Why Is Houston So Hot?

Texas is absolutely the hottest and most insufferable state in the entire nation. Forget Death Valley, Arizona, Nevada, Florida– none of them measures up. Texas alone has the right to be known as Number One, the worst.

Just how hot? Along the Rio Grande, we’re discussing an average desert comparable temperature of 102° Fahrenheit every summer season. That’s the hottest part of Texas in the hottest time of year, but it does not get much cooler anywhere else. The heat can attract unwanted critters and wildlife removal Houston will be needed. In Houston, Corpus, San Antonio, and practically any place southeast of a line from Dallas to Del Rio, the average desert comparable temperature level in the summertime is over 100°. This region, including the 4 biggest cities and about half of the total square acreage, is hotter on the average than Death Valley and the rest of California’s Mojave Desert, which average just 98.6°. The Panhandle, West Texas, and parts of North Texas are just a little cooler than the Mojave, with summer averages of about 95°.

Are you preparing a move to North Houston this summer season? If so, one thing will become obvious extremely quickly– it’s humid!

Expert cowboys can inform you that summer moves in the Houston area can be sweaty and sticky at all hours of the day. Why does the weather take such a damp turn?

Time for a quick meteorology / geography lesson.

What Is Humidity?

First, let’s have a look at what humidity really is. Humidity is the measurement of atmospheric moisture, water vapor, in the air. Water vapor can’t be seen however it can be felt.

Houston Botanic Garden

Relative humidity is a term that describes the percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount air can “hold” at a particular temperature. When the humidity goes beyond 100% the air can’t hold any more water vapor and dew will form.

Why Does Humidity Feel So Hot7876uy

If there’s more water vapor in the air, why does it feel warmer rather than cooler when it’s humid? The reason high humidity makes you feel hot is due to the fact that it lowers the efficiency of sweating, the body’s natural cooling system.

When we sweat the moisture on our skin evaporates, creating a cooling effect as heat is moved out of the body and into the air. When it’s humid out sweat vaporizes a lot slower. At a relative humidity of 100% sweat evaporates at a snails pace and can make the body heat up.

Houston Humidity Factors

Typically speaking, coastal cities tend to be more humid because neighboring bodies of water put moisture into the air. When the temperature is high, like it always is throughout the summer in Houston, the water will evaporate triggering humidity. Houston is not just near the Gulf of Mexico, it’s also next door to 2 bays, Lake Houston isn’t far from downtown and the San Jacinto River feeds the massive lake.

Downtown Houston

Since Houston is also in an area with a lot of low-lying lands, anytime it rains the ground tends to remain wet for prolonged periods. It’s a circumstance that adds to the humidity even days after a shower. That’s why swampy locations tend to be damp all the time.

Another element that contributes to the humidity is Houston’s flood-control reservoirs. Due to the low-lying land, floods often occur if there’s a lot of rain for a long period. The city has small and big flood reservoirs throughout the metro area that pool with water to prevent flooding, but it also implies more moisture evaporates into the air developing humidity.

Living With the Big Heat

Direct exposure to a typical Texas summertime can lead to cramps, burns, stroke, fatigue, heart attack, cataracts, and cancer. It causes “sludgy” blood, a decrease in blood sugar, an increase in oxygen consumption, and, of course, dehydration. You will probably be more violent and more irritable, and you might well discover that the sheer uniformity of the heat brings on monotony, anxiety, and alcoholism.

Regardless of such threats, it is possible to survive and actually end up being more comfortable and productive in just 10 to 14 days without air conditioning. This is possible mainly because of acclimatization. Acclimatization works through direct exposure to heat: the more you get, the more you can take. Up to a point, that is.

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