For most of my adult life I lived in the South. That is, Virginia (mostly), North and South Carolina. While the winters in those places can be described as mild—not too much snow, but ice instead (yikes!)—even winter has its problems. When it does turn cold and the wind blows, the humidity in the air causes it to to cut right through you. Still, it’s better than having feet of snow to dig through. When we do have ice and snow, it doesn’t usually last too long.
Summers, however, can be downright awful. The temperatures climb well into the 90s F (nto the 30s for you Celsius people 😉) for a good part of July and August. Heat can be hard to take, but heat merged with humidity can drain you of all energy. You sweat more and can easily get dehydrated. Honestly, some days, it’s like breathing water. Humidity + heat is an all-around awful thing!
As I write this, in Greenwood, SC (one place we used to live) it’s 91 degrees F
(32 C) with a humidity (the amount of moisture in the air) of 57%. That means that the heat index (the temperature it feels like) is 100 degrees (38 C). In Orlando, FL (another place I used to live), the temperature is 93 F (34 C) with humidity of 54%. The heat index is 103 F (40 C). Glad I’m not there today!
Now, Jack and I live in lovely Idaho, and a very dry climate. When we were trucking, we used to say that in Arizona, at 115 F, dry heat doesn’t matter—hot is hot. But we have a dry climate here, too. Some days in August the temperature might get above 100 F for a few days, but the humidity is so low it doesn’t feel too bad. Right now our temperature is 80 F (26.8 C) but the humidity is 32%. The heat index is right at 79 F (36 C). Since we also almost always have a breeze, this is a great climate. Another thing about where we live now, in the evening, as the sun goes down, our temperatures will drop 20-30 degrees. In Virginia, I can’t tell you the number of nights the temperature dropped only 15 degrees until well into the late night/early morning, meaning we slept in uncomfortable conditions.
In the winter, our temperatures can plummet below freezing, but they don’t as a rule, stay that low for very long. The only place we have enjoyed temperatures so much was in San Francisco. Even when the days were hot, the fog would literally roll down the streets from the ocean (like in a scary movie) and the temperatures would drop immediately.
We love where we live now, and a lot of that has to do with the lovely climate!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Burning Bridges by Anne Krist
You’re so right that you can tolerate a tad more heat (or cold) for short times. But when the temps are 100 and humidity is 80 or higher, thank goodness for central air conditioning.
I’m with you – hate the humidity.