Weather Banter - View Single Post

Dave Ludlow · August 7th 03, 02:25 PM posted to uk.sci.weather

On 07 Aug 2003 13:03:24 GMT, (TudorHgh) wrote:

Hello everybody,
One thing that has distinguished this hot spell from the one in August
1990 has been that the humidity has been much higher. Over SE England in the
last few days the dewpoints have been in the range 17-20°C yet I have not heard
one mention of it in a forecast despite the fact that these are high figures
and add greatly to the discomfort. Yet in 1990 many people I spoke to
attributed their discomfort to the humidity, due, no doubt to the fact that in
those days humidity was all the rage. Yet when I pointed out that the air was
quite dry (DP about 11°C) and the reason they felt hot was because it *was* hot
some even refused to believe it, presumably having absorbed the then current
hype.
I would have thought the forecasters would have made a right meal of the
current humidity levels, but barely a dicky-bird. I wonder why.

Yes, that's strange. They occasionally mention "humid nights" though.
Perhaps they are all so used to working in air conditioned offices
with low humidity that they forget about it.

Talking of which, I've got a portable A/C unit in my "home office" and
I've noticed that some people dismiss them as "useless" because they
only lower temperatures by 3 or 4 degrees C in a single room i.e. they
won't keep it at 21 like the big office systems. At first, I was
disappointed but then I realised that they make it feel much cooler
than the temperature indicates. I'm certain now that it's lower
humidity created by such units that make it *feel* cooler than it
really is. I'm emptying 10 litres of water a day from mine, all
extracted the room air.

All of which reinforces your point about the importance of humidity
and I, too, am surprised that the forecasters don't make more of it.

Currently 28C outside, 25 in the room but feeling rather pleasant as
the A/C unit battles with my 2 PCs, 2 monitors, a TV, sunshine at the
front window - and *me*.

--
Dave
Fareham