Dry Heat Vs Humid Heat Arizona topics

6/20/2019 (Permalink)

In a previous post about summer weather I discussed some tips on being prepared for the summer weather. The Arizona heat is often not taken into high regard from states that have heat and high humidity. This blog is going to discuss why many claim dry heat is more bearable than humid heat.

Dry Heat:

Our bodies have adapted to try and regulate body temperature in a few different ways. The most important way being sweat. Once you step outside after sitting in air conditioning all day you begin to sweat to try and cool your body temperature down. The sweat is often evaporated very quickly (depending on how much you are sweating). Even though this does cool our bodies down it also brings a major issue if you're not staying properly hydrated. Because the hot air is taking moisture from your body it is a lot easier to become dehydrated in the desert.

Humid Heat

We discussed dry heat being able to cool down our bodies by sweating so how do our bodies react to humidity? The same way, but because the air is already full of humidity/moisture it does not take the excess moisture from the sweat on our skin. Therefore, you may feel slightly more miserable in a humid environment because your body cannot regulate your temperature as effectively in a humid environment than a dry environment.

Of course, there are many other reasons/details that can go into this blog but sweat is one of the key points. If you have been in both a humid environment and a dry environment, you know both are equally as horrible.