How Does Humidity Affect Weather Conditions? Practical Effects

Looking at a weather forecast today, you can easily see that humidity is one of the significant pieces of information listed, along with other information like temperature, rainfall, wind speed, UV index, cloud cover, chance of rain, etc. But have you ever asked yourself, “How does humidity affect weather?” Check out this article to find out!

How does humidity affect the weather?

What Is Humidity?

Humidity simply refers to the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere at a specific time, and it is measured in percentage (%) or grams per cubic meter (g/m3). 

The more water evaporates and the more water vapor in the atmosphere in a given area, the higher the percentage of humidity in that area will be. 

That means hot places tend to have higher levels of humidity in the air than cool places since heat makes water evaporate faster.

Of course, we don’t see it, but we are always surrounded by air with a certain amount of humidity. The percentage of humidity or water vapor in the atmosphere determines how we feel when we are outside.

Humidity simply is the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere

In fact, it’s always important to have the right amount of water vapor or humidity in the atmosphere to maintain a “balanced” air ratio. 

Too much or too little humidity in the air can negatively impact our lives and the environment.

Absolute humidity and relative humidity

Absolute humidity

Absolute humidity is the ratio of water vapor to dry air in a volume of air and does not consider temperature. 

The higher the amount of water vapor, the higher the absolute humidity.

It is normally expressed in grams per cubic meter (g/m3) or the number of grams of moisture per one cubic meter of air.

Absolute humidity vs relative humidity

Relative humidity

Unlike absolute humidity, relative humidity considers the temperature to measure the humidity level in the air. 

It’s expressed as a percentage equal to the amount of water vapor present relative to the maximum water vapor that the air can hold at its current temperature.

In fact, relative humidity is more common than absolute humidity when measuring the amount of moisture or water vapor in the atmosphere at a given time.

That’s why we always see the percent humidity level in the weather forecast today or the weather forecast tomorrow!

When relative humidity reaches 100%, the air is saturated, and its moisture will either condense as dew or fall out of the air as rain.

The relative humidity is more popular than the absolute humidity

How Does Humidity Affect Weather?

Humidity is one of the major driving forces of almost all weather systems on the planet. Indeed, the combination of temperature and humidity impels several weather systems and occurrences.

Humidity affects weather in many different ways, so scroll down to find out!

Cloud formation

How does humidity affect weather? When the sun shines and produces heat, the ground absorbs that heat and radiates some of it back into the air, warming it close to the ground.

Warm air is always lighter than cool air, so it rises, forming an upward convection current. When ground air is full of water vapor or moisture, the moisture also rises with the warm air.

Humidity and cloud formation

The moist air in the warm front will cool down as it moves over the cold front in the upper atmosphere. 

Since cool air can hold less moisture than warm air, water vapor will condense into mist or ice particles when the temperature is cold enough. From the ground, this condensation is perceived as clouds. 

Thunderstorm and hurricanes

Warm air can hold much moisture, and both rise quickly. The moisture cools down rapidly in the upper atmosphere, forming large clouds that will spread out in reduced pressure conditions.

The rapid upward flow of air then creates low-pressure areas near the ground, and of course, cooler air quickly rushes in to fill these low-pressure areas. 

This circulation of moisture and air results from strong wind, dark clouds, and thunderstorm rain.

How can humidity affect the weather?

Hurricanes develop during summer in extreme moisture conditions and high temperatures over tropical oceans. The rapid evaporation of ocean water strongly fuels them. 

However, hurricanes typically lose their energy and become very destructive when they make landfall.

Coastal and mountainous climate zones

Clouds block sunlight and keep the air underneath cool, which helps increase the relative humidity in the atmosphere. When the air gets saturated, rain starts falling, but even before the precipitation, the air can be misty and foggy. 

At a given time, precipitation and condensation cool the air enough to stop the convection, and then the clouds break.

Coastal and mountainous climate zones

This cycle repeats frequently in areas near large bodies of water, like the beach, for example, but very rarely occurs in places like deserts where there is no source of evaporating water.

However, clouds can still form in mountainous areas, even in low humidity. This is because updrafts on the slopes help push the air higher. 

And when the air gets cool near the peaks of the mounter, its moisture will all condense.

More to explore:

• How is weather different from climate?

• Why weather change?

How Does Humidity Affect Our Health?

Humidity influences our thermal comfort, that is, whether we feel too hot or too cold. Thus, it can impact human health. 

The body finds it more challenging to stay cool in warm, humid conditions because sweat evaporating into the air takes longer to evaporate away heat. It can result in dangerous levels of overheating.

Heat stress can cause serious disease or even death. It may also prevent other respiratory issues, heart attacks, or strokes.

Humidity may affect human health

A lengthy period of high humidity makes the air feel heavy. When it rains, the air feels 'lighter,' and the humidity drops. It has been demonstrated that this causes elation to spread widely. 

In fact, certain studies indicate that this variation in humidity, namely in regions of the Tropics (where humidity occurs year-round), may help enhance mental and physical well-being.

Which Instrument is Used to Measure Humidity?

A hygrometer is an instrument used to measure humidity. It measures the atmospheric concentration of water vapor. 

Digital and analog hygrometers are available; however, the most accurate current digital hygrometers are utilized.

Although there is no perfect scientific measurement, all industries need to obtain the most precise humidity readings possible since humidity greatly affects human health and the weather.

A digital hygrometer for home

Conclusion

This article has provided a detailed explanation of humidity – one of the major driving forces of many weather systems on the planet. Though humidity is ordinarily invisible to our naked eyes, it directly affects the weather, environment, and our lives as well. That’s all for today’s article. Finally, we hope that you found this article “How does humidity affect weather?” interesting and useful.