Fall Feel Thanks To The Dew Point
By Steve MacLaughlin on September 11, 2012, 4:15pm
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Ever since that big-time cold front slammed through Connecticut late Saturday and pushed the oppressive, tropical air out, our weather has been amazing.
Obviously, it's been cooler with highs only in the upper 60s and lower 70s the last couple of days thanks to that northwesterly wind and an airmass right from Canada.
But in addition to the cooler temps is the fact that it is incredibly dry, as this time of the year can often get.
The image above is the 4pm dew point numbers. Remember that the dew point tells us how much moisture is in the air. The higher the dew point, the more moisture and the more humid it feels. On Saturday, we were surging into the 70s and it felt like the Caribbean. Now, we are in the 40s...that is refreshingly dry air.
The other great thing about the dew point is that it helps us figure out the floor. On a clear, dry, cloud-less night, we get radiational cooling...in other words, the temperature can drop freely because all of the heat from the day can radiate back into the atmosphere very quickly. But the temperature will never drop below the dew point. The dew point is usually about where temps will bottom out. That is why my forecast tonight on News 8 has the shoreline in the lower 50s but our inland spots, away from the water at 45° on average with a few isolated spots down to near 40°.
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