How do humidity and relative humidity differ

Purchase Bulk Face Masks! September 9, Dehumidifiers. Difference Between Relative Humidity and Humidity Ratio Simply put, the more water vapor is in the air, the higher the humidity. The difference between relative humidity and humidity ratio is pretty easy to figure out— and explains the humidity percentage you see on your phone. Types of Humidity Absolute Humidity This term is used to describe the actual amount of water vapor that is saturating the air.

Relative Humidity Again, this is the type of humidity that meteorologists are typically referring to on their weather reports. Specific Humidity This term is used as a ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to the amount of dry air in the area. Author abonet. Previous Post.

Next Post. Tips for How to Care for Old Books. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Leave this field empty. Humidity is the total amount of water vapor in air at a given temperature. It represents the likelihood of precipitation, dew, and fog. Relative humidity is one of three forms of humidity. The difference between humidity and relative humidity is that humidity is the amount of water vapor present in the air at a given moment whereas relative humidity is the ratio between the amount of water vapor present in the air and the amount of water vapor required to saturate the air.

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If significant, these added factors help explain why rainfall totals from thunderstorms can exceed actual PW values of the air in which the storms are occurring.

The movement of thunderstorms, called propagation, also is very important in determining the actual amount of rainfall in any one location. The slower the movement of thunderstorms, the higher the rainfall potential in one area.

These examples show how relative humidity can be quite misleading. In general, assuming the dewpoint or absolute humidity does not change, the relative humidity will be highest in the early morning when the air temperature is coolest, and lowest in the afternoon when the air temperature is highest. While dewpoint is a more definitive measure of moisture content, it is the relative humidity that commonly is used to determine how hot and humid it "feels" to us in the spring and summer based on the combined effect of air temperature and humidity.

This combined effect is called the " Heat Index. In the winter, there is another index we use to determine how cold our bodies feel when we are outside. This index combines the effect of the air temperature with the speed of the wind. When it is cold outside and the wind is blowing, the wind carries away heat from our bodies faster than if the wind was not blowing.

This makes it feel colder to us. Therefore, the stronger the wind is in the winter, the colder it feels to us and the lower is the wind chill index. If the heat index is very high or the wind chill index is very low, then we must take safety measures to protect our bodies from possible effects of the weather, including heat exhaustion, sunstroke, and heat stroke in the summer, and frostbite in the winter.

Please Contact Us. Please try another search. Multiple locations were found. Please select one of the following:. Location Help. News Headlines. Customize Your Weather. Container one contains four times as much water as container two, yet actually contains a lower percentage. Human body temperature is dependent on the air as it absorbs and removes moisture from our skin to cool us down. If the relative humidity is high, the amount of water evaporating from our skin is limited so we feel warm and stifled.

High and low levels of relative humidity within the home can have adverse effects for the occupants as well as the dwelling itself.