aslkahuna Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Humidity has recovered today all of the way to 4-6%, but yesterday some really dry air mixed down with TUS reporting TT/TdTd if 99/-11 for 1% RH a 110 degree dewpoint depression. D-M had 2% RH. We've seen these low dewpoints off and on all Spring and when mixed with wind as they were yesterday it tends to create fire control problems. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kab2791 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Wow, how low were the HI's with such dry air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Wow, how low were the HI's with such dry air? Looks like 93F.http://www.srh.noaa.gov/epz/?n=wxcalc_heatindex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice1972 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Humidity has recovered today all of the way to 4-6%, but yesterday some really dry air mixed down with TUS reporting TT/TdTd if 99/-11 for 1% RH a 110 degree dewpoint depression. D-M had 2% RH. We've seen these low dewpoints off and on all Spring and when mixed with wind as they were yesterday it tends to create fire control problems. Steve Man those are low dews.......how would that compare to normal and the record in the tucson area.....and what is the source of that dry air? I miss the western dry summer air......I love summer storms here but high dews are the end of me sometimes.....its really uncomfortable....I used to live in SF Bay Area.......I wasn't as into the weather until I moved in 2004 - typical bay area dews in the summer I think are like in the 50's so -11 is just sick...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We had 4-5 days of dew points in the -5 to -10 range on the Front Range of CO last fall when we were having our wild fires. While I don't miss the stifling tropical humid air of eastern summers, air that dry has its own evils. When I would go for extended bike rides on those days my lungs would just dry out and usually by the end of them I could taste some blood. Not pleasant. Even drinking a lot of water doesn't really help for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Hot and dry like it was is even more dangerous because your sweat evaporates before you even notice it and you feel comfortable-until you dehydrate, then you're in trouble and it doesn't take long. Contrary to TWC pronouncements, Dry Heat is as dangerous as humid heat though you get nuked instead of cooked. Normal early June dewpoints are in the 20-30F range. I've seen Spring daytme dews as low as -22F (and Vegas can also get really bone dry). Usually the source is some stratospheric air that mixes in with tropo air at altitude. Given the fact that our average mixing height this time of year is up around 550-600mb levels it's easy to drag some down and this appears to be what happened. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msalgado Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Wow not nearly that dry in NM but I'm ready for some monsoon action nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmx Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Some years I get the "best" of the two worlds. There are two distinct peaks of heat IMBY, the dry peak in Apr-May and the humid peak in Jul-Aug... both with temps way above 100F, but with different air masses involved. This past May, for example, there was an observation of 111F with a dew point of -17C (1F), for a 110 degree dewpoint depression, while in Jul/Aug, 104/70 obs are rather common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzucker Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Some years I get the "best" of the two worlds. There are two distinct peaks of heat IMBY, the dry peak in Apr-May and the humid peak in Jul-Aug... both with temps way above 100F, but with different air masses involved. This past May, for example, there was an observation of 111F with a dew point of -17C (1F), for a 110 degree dewpoint depression, while in Jul/Aug, 104/70 obs are rather common. For your sake, I hope everyone there has AC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmx Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 For your sake, I hope everyone there has AC. Not everybody... some people can't afford it, but all offices and most cars do ... except mine which broke *again* last week. The good thing is that I can bear the heat very well...unless is unbearable... right now I avoid driving until I get out at 7pm, and the temps come down to the refreshing mid/low 90s... which sometimes they don't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Don't know how -10ºF dps would affect it, but I've been to bars in Monahans, TX (in the Chihuahuan desert) that had 'swamp coolers' instead of regular AC. Of course, that dry, you'd use a lot of water in a swamp cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msalgado Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Don't know how -10ºF dps would affect it, but I've been to bars in Monahans, TX (in the Chihuahuan desert) that had 'swamp coolers' instead of regular AC. Of course, that dry, you'd use a lot of water in a swamp cooler. You sure about that? I would think that the lower the dewpoint the more efficiently the swamp cooler would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Stough Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I hope that this pattern breaks soon so we can get into the summer thunderstorm season. I felt pretty confident early in year that we might see an enhanced season, but I am not so sure now with this pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aslkahuna Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 You sure about that? I would think that the lower the dewpoint the more efficiently the swamp cooler would work. Our swamp cooler has been pushing out A/C quality type temperaures to the point where we even have to shut it down at night. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxmx Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 And the day after I say we get all kinds of heat, we record 109/64 in MMAN for a really nasty day IMBY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analog96 Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Don't know how -10ºF dps would affect it, but I've been to bars in Monahans, TX (in the Chihuahuan desert) that had 'swamp coolers' instead of regular AC. Of course, that dry, you'd use a lot of water in a swamp cooler. Swamp coolers would work very well on the principle of evaporational cooling with dew points below zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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