It is only the beginning of June but it is already full-blown summertime heat here in Houston. Temperatures have been well into the 90s for a couple of weeks now and the humidity is back in full force.

Since moving here to Houston, I have learned a bit about humidity and come to find out that the standard “relative humidity” reported by weather services all across the county is close to meaningless. Apparently, as the temperature increases, relative humidity goes down as warm air can hold more moisture.

What does not fluctuate with the temperature is the dew point. Quite simply, the dew point is the temperature at which the air can not hold any more water vapor or, 100% relative humidity. Once the temperature goes below the dew point, precipitation, or “dew” will occur.

A high dew point, therefore, means that there is quite a bit of water vapor in the air and it will feel “muggy”. The body cools itself by sweat evaporating off the skin, but if the surrounding atmosphere can’t absorb any more moisture, the body will produce more and more sweat to try to cool off and it will feel quite yucky (technical term).

Houston, given its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, typically experiences rather high dew points during the summer. According to the national weather service, dew points of:

• less than or equal to 55: dry and comfortable
• between 55 and 65: becoming “sticky” with muggy evenings
• greater than or equal to 65: lots of moisture in the air, becoming oppressive (from weather.gov)

Today, the dew point in Houston is 79°F and it will hover around 80°F for the foreseeable future. As a reference, the highest dew point ever recorded in the U.S. was 90°F. So every summer, Houston is within shouting distance of the all-time record on the daily.

Then add in the heat. Today, the forecast is for 95°F which on its own is pretty toasty. With a dew point of 79°, the relative humidity will be 60% at 95°F which doesn’t sound too bad, right? Wrong. 

With that temperature and dew point, the heat index (what temperature it actually feels like outside), will climb up to a whopping 113°F this afternoon. Yikes.

In other words, it’s not the heat but nor is it the humidity, it is both.

So (finally) I get to the point. My June article is out! In my article, the first of a series, I discuss how to deal with the Houston summer.

In brief, the secret to dealing with the heat in Houston in the summer?

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Here is the article from Spring Branch Plus: