Humidity

Humidity means water vapor in the air, but excludes liquid droplets in fog, clouds, or rain.  Deserts usually have low humidity, and tropical regions have high humidity. The word "humid" often means that the humidity is high, which gives the feeling of being very damp (wet air), stuffy, or even sweltering when the temperature is also high. When the humidity is low, the air can be said to be "not humid" or "dry."

Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin.

The term "relative humidity" is used to note the amount of humidity as a percent, from 0-100%. Meteorologists use  hygrometers to measure the humidity in the air.

Humidity affects the rate of evaporation. With a higher humidity, a substance's rate of evaporation is less.

Related pages
 Dew point
Relative humidity

Category:Meteorology
Category:Weather measurements