As anyone who has ever been to Louisiana in summer knows, there is Hot, and then there is Louisiana Hot.
I am a lover of the heat, and on our trip over, I was the only one rejoicing when we got off the plane at DFW and the wall of dry heat hit me. But, it was more like walking into a sauna when exiting the New Orleans airport. You see, there is another dimension to the heat down here – humidity.
As all you Cajun’s already know, if it 97°F in Louisiana then it is also 97% humidity. It is really just a constant state of moisture. I always laugh when Sydneysiders start complaining about the ‘high’ humidity because once you live in South Louisiana, you realize that anything less than 80% is really not ‘high’.
I got such a kick out of watching Pat Shingleton report the Baton Rouge weather on Channel 2 the other night. He was quite happily reporting good news to all the residents that the humidity would be going down from the “Unbearable” category to be only “Very Humid”. Ahh, I just love my home state!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, I understand completely! I used to live in Mandeville, LA. I now live in the Houston area (for the 3rd time)! So I know what you’re talking about! Yikes! We moved here last year from Northern California, so it took a bit of getting used to again! I’m glad you’re enjoying it. (ARE you still enjoying it?!! LOL)
Lynn, yes, I’m still enjoying the warm weather, but with all the other Baton Rougeans, I was happy to leave “unbearable” behind and welcome “very humid”.
Do you get this kind of humidity in Houston?
Yes, I think the summer mornings average over 90% relative humidity. The average temperatures for summer months are around 90 degrees. I like how they describe it with temperature being X, but because of the heat index (air temp. + relative humidity), it will seem much higher. The weather guys even say something like “It’s 87 degrees, but it feels like 95!” People laugh when hearing, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” They just don’t get it.
My husband and I just got back from short stay in Santa Barbara, California. Nice, nice weather!