What is this, the Midwest?
At 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, the dew point in muggy Seattle stood at 63 degrees, matching that of Kansas City. The sticky air in Seattle was also comparable to several other Midwestern cities, including Chicago, St. Louis and Cleveland, where dew points hovered in the lower 60s.
The dew point—the temperature at which the air must be cooled to in order to become completely saturated—is often used to gauge how humid the air feels. Generally speaking, dew points in the low- to mid-60s are considered “moderately” muggy, with anything over 65 degrees classified as very humid and uncomfortable. (The big exception to this is the South, where dew points can reach well into the 70s—as evidenced by the 76-degree reading recorded earlier today in Galveston, Texas. To a Southerner, a dew point in the 60s is nothing short of pleasant.)
Around Seattle, it’s pretty unusual for the dew point to rise into the 60s. During the spring and summer, our dew point generally stays in the 40s and 50s—giving the air a much more comfortable feel. Consider today a glimpse into the lives of our humidity-plagued brethren in the Midwest and South, who spend much of their summertime indoors with the air conditioner at full blast. (Suddenly, it makes sense why everyone east of the Rockies has a swimming pool in their backyard.)
Our humid weather—in place due to a very wet and mild weather system sagging southward from B.C.—will continue through the rest of the evening, with rain increasing from north to south. Amounts from Everett south through Tacoma will on the lighter side—from .10 to .20 inches. North of Everett, the rain will be heavier, with rainfall totals of up to half an inch.
The rain will come to an end for most of the area tomorrow, although a decent Puget Sound Convergence Zone is likely to persist from Everett to Shoreline. Temperatures will also drop off behind the cold front, with highs struggling to make it past 65 degrees. While skies will remain cloudy, the air will be less on the muggy side, with dew points expected to fall into the more tolerable upper 50s.
Not to rub it in or anything, Midwesterners.
