Cold air is drier. Blizzards, ice storms, etc.
Relative measures reflect some sort of proportion.
Change in temperature of the environment, without any consideration of rising or sinking air parcels. Adiabatic Lapse Rate refers to the temperature of a parcel of air. Rising air expands, sinking air compresses. Expanding air cools, compressing air heats. If the environmental temperature is less than the parcel temperature, the parcel will rise.