Louisiana is due for yet another hot and muggy week, and LSU Public Health Climatologist Barry Keim says it’s not just your imagination; according to a study from the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, it’s getting more humid.
“If you’ve been going outside and it feels really, really humid to you out there there’s probably a good reason and that is because it is literally more humid now than it was about 50 years ago,” Keim said.
Researchers have measured dewpoint levels across the eastern U.S. Keim says dew points that rarely reached the upper 70s 50 years ago are now routinely cracking the 80s. Several factors contribute to South Louisiana’s oppressive climate.
“Sea surface temperatures have been running well above normal for the last decade or so especially across the northern Gulf. Air temperatures have been warmer and so it’s able to store more moisture,” Keim explained.
Keim says higher humidity prevents sweat from evaporating off your skin as easily, which helps cool you off. In addition to increased discomfort, there are more impactful consequences.
“That moisture is there to be tapped by these various mechanisms to produce heavy rainfall. So if you think we’re getting more heavy rainfall, I mean that potential seems to be going up as these humidity levels are also increasing,” Keim noted.
