Most people understand relative humidity, but the dew point is a much better measure of how humid it really feels.

The dew point is the temperature that we would have to cool the air down to for condensation (or dew) to begin forming.

Relative humidity and dew point are often mistaken for the same thing and can be sources of confusion.

One of my twitter followers asked me the other day if I can tweet about the difference between dew point and relative humidity. While I can certainly be succinct when I need to, I am not sure 140 ...

The relative humidity did not. Let's make another example. Picture a cool, crisp October day in southeastern North Carolina. In the morning, there are ribbons of fog on the horizon and dew on your ...

Meteorologists talk plenty about the dew point temperature during the summer, as it is a great indicator of humidity and a condition to watch when severe weather is possible.

Dew point, however, gives a better reading on how much moisture is in the air. Think of relative humidity as describing how much water is in a glass, and the glass is the air temperature.

Dew point/relative humidity questions come up fairly often and this is a good one. Water vapor in the atmosphere is pretty important for deep-sky observing and photography.

The lower the dew point, the more comfortable it is outdoors. For example, when dew points are in the 50s and low 60s, it is a bit more comfortable because there is less humidity in the air.

Relative humidity and dew point are often mistaken for the same thing and can be sources of confusion. But what are the differences between the two, and which is more relevant in everyday life?

Dew point vs. relative humidity The short answer is both terms are different and describe different things about moisture in the air. The dew point is another temperature value.

If it is 100 degrees and the dew point is 72 degrees, relative humidity would be 40 percent. So we meteorologists prefer the consistent message that comes with dew point.