is the humidity, and man, I felt like I was in a sauna yesterday.

I've lived in Israel where it's gone up to 45C and I haven't felt anywhere near as bad--because the sweat actually evaporates (which is what it's meant to do) and cools the skin. I needed a siesta in the afternoons and drank a lot of water, but I was never as uncomfortable as I am here, mopping at my face and hands.

The stupidly high humidity is also why our houses are so full of mould. Ugh.