Local News

You’ve heard it before: it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity

However, a heat advisory remains in place into Saturday.

At Cochituate State Park in Natick, a child waited for their family to take them into the water and cool off earlier this month.

By Dave Epstein, The Boston Globe

July 28, 2023

2 minutes to read

Friday afternoon temperatures at Logan airport were still in the lower 80s, far from any 90-degree heat, but inland areas like Norwood had reached that number for a second straight day and Boston could still reach 90 if winds flip before 6 p.m. A heat advisory remains in place into Saturday.

As they say, it’s not the heat it’s the humidity and the humidity this month will ultimately end up being a new record. In July 2023 we have experienced more days in a row with a dew point above 65 than has ever been recorded. It’s been a summer of superlatives across the globe and for us humidity, not heat, has been the mainstay.

2023 has had the most humid July on record in Boston.

It remains uncomfortably warm for many through the evening and if you’ve got to be outside exerting yourself for any length of time be sure to stay hydrated and listen to your body.

On Saturday, cooler and less humid air will be slipping south, but it won’t arrive until the evening. This will help to kick off some showers and potentially some thunderstorms and even downpours.

In looking at the data there may be a few light showers in the morning and then a more organized round of showers in the afternoon and evening before coming to an end. Some of those showers might be accompanied by torrential rain, street flooding, and thunder.

A line of showers and storms will impact the weather Saturday across southern New England.

For those towns reaching 90 on Friday, there is a chance of a minimal heat wave if that same mark is hit tomorrow.

I’ve been pondering this sort of recent focus on the heat in our area but there’s nothing unusual about it. It’s important to keep perspective between what is just a normal hot summer day and what might be more part of a warming climate.

Locally, even if we reach heat wave status tomorrow, it is more about a statistic than any real impact. As a pure number, there have been fewer 90-degree days than is typical for many.

I would say that what I find certainly more noteworthy, and frankly consistent, is all the humidity. The number of humid days over the past decade has gone up enough that how humidity impacts all of our summers is much more notable than 30 years ago.

Sunday looks like it will be a gorgeous day. You can expect lots of sunshine, temperatures near 80 and finally, less humidity. Plan on taking advantage of a comfortable late July day.

The summer of 2023 has so far had fewer 90-degree days than average in Boston.

Looking ahead, with August approaching, and meteorological summer is just about 2/3 done, and so far it will be remembered for cloudiness, rainfall, and humidity.

Early signs indicate — at least for the first part of August — that the air will not be as humid nor will it be as wet. This doesn’t mean it’s not going to rain nor does it mean we’re not going to see humidity but it just looks like the pattern is going to change.