Dew point vs. relative humidity

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Let's talk about humidity and the best way to express it with respect to how people perceive it.

[00:00:08]So, you hear it all the time, 100% humidity, especially in the morning, and that is talking about relative humidity, which is a dependent variable in that it has a relationship with the air temperature, and it is an inverse relationship, meaning as temperatures go up, the relative humidity goes down, and vice versa. As the temperatures cool, the relative humidity comes up. Dew point is an independent variable. It doesn't change much unless you have an air mass change, something like a cold front or a warm front that'll change the moisture content of the atmosphere. So, dew point is a much better representation of how much moisture's in the air, especially with respect to how people perceive it.

[00:00:56]The number to look for, really, is anything over 60, you start to feel it.

[00:01:00]If the dew point is up over 70, then it is stickiness. It's air you can wear. It is very tropical-feeling air, and we may have some of that into Maine by this Wednesday. Now you know.