SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - It’s not your imagination. San Diego is more humid than it was in the past.
National Weather Service data show the increase in humidity and anomalous high moisture values. For those of you without a meteorology degree, that means America’s Finest City feels a bit like Florida this year.
2012 marked the start of a humid trend in Southern California, with the peak in 2015. Photos on the 10News Weather Watchers Facebook page show rain and clouds that indicate the phenomenon is ongoing.
Image by Randy Siegel
Relative humidity is the difference between temperature and dewpoint, NWS expert Alex Tardy explains. The moisture content when the temperature hits this dewpoint is 100 percent humidity. The dewpoint is more of an indication of moisture than relative humidity. If moisture is not added - the higher a temperature, the lower the humidity. Just like the Sunshine State, San Diego has experienced summer dewpoints in the 70s.
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Higher ocean temperatures will raise dewpoint temperatures and overnight lows, leading to a more muggy, less cooling effect. The sea surface temperature has been warmer since 2012, meteorologists say.
“You didn't used to need A/C in San Diego and it didn't use to be humid! How the times have changed!” said Poway native, 10News meteorologist Megan Parry.
Perhaps you’re remembering a pleasant summer in 2010 or 2011? The Pacific Ocean was cooler those years than the 30-year average, according to the National Weather Service.
