Extreme low humidity in SA : dewpoint below zero

[skysurfer]

(SA == South Australia, not South Africa)
According to BOM observing reports in the northern part of South Australia temperatures are recorded of over 40ºC with dewpoints below zero.

Sometimes I see temperatures in this table of over 40 with a dewpoint below -10. Even here in Holland when it is cold weather like last Feb such low dewpoints are rare.

How does it feel like that ?
I was in Jan 2000 in Uluru with a temperature of 44ºC and still 38ºC at 21:00 (Alice Springs) which did not feel uncomfortable, i.e. Bali (where I was last Feb, 28-32ºC) feels hotter.

[MortonH]

Dry heat is less uncomfortable than heat with humidity. I was quite happy with the heat at Uluru in 40ºC but in Sydney 28ºC with humidity is just horrible.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by MortonH

Dry heat is less uncomfortable than heat with humidity. I was quite happy with the heat at Uluru in 40ºC but in Sydney 28ºC with humidity is just horrible.

I've had dew points well below zero on Sydney afternoons in the last few weeks - 15 separate instances since Dec 22.

[doppler (Rick)]

You want humidity try 33 deg in Mackay, the perspiration drips of you and that is at 8.00am. (just after a shower) Luckily the wet season only lasts for 3 months, the rest of the year is beautiful one day perfect the next. It is interesting to note that it never gets any higher than 34 deg here on the coast but at that temp it is unbearable. I have seen rain on a clear blue sky (100 % humidity I guess)

[louie_the_fly (Stew)]

Low RH and high temps are, like MortonH said, less uncomfortable. But still, 45 is damn hot no matter what the humidity is. I live on the eastern side of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the humidity varies quite a bit.

On Thursday at home it got to max 44.7 and humidity of 7% during the day. At about 22:30 it was still 28 and humidity of 13% which made for a dewpoint of -3. Plus there was a slight (6 - 9 kph ESE) breeze. Was a good night outside.

I use this calculator http://www.dpcalc.org/.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I have been following the heat from up here closer to the north pole and it is hard to imagine at the moment what it would feel like. It is -6 C here at the moment and the idea of some warmth sounds pretty good. Not keen on 40 C but would settle for 40 F...