Thread "Dry heat or humid heat?" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 9:08PM, Aug. 9, 2018

It's cold here right now, really coooollld… You guys in the northern hemisphere have warmer weather right now though don't you? Lucky buggers.
So I want to talk about warmth.

People ALWAYS say dry heat is better than humid heat… I tend to think that they haven't experienced true dry heat. I live in one of the driest places. We don't get many humid summer days here -you do in other parts of Australia but not here.

True dry summer heat is severe, like being cooked in an oven. sweat is pointless, even soaked rags. Things dry too fast to have an effect. Your eyeballs start to dry out, your nose, your lips, your throat… You skin feels like it's burning, especially when the wind blows.
And worse. It hurts the breathe or even to open your eyes.

Of course really bad humidity is awful too. Nothing can dry. You're always covered in a blanket of clammy, slimy sweat like a human frog, the air is heavy and thick.

I think the reality is that when people say "dry heat" they just mean "low humidity". In my experience neither is better than the other. They're both awful.

But is is worse to be cold than it is to be hot?

Posted at 2:08AM, Aug. 10, 2018

Worse to be hot. You can always put on another layer or light as fire to get warm but heat?
Cramps, nausea, dizziness and passing out unless you get hydrated and shade or extreme exhaustion, shivering, teeth chattering and numbness and all you want to just drift off to sleep.

I've experienced both heat exhaustion and hypothermia. Hypothermia is far more comforting. Once you stop shivering and just drift off there is nothing more. Heat exhaustion you can get violently ill before passing out.

I don't care about wet or dry heat. I just hate heat. I've even taken to carrying around a golf umbrella to keep the sun off. I drink and drink and I still get cramps. My body just doesn't like it. And being bald? Hat all the time. And after the cataract surgery I am very sensitive to glare. Then there are the headaches from high humidity– those aren't as bad in dry heat.

I can always put on another layer in the cold but heat and I have had a very rough relationship.

Posted at 3:08PM, Aug. 10, 2018

My favorite weather is autumnal crisp, my Mom called it sweater weather.

I agree, too hot is bad. We've been having some hot humid stuff the last few weeks, 90F before factoring in humidity, which factors in around 100F on the whatever index. I don't know what 100F dry heat is, I doubt I'd like it. The shore is only bearable because you can jump into the ocean. Without the water there's no way I'd ever go. And at least the humidity helps lessen the potential for wild fires. I'd hate to realize how poorly I'd handle a massive fire.

But this humidity drags me down. It's like trying to breathe through a wet wool blanket. Mold loves it, as do a few botanical viruses that can kill some plants if you can't spray the plants between the heat storms. (I do love a good thunderstorm, though, as long as we don't lose power.)

That said, I have to admit that my tolerance for heat has improved a little with age, with a decreased tolerance for bitter cold. Cold, wind, and humidity together are awful. Heat, wind and humidity is balmy, but it must include a good solid breeze.

Posted at 1:08PM, Aug. 11, 2018

We have had a lot of dry heat recently. It has been so bad that a breeze isn't even refreshing, it just feels like someone pointed a hair dryer at you. The last few days it has been raining, so now we have the humid heat. If I had to pick one, I would go with the humidity. Though my hair frizzes badly and if feels a little harder to breath, a breeze is actually more refreshing.

I would agree that I would rather be too cold than hot. The only exception is that I can tolerate both if I'm just staying at home. (If you are not in public you can remove a layer of clothes)

Posted at 4:08AM, Aug. 12, 2018

I defintely enjoy dry heat over humid heat. It has been uncomfortably hot in Southern California this summer. Most days, I will just laze about because I can not function when I get too hot. I dislike humidity because I am not a fan of the clammy, balmy skin feeling and how it is the perfect weather for disease carrying mosquitos.

Give me Sedona, Arizona, weather over tropical heat any day.

That being said, I love the rain. I would like there to be much more rain than sun.

Posted at 5:08PM, Aug. 13, 2018

More people die from cold than heat, so I'll take heat. I'm used to it, and it won't make your toes fall off.

All else held equal, dry heat is way better than humid heat. It doesn't feel as hot (assuming in both cases it's the same temperature), and most of the dryness and itchy noses and stuff can be solved just by drinking more water. Humid heat is suffocating, and it covers you in slime. Think of the difference between 100 degree air versus sticking your hand into a pot of 100 degree boiling water. Humidity just sucks.

The city I live in is basically a giant swamp with roads and buildings slapped over it, so we have to deal with tons of humidity in the summer and winter, and it's miserable. I remember when I lived in Ohio, where it's much drier, even when it was snowing outside it didn't feel nearly as unpleasant as Houston winters can be (zero degree air versus zero degree ice water). Again, lesson learned: humidity sucks.

Posted at 7:08PM, Aug. 13, 2018

Like I said though, have you really experienced true dry heat or was it just low humidity?
I often feel that people only really know one extreme and not the other… It's like me saying that cold is no problem and that I could happily walk around naked in it if I had do, when in reality it doesn't get that cold here and I've only experienced snow once in my whole life XD
Crusty old ice on top of a mountain for about 2 hours.

Posted at 4:08AM, Aug. 23, 2018

I agree that the extremes for humidity are both bad in their own ways. People who say they prefer dry heat probably only experience low humidity or short periods in true dry heat. I also feel this way about heat vs cold. People think with cold that they can just layer but there's a limit to the layers and having to walk around with ski masks frosting over your face isn't fun and can become painful and dangerous very quickly.

I find in Ottawa we get, by my standard, pretty hot and humid in the summer (in the low or mid 30's celsius, with the humidity sometimes making it feel like it's in the low 40's) and pretty cold (and very dry) in the winter (-30 celsius with the windchill making it feel -40). I find with either of them I'm wanting to stay inside as much as possible. Though for short excursions I'd probably take the cold.

And don't get me started on "freezing rain". What a pain in the butt that is.

Posted at 5:08AM, Aug. 23, 2018

Minus 40 Celsius equals minus 40 Fahrenheit. I've worked outside in -30 Celsius ambient temperature with wind chill in the -40s. That's where I recognized the first symptoms of hypothermia. I was trained to recognize cold and heat injuries.

The worst part is that thought "I will never be warm again." its actually symptomatic. I was outside for a whole weekend in on again- off again freezing rain. Just could not get warm. Fortunately there were no frostbite cases that I saw.

Wet feet around single digit Celcius you can easily get frostbite. Not below freezing and people get careless. Then you wonder why your toes and fingertips are turning black.