Over the past few years, TV weathermen/women/persons have followed a trend to quote the Dew Point rather than the Relative Humidity. I think that, much like choosing a gender-neutral description for weathercasters, this is an attempt to find a gentler, less threatening, term to describe the weather, since Humidity has somehow become synonymous with excess Humidity and discomfort.
The Dew Point, put simply, is the temperature at which the Relative Humidity reaches 100%. It is the point at which water in the atmosphere condenses as fast as it evaporates. It’s just another way to view/express the same atmospheric condition, but apparently the PC police took time out to determine that it sounds nicer.
I found a chart to post showing the relationship between Dew Point, Humidity and Human Comfort, but comfort is subjective, and I think the chart was designed by someone from Colorado – Or, since it uses temps in Celsius, someone from Canada. The comfort ranges were definitely not designed by anyone who grew up on the Gulf Coast.
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