What does humidity indicate exactly? Does it give an idea of how cool the air would be ?

Question

I know the humidity percentage denotes percentage of watervapour in air.. But does it say that the air would be cooler or warmer.

From my experience, it is wrong to assume it would be a cold day based on just how sunny it is. There have been days in which it is cloudy and no sun, but at the same time it feels very sweaty and hot.

So does a high humidity percentage say its going to be like that or does it say its going to be chill ? (88% humidity is high right ? )

Answer 1

the higher the humidity the higher the amount of water is in the air.  

the more humid the air is the thicker it is, the more muggy it will feel. therefor hotter it will feel. the more you will sweat. etc

so a cool temp day with 100% humidity will feel like a hot day   tho a hot day with 0% humidity will be a nice tolerable hot day probably with a cool breeze.

Answer 2

I believe that what happens is a formula for acceleration. So if it is going to be a warm day without clouds and this turns into a warm humid day with a high temperature and a sky full of clouds what you are experiencing is the acceleration of the heating effect of the sun. So the water vapor molecules in the atmosphere contribute to the heat. You tend to not get such high humidity days in the winter because the cooler air is thinner and also keeps circulating ground-ward and can't hold as much vapor as a hot summer day. I hope this helps.

You could also go with this other issue that people are bringing up that it doesn't really affect the temperature so much as the heat index which is what it feels like to your body.

Answer 3

humidity just says the amount of water vapour in the air...that doesnt mean temperature at all....

but it does make u sweat....

Answer 4

yes humidity indicates the amount of moisture in the air.

if it is humid...it is most likely be slightly warmer to the body

for example, did you watch the men's 10,000meter in the olympics this year? it was 66 degrees with 94% humidity...they were sweating!

those days that were cloudy without sun and it is sweaty and hot are days with high humidity.

it is definitely not going to feel cooler because you will more likely be sweating.

hope that helps

Answer 5

Humidity simply means that the air contains water vapour.So,if we say air is humid,it contains moisture;otherwise it is dry.But relative humidity gives the percentage of water vapour in air for a particular temperature.

Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the amount  of water vapour present in the air to the amount of water vapour required to saturate it (or the maximum amount of water vapour it can hold)at that temperature.

If the moisture is more (ie,the relative humidity is 100 percent),the presence of moisture seems to increase the temperature(which is called 'heat Index").But the temperatutre is what our body feels and is only an apparent one.So it is not the actual increase of the air temperature.In the same way if the relative humidity is very less,our body may feel a condition which is colder than the actual temperature .This is also an apparent one and does not indicate the actual air temperature.

Even when the temperature is below zero degree celsius,the air may be dry with very less relative humidity and even may become saturated with 100 percent humidity.So.the presence of moisture does not indicate whether the air is hotter or colder.It only makes our body feel differently depending upon the relative humidity for a particular temperature.

Answer 6

Humidity percentage DOES NOT denote percentage of water vapour in air.

RELATIVE Humidity is a ratio, and is expressed as a percentage.

It is the RATIO of the vapour pressure of water vapour to the SATURATION vapour pressure at the temperature of the air.

  

Answer 7

Humidity occurs in hot weather. Humidity measures how much water vapor is in the air.  

Heat expands water molecules which then evaporate into the air. High humidity means that the air's saturated with water vapor and can't accommodate much more. Our bodies are made mostly of water. When we're hot, we perspire. In humid weather, when the air's saturated with water vapor, your perspiration can't evaporate to cool you off. That's why you feel so hot in hot and humid weather.

Answer 8

That depends on the season. A humid day in summer could result in a boiling pot because the water evaporating makes the temperature hotter. But if there is winter, when evaporation is not working as fast as in summer, it could mean that there may snow if temperature permit it (you know, below 32 degrees). I does not have relation with how sunny or cloudy the day is.