Posts

The Dew Point Is the Best Way to Measure Your Misery 

After walking outside and instantly sweating through my shirt a few days ago, I found myself in a very familiar position – hot, tired and uncomfortable. It was another summer day in New York City.

You know, the ones where the subway smells like a curious mixture of old Chinese food and body odor at 7:30 am. Where the ice in the $6.00 coffee you purchased from Starbucks 32 seconds ago already has already completely melted. One of those days.

The funny thing about that disgustingly humid morning is that when I went to check my phones weather app, it told me that the relative humidity was only 53%. That’s right, folks! Fifty-three percent. With a temperature of 88° F and a dew point of 69° F, miserable conditions under any circumstance, the relative humidity was only 53%. 

Which leads us to our most important point: The dew point is the best way to measure your misery. 

Dew point is an absolute measure of the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, while humidity is a relative measure of dew point as it relates to the temperature. 

In more technical terms, the dew point is “The temperature where any air mass when cooled to that temperature reaches 100% humidity. It is expressed as measure of degrees.” Humidity, on the other hand is defined as “The ratio of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount of water vapor in the air that could be present if the air were completely saturated at a given temperature.” 

By nature, the dew point is a better measure of how humid it feels outside because it is not relative to anything else. It is absolute, direct and stands alone as the single best measure for how miserable you’re going to feel upon walking outdoors.

That’s why we created our realistic dew point chart. It gives us a way to measure how miserable we are going to be on a given day. The prime time dew points generally range from the upper 40’s to the 50’s, leading to maximum comfortability. Below 40 is generally too dry/chapstick weather and above 65 is when the instant-sweat conditions return. 

Today, we’re expecting dew points to move solidly into the “instant sweat” level and perhaps even close to “hellscape” level – it’s disgusting out there. We should start to see some improvement by tonight and especially by early next week. September is notorious for bringing a handful of sunny, lower dew point days where New York City really shines.

With that in mind, forget about relative humidity and start checking the dew point before you head outside. You’ll be grateful that you did! 

NYC Forecast: Warmer weather will gradually return later this week

As I type this, the NYC Area is in the midst of a beautiful stretch of weather. Temperatures have averaged a few degrees below normal, with low humidity and lots of sunshine over the past few days. Much of the same is likely through the middle of this week. For now, most of the weather-related news remains as good as it can get.

Read more

NYC Forecast: Prolonged stretch of pleasant weather expected

Everyone should become familiar with the term “cutoff low” over the next week, as it may become both your friend and foe. A prolonged stretch of pleasant weather is likely in the next few days, through at least Wednesday, as a cutoff low drifts into the Mid Atlantic States. This cutoff low will be responsible for deflecting abnormally warm temperatures northward into Canada, and keeping cool and rainy weather southward in the Carolinas. The NYC Area will be comfortably sandwiched in between.

Read more

Pleasant Weather Today, Isolated PM T-Storms Tuesday, More Unsettled Late Week

Good Morning and Happy Monday! Today will be another pleasant warm day. This will allow for a return flow and more mid-high level clouds to filter and mix with sunshine as the day goes on. Humidity will also increase a little bit later this afternoon. But overall it will be pleasant warm summer day, with high temperatures in the lower to middle 80s this afternoon. A light southeast flow may keep temperatures slightly cooler along the shore.

Partly cloudy skies are expected through tonight  A weak upper-level disturbance will be moving through early tonight. But there will be little or no instability tonight. So only a slight chance for some isolated showers. Most areas will be dry. Some areas of patchy fog may also develop late tonight, especially along coastal areas, as onshore flow enhances low-level moisture underneath inversion. Cloud cover will keep temperatures warmer tonight. Low temperatures will likely be in the lower to middle 60s over the Interior areas and in upper 60s to near 70 over more urban and coastal areas.

Read more