comitan
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Comfort Zone
Interesting info on Relative Humidity and Dew Point. As it affects your Comfort Zone.
http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/190/
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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BajaBruno
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I wish I could say, having read that article, that I now have a good understanding of humidity vs dewpoint, but alas, I am still as confused as I ever
was.
But, thanks for trying, Comitan. 
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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comitan
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What I think I understand is that Dewpoint is a better basis than just Relative Humidity for a persons comfort level. A Dewpoint over 65F or 21C is
very uncomfortable.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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beercan
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There is a comfort zone ----
As a pilot I learned that the base of the clouds is the dew point .
On many summer bumpy days the bases are generally at 14, 16,000 feet AMSL. Get above that and the ride suddenly smooths out.
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Ken Bondy
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Wiley, don't take it personally  but that's probably the worst explanation of
dewpoint and RH I have ever read. He doesn't explain what either one is, and the typo in the phrase "closeness the air is the saturation" will
probably confuse almost everyone who reads it. Even if he got the words right "closeness the air is TO saturation" it is very awkward and doesn't
fully explain the physics. There's no easy way to describe these terms other than directly: relative humidity is a measure of how much water vapor
the air contains as a function of how much water it could contain at any particular temperature. At 50% RH the air contains half the water vapor it
could contain at that temperature. How much water vapor the air can contain is a function of temperature. The warmer the air, the more water vapor
it can hold. Dewpoint is the temperature at which the air becomes fully saturated (RH=100%). Cooled to the dewpoint, the air can't hold any more
water vapor and the water vapor begins to condense (clouds form, windows fog up, etc.) On a cold day outside, warm air inside is cooled next to a
window (which is cold). If the temperature of the air adjacent to the window reaches the dewpoint, it can't hold any more water vapor and the water
vapor condenses into water droplets on the inside of the window. The same thing is happening on the outside of my scotch glass right now, which is
probably why I didn't do a better job of explaining this
++Ken++
carpe diem!
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comitan
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Ken
Would it still be safe to assume that a Dewpoint over 65F be very uncomfortable and would it be a better way to to understand your comfort zone than
just humidity because most weather sites give both? I'm trying to understand this because myself and everyone I know bases Comfort Zone on Relative
Humidity.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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BajaBruno
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Well, I see that although it hit 102 in La Paz, the dewpoint dropped to 60 (from 66) as the temps rose. So, semi-comfortable I guess, despite the
temps. I'll look at the airport weather report with new enlightenment now... 
http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/MMLP.html
Christopher Bruno, Elk Grove, CA.
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by comitan
Ken
Would it still be safe to assume that a Dewpoint over 65F be very uncomfortable and would it be a better way to to understand your comfort zone than
just humidity because most weather sites give both? I'm trying to understand this because myself and everyone I know bases Comfort Zone on Relative
Humidity. |
Wiley
I think it is safe to say that the higher the dewpoint, the muggier and stickier it would feel. Dewpoint is the temperature at which the air is 100%
saturated. So when RH reaches 100%, the air temperature IS the dewpoint. If the dewpoint is high, that probably relates to hot muggy air. But I
think the same thing can be said about RH, which, like you say, is why most everybody bases comfort on RH. But RH and dewpoint are intimately
related. Now the outside of my scotch glass is completely wet, so I better stop talking. But I am very comfortable
++Ken++
carpe diem!
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bonanza bucko
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Dew Point
I fly airplanes. If you are heading for a destination where the temperature is lowering to the dew point you need to expect fog and an instrument
approach to the airport or a flight to an alternate airport.
If you take off early in the day and have a destination near the coast or a large body of water like the Great Lakes where the sun is going down and
the temperature is falling to a dew point made higher by the water near by you had better have some extra fuel on board so you can "hold" for a while
or go to the alternate.
Even when the temperature doesn't fall to the dew point there is always the heavy chance for haze and a hard to see horizon....that's what killed John
Kennedy, Jr. He took off late in the day and wasn't ready for a hazy and dark horizon...and not experienced enough to let his auto pilot or
artificial horizon keep him right side up....without that horizon your eyes and inner ear will tell you that you are straight and level when you are
in a spiral ...to the left usually.
The dew point is a big deal....lots more interesting than humidity. The temperature and dew spread is like a measure of money in the bank.....makes
you sweat if it's small.
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Terry28
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Ken, I teach weather as part of a wildland firefighting class...Your explanation of dewpoint is outstanding and should be understood by most if not
all..........If I had a hat on I would take it off to you..
Mexico!! Where two can live as cheaply as one.....but it costs twice as much.....
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