[Closed] Dry wind feels colder than damp wind shocker

Doesn't seem right, the moisture in damp air will evaporate by drawing heat from warm surfaces, which makes it feel colder.

Dry winds tend to come from the east as they've travelled over Russia from the Arctic and have dropped all the moisture as snow, and got chilly in the process. Wet winds come from the south west picking up warm moist gulf stream air.
As a midlands based windsurfer I can sometimes go in a positively balmy 8 degree south-westerly, but can refuse to in a bitter 11 degree north-easterly.

Doesn’t seem right, the moisture in damp air will evaporate by drawing heat from warm surfaces, which makes it feel colder.

Shirley if the air is moist, the moisture in it already has evaporated?

The higher the humidity, the less evaporation from your skin, so the warmer it will feel.

Warner feeling when weather is hot, yes. But damp and cold feels colder than dry and cold. I assume the cooling mechanism is straight conduction, there's not much sweating when it's cold, and damp air has a higher heat capacity so conducts heat away faster?

I definitely remember a winter in Munich, far colder thermometer than London, but never felt as cold as a damp London!

As someone who spent a month in South Korea during the winter olympics, I can tell you with no doubt whatsoever, it was a cold dry wind and boy was it cold. We would get alerts on our phones warning us of the lack of moisture in the air, and every time you blew your nose, dry blood would come out.

Cold and dry increases evaporation from your skin.

Cold and higher moisture content means less evaporation from your skin.

The feeling is about evaporation from your skin - which increases when the air is dry.

Errm no

https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/dry-cold-vs-humid-cold/#:~:text=In%20fact%20cold%2C%20dry%20air,air%20at%20the%20same%20temperature.&text=Even%20though%20the%20clothes%20do,of%20heat%20through%20the%20clothing.

As a midlands based windsurfer I can sometimes go in a positively balmy 8 degree south-westerly, but can refuse to in a bitter 11 degree north-easterly.

I'm lost on this. I suppose in a wet wetsuite evaporation might be more of a thing? When i windsurfed inland it was all about water temperature

Until i opened this thread i would have said 2 degrees high humidity felt colder than 2 degrees low humidity. I think complications are it being more likeky to be sunny on a dry day so that will be warmer in the sun. Also are there days when evaloration in the lungs becomes more significant?

Working in Tromso last winter, it was a lot more uncomfortable when it was hovering around freezing, =/-2C, compared to when it was -8C.

Although I think that the clothing "worked" better at the low temperatures, than at the damp, freezing range.

My wife is from Wisconsin where temperatures of -20C are common. She scoffed at people complaining when the weather is 2C here, but then she experienced it and now agrees that the dampness is what makes it so miserable and cold feeling. 1C and sleet is the worst weather combination. We once went out to walk their family dog when it was 30mph winds and -15C, and it wasn't too bad at all as long as skin was covered. I've had worse days here.

Neilneil
That was indeed one of the links I found when I Googled it. But it doesn't make any sense and contradicts itself further down the page.

Maybe it's temperature dependent? Certainly dry air at well below freezing doesn't feel as cold as damp air just above. It might also depend on whether 'dry' is based on absolute humidity or relative humidity.

I live on the Welsh coast, where windy and wet weather is the default position. Air temperatures and sea temperatures are pretty high here compared to rest of UK, but the amount of people who comment on how cold it is here whilst visiting is striking. I think its definitely the case that the moisture in the air and the damp environment is sucking all the heat from the body. I think the constant damp is worse too.
Hate hot weather, so our getaways are always to cold countries, Norway ,Canada, Poland, etc. We never feel as cold there in -30 or whatever as we do in , say, 3c and pissing down ,like it does at home. Im convinced its to do with the moisture content of the air.

Having worked mostly outside for many years cold and dry anytime thanks
cold and damp kicks of the reynauds(and mrs g same)

Well apparently this morning's ride was at -2ªC and 99% humidity. It was cold.

Errr yes @Neilnevill

Despite that article being poorly written they nail this:

"A person without clothes in cold, humid air may feel slightly warmer than in cold, dry air at the same temperature"

But then they go on to write about clothing - and clothing choices are so varied that who the hell can science the shit out of that. I know that on dry days with my clothing choices it's cold! But then merino base layers don't feel particularly cold when wet - which is why I buy them.

chevychase
Cold and dry increases evaporation from your skin.

Cold and higher moisture content means less evaporation from your skin.

The feeling is about evaporation from your skin – which increases when the air is dry.

This. Cold/dry and cold/humid both feel cold, but cold/dry feels colder on the skin.

Hot/dry feels cooler than hot/humid, as moisture can evaporate from your skin which cools it.

I’ve always felt colder when it’s cool/cold and damp than when the humidity is lower, same as hot and humid feels hotter than hot and low humidity.
Maybe it’s just me.

Poorly written article, and poor choice to link. Sorry.

I think the perspiration evaporation thing is probably irrelevant. When it's cold we don't perspire, we are trying to conserve heat not lose it. But we still lose heat through conduction, convection and radiation. I doubt humidity alters emissivity greatly so radiation would be unchanged, but I can imagine ( but haven't looked it up) humidity changes the properties of air such as heat capacity, and thus alter conduction and connection. My assumption/theory is damp air has a higher heat capacity and so is able to absorb more great energy from a warm body before warming up, so it feels colder. This applies to a naked or dressed person.

2nd law of thermodynamics. Heat passes from hot to cold in an attempt to reach equilibrium. Water is a much better conductor of heat and so humid air conducts more heat away quicker. Throw in a wind chill and the gradient will increase speeding the process. Perspiration/evaporation doesn't come into it at low temperatures as youre rarely warm enough nor is your skin exposed.