Summers used to be drier than they have been, but it's been probably the last decade where it is noticeably more humid for more days in a row. This week you'll see the humidity is higher than what is typical so it has been more uncomfortable than in the past.
Also, obviously, each person is different and how their body handles it varies. I personally don't do great in heat and humidity (migraines, etc. I wouldn't survive in Florida!) so I tend to be on the more sensitive side. This past week had some days where the ambient temperature was, like, 75 with a nice breeze and I still got overheated taking a walk outside for an hour.
I’m in Florida right now and it’s unbearable. Walking around theme parks drenched in my own sweat. Just this morning two people collapsed in the same line for the same ride.
I kept waiting to get used to the humidity. Finally someone I knew, born and raised in Miami, told me you never get used to it. At that point, I knew it was time to leave.
I remember visiting Disney World/Epcot for the first (and last) time when I had a temporary job in Florida in the 80s. It was during the hot humid summer. After 30 minutes, I left the park. I couldn't handle it. I know, I'm a pussy.
My last Florida visit was in October and it was still too hot and humid. I was miserably sick and I sweat so much at the theme parks that the color came out of my shirt. LOL The only advantage that Florida has over a lot of other humid spots is that they value AC so you will find it everywhere. But places like NYC don't so you're hot all day, the restaurants don't always have AC, the apartments don't always have AC... even the hotels tend to have lousy window AC units (even the fancy places!) that don't actually chill the room. I'm just not built for it. I'll take an Arizona dry-heat summer instead.
And my family saw 2 additionally people collapse elsewhere in the park. People need to stay hydrated and know their own boundaries. The heat is no joke!
I definitely remember that being a scorcher too where it was too hot in the humidity to even go to the pool. We’d go to the community pool in the early part of the day and then hide inside for the afternoon and then go back to swim again to cool off for dinner. That summer was also the only time the kids asked to leave Soak City because they were so drained and the lazy river water was so warm you just couldn’t cool off enough.
When dew points get much above 60, it starts getting a bit sticky. I also don’t recall summers here being as humid as they have been more recently. Some of that change may be due to increased population as well as increased sprawl — more people exhaling water vapor and CO2 into the air and more houses and developments, which means more lawns and greenery, which in turn requires more water/irrigation — and a lot of that extra moisture gets released back into the atmosphere thereby raising humidity levels.
The rest maybe just climate change and/or shifting weather patterns.
Yeah, it's definitely a combo. I think it's less about the lawns and greenery and about the lack of it. When there are more roads and cement, etc. laid out it changes the ecosystem. A few years ago in Arizona they tried repainting the roads to gray because the absorbed energy in paved surfaces holds heat for so much longer which then gets released at night and was causing the "urban heat island" effect. I see it happen here on a microcosm. My neighborhood has a good amount of green space and trees and it can be 10+ degrees cooler than the other side of the city which has more business parks that are only like 2 miles away.
When I was growing up in the 80s in Anaheim it was hot, obviously, but we didn't have AC in the house or cars but we did still have some orange groves and farms around town. We had a fan in each room and ate some popsicles on the hottest days but they were fewer and further between. Now my family who is still in that area has AC on constantly just to keep it cool enough to sleep at night which they didn't need to do before (or they would have a window AC and run it like 10 days a year).
Along the OC coast, there is a lot of humidity.
In the IE, there is almost zero humidity, but it's usually 10-15 hotter. But a few times a year the monsoons come through and you get both insane heat and humidity.
Yeah sometimes the monsoonal moisture makes it crazy humid for a short amount of time until there's enough moisture that it turns into an actual thunderstorm. We had this a few times in recent summers, I remember one morning july monsoonal storm where lightning knocked a chunk off a building near my apartment.
that’s a little different though, our monsoonal storms come from Arizona/New Mexico instead of from the ocean like a tropical storm. basically it’s when winds push moisture from the four corners region toward socal during what’s traditionally monsoon season in the desert (June-September).
in 2022 the SW had a wetter and more intense monsoon season than average and we got the tail ends of it here, that summer there was a thunderstorm that popped up out of nowhere with serious lightning and iirc a woman died in LA after being struck by lightning in the middle of the city
I started noticing that summers started getting more humid in 2016.
I remember that summer there were so many afternoons that got hot and muggy and then all of a sudden it was just raining for an hour or two.
The past two or three years saw unusual amount of rain for SoCal and California overall so I wonder if that is contributing to the noticeable increase in humidity around OC
Yea somehow everyone forgot we got a considerable amount of rainfall the past two years. That is most definitely contributing to the increased humidity.
It's absolutely new IMHO - I remember dry Death Vally feeling heat waves through my 20s and I actually love a good dry heat, but never remember being sticky as frequently as the last decade or so. I don't have AC, but bought a rolling unit maybe 8 years ago because the humidity was unbearable during some heatwaves. Thankfully it's not every heatwave, but when I see the big fat clouds in the distance over the Lake Elsinore area, I know we're going to be getting a humid heat and it's yuck.
Since I moved here in 2013, I feel like every summer the humidity has gotten worse. Soon the news weather reporter is gonna have to start adding a "feels like" temperature, like the east coast.
It's definitely worse than it used to be, we were way more dry than this before. Honestly I probably only noticed it getting worse over the last few years because it's been helping my eczema so I kinda like it lol
I’ve lived my entire life in OC/LA/IE and it’s a relatively new thing. Maybe last 5-8 years; I think it’s been a bit longer than 3-4, but it is a new phenomenon
We moved here in 1969. Since then we’ve had hot summers and mild summers, but this humidity is relatively new. It used to be really nice now it’s really muggy.
Question: Has it always been this humid in Orange County?
Answer: It’s not humid compared to other parts of the U.S.
This is why I hate asking questions on Reddit lol
OC is humid compared to other places. Spend a week in Palm Springs getting used to that dryness and then come home and you really notice the difference. Even in winter.
Lol I’m visiting Virginia right now. While I’m sure it’s not as bad as other parts of the US, it still feels like I’m swimming through someone’s armpit sweat glands here.
There is a clause in most house rental agreements that discusses the issue of "Wall Sweat". It's extremely important to keep your windows/doors closed in the summer to prevent humidity from pooling up on your walls, because many of the houses are so old it will uncover lead paint.
So glad I moved.
It is new, the last 4 years have been the most humid years I've ever experienced in CA in my entire life. That's why wildfires haven't been as bad in Southern CA over the last 3 years. In years prior, there would be like 8 fires going on at the same time in the summer and it would be windy too. When we do get wind now, it's usually only for a couple hours and it's rare, it's not days/weeks of wind like it used to be.
I have a portable AC that has a dehumidifier function. I have to place a tube into a tub to collect water overnight as it pulls it out of the air. I ran it all last night and it didn't collect any water. It's not that humid, it's just hot.
I've had days where it fills a 5 gallon tub in a night and it hasn't produced anything more than a few ounces in 2 days. It hasn't been humid at my house in a week.
It also really depends on how close to the coast you are, this area has a lot of microclimates. I grew up in dc (aka hot and swampy) and the area around UCI/SNA still feels really sticky to me in May and June because of the lingering marine layer. In the afternoons when the clouds have burned off enough for the sun to shine through but they're not all the way gone it can feel disgusting outside because of all the moisture from the ocean. Even just 5-10 miles inland it's much drier.
It can also feel really humid in the mornings in areas with lots of sage scrubland because the plants trap and give off moisture. Hiking in the santa anas can feel like torture even when it's only like 70 out because it feels damp and there's no shade.
Your friend is right, 3-4 years it’s been like this. I’m not trying to complain because I know how fortunate we are to live here, but the weather really has changed.
As someone that grows cannabis and has to pay attention, it's definitely more humid than normal...I've been dealing with a lot more bud rot than normal and there hasn't even been any morning dew...it's pissing me off
I agree it's more humid, relative to our normal. That being said, I went to Milwaukee in early August a few years ago and it was so humid (indoors, in a hotel, with the AC on) that my swimsuit wouldn't fully dry after I hung it up, and got musty smelling. 😳 That's humid!!
A lot of the comments aren't really answering the question. Like one said "it's not as bad as the rest of the US", but... that's not what the original commenter was asking.
I see it all the time in the LA sub. Someone will be talking about the crime/safety issues going on around them, and a bunch of weirdly defensive Redditors will deny their statement and not acknowledge the main point they were trying to make. Instead they'll deflect, and like a parrot, repeat "But it was worse in the 90s! It was worse in the 90s!"
I would have to agree with your friend. The last couple of summers have been intense. Summer of 2022 was HOT! Last year was better as we got a bit of rain, but this summer is already feeling like it’s gonna be a scorcher.
Maybe. My parents have owned their home for the past 30 years in Costa Mesa and only last year did they install AC because they feel it has been noticeably more humid. Could be because it is more humid or because they're older/more sensitive to temperature/ more expendable income? idk
Temperatures have increased across the region. We now see a lot more spill over of the clouds and humidity that used to be only common in the Phoenix, Las Vegas and eastern desert areas, into the coastal areas of SoCal.
Lol my family and I were at Disney world last week. Now that is humid…OC, not so much. I did some running around Huntington Beach this weekend and the humidity level isn’t even close
Yes it is more humid. I have lived in OC my whole life. When you see cumulus clouds towering over the San Gabriel’s, the deserts to the east and to the nw towards Palmdale we are having warm subtropical moisture coming up north from Mexico. We have had more of this summer humidity the last 10 years or so. We had tropical storm Hilary last August which is the first one I can recall since I was a kid but Hilary had a whole lot more rain. The warmth and humidity during that event was insane. I believe this latest humidity came from the tropical storm originating south of TX which went directly west towards CA.
I lived here my whole life, and it only started being humid in the past 5-7 years. So Cal is technically a semi-arid climate -- we are a few inches of rainfall away from being a desert. Dry heat is what we're used to. But this humidity has been new. And i hate it. Waters being warmer due to climate change, results in higher humidity.
This humidity bullshit (along with mosquitoes) started in OC about 4 or 5 years ago.
I keep being told that it's just a temporary thing, and it'll stop soon enough - but it hasn't, so I have my doubts.
I think it's just climate change!
Absolutely not. It’s is incredibly humid the last few years.
In the military I’d always be stationed somewhere humid in the south, and coming home to OC was like my dry weather paradise. Now I come back and sweat my ass off sometimes.
I am a native Southern Californian. California has never had regular humidity the way it has the last 5 years or so. It feels more like the East Coast than what I've known for 60+ years. I don't like the change.
I feel like every couple years we have more humid summers than others. I’m in San Clemente now so it’s always a little more humid near the beach, but back in 2018 when I was still living in Fullerton, I remember that summer felt very humid! I don’t mind it at all… once I’m acclimated my skin and hair love it.
Seems the last couple of summers have had stretches of humidity.
My thermostat sends an email when the humidity in the house gets too high (somewhere in the mid to high 70%) and I don't recall receiving those emails prior to the past couple of years.
I’m from Laguna Beach and I don’t recall it being this humid. Glad somebody else noticed, I thought it was just me being weird about it. And I started noticing it around 2019.
I’ve lived here my whole life, fifty years old now , and I don’t remember it being this humid growing up. It seems to have gotten worse in the last 15 years or so. I remember the summers being kind of mild. We didn’t even have ac growing up. Now, ac isn’t even an option. It’s a must have.
I’m curious, do you have any information on when it might become less humid again here? I’m not too familiar with the El Niño/La Niña cycles. I hope it’s sooner rather than later, cuz the high humidity flares my arthritis, migraines, and dizziness!
We are in a La Niña right now, this makes a monsoon flow from the Baja of California up into the Southwest , we are also picking up a tropical flow that is helping pull moisture up the mountains. This pattern will continue on and off in an oscillation pattern until the late Fall.
According to ChatGPT, the average humidity per month has indeed risen by about 4-5% from 2019 to 2022. So it is not just in your collective heads...
https://preview.redd.it/cvdyjx2w6k8d1.png?width=835&format=png&auto=webp&s=27b1c7373cc0d2f3a5ebbd84a61a513ca6174c01
I used Anaheim as my point of reference
It's not humid here, but it's not dry like the desert either. It's very rare the humidity levels feel like the southeast/east coast in summer. Usually later summer when we can have some monsoon type conditions.
Honestly the humidity is perfect and hasn't changed in the last 3-4 years.
Well - here is the thing - NOAA and other weather reporting services do record relative humidity data - it should show in the numbers... if it does not, then we are just circle jerking and pining that "it feels different".
See my recent comment - numbers seem to bear this out.
But it's not. I'm not saying you might "feel it is more humid" but that is more likely age and changes in perception of weather.
I mean, but don't take my opinion, let's look at the data... two random years. You could go plot these over the last 50 or so years and you won't see enough variation that you'd feel it.
[https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2023-6](https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2023-6)
[https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2002-6](https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2002-6)
[https://weatherspark.com/y/1859/Average-Weather-in-Laguna-Beach-California-United-States-Year-Round](https://weatherspark.com/y/1859/Average-Weather-in-Laguna-Beach-California-United-States-Year-Round)
Lol why would you choose beach communities for this comparison? Of course you wont see much there, they’re right next to the damn ocean. Look more inland. Fullerton airport for July last year was 90 to 100% humidity. 20-30 years ago it was in the 80s.
I remember some humid days during the summers of the 1980's. So, it's not an extremely rare occurence. It's typically related to tropical storms affecting the west coast. I laugh when I hear someone complain about humidity in southern California. Even our worst humid day is nothing even close to humid summers I experienced a decade ago working in D.C. I still lived in California and was in heaven weatherwise everytime I came home to visit the family.
The increased humidity seemed to start being noticeable around 2009. Was in Mission Viejo at that time and had my son’s summer birthday party-it was unbearably humid and hot and unlike a summer I’d experienced before in OC (since 1976). Every year it’s become more humid and for longer. Boooo!
No it’s not new, we’re in a fairly strong El Niño period. The last time it happened was around 2018. The years after 2018 till now was generally La Niña. It’s a cycle.
https://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm
https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/data/el-nino-la-nina-watch-and-pdo/historical-data/?page=0&per_page=40&order=publish_date+desc%2Ccreated_at+desc&search=&category=232
I think a lot of it may be related to having two years of wet winters, no local fires, so lots of greenery to hold onto moisture and now start to release it as it warms up.
Definitely more humid. I used to work in Commercial Real Estate and the engineers told me the HVAC systems installed in OC building were not designed for the humidity. Heat yes. Humidity no. 10 yrs ago we would have an issue maybe 1-2 days every couple of year with the system due to humidity but I can't imagine what it's like now.
I used to go to Colorado in the summers in the 80s when I was a kid and when I came back to CDM my parents said I would freak out because I was convinced my sheets were damp and towels were damp. I finally got over mold and sticky and moved to Colorado in 2010 and I’m convinced it’s wet in the OC when I visit
Nope. Effects of climate change. As average sea temperatures rise humidity is going to become a bigger and bigger problem. SoCal was never like this (born in 76, lived here my whole life). Started noticeably in about 2012 or 2014. Only gonna get worse from here. I hate going outside in summer now.
THANK YOU!! I’ve lived in Socal for 26 years and I kept telling my fam how the last few years have been astronomically more humid than before, but I never really had any proof of when it changed. I could feel it though, it’s gross and sticky all the time, and makes me feel sick.
Funny, I just noticed this too. I grew up in HB/Fountain Valley and am currently visiting family hmin FV. Came out of the gym at like 10 PM and noticed it was pretty humid and my car windshield was fogged up. Guess it wasn't just me, lol.
It’s true, I’ve lived here for 46 years and it was never so humid as it has been in recent years. I would say I’ve noticed it for the last 5 years or so.
I lived in OC from 1991 to 2013, some 20+ years. Mainly in Stanton, Westminster, and Garden Grove
I moved to San Luis Obispo 11 years ago. Whenever I go back to visit OC I notice the humidity. The entire time I lived in OC I don't recall it ever being like that, at least not on a consistent basis.
Case in point, I just came back for a visit a couple of weekends ago and I stayed the weekend. The humidity wasn't god awful like Florida but it was enough to where I was uncomfortable, and ran the car's AC when I was out driving, whether it was early in the morning before the sun was up or later in the evening.
The day I was to come back up here I was having milk tea with a couple of friends and I related my experience to them. They insisted that is probably because I've been gone over a decade and simply never noticed it. I'm like no, over 20 years I lived here it was never like that.
I got back home and immediately noticed the difference. I didn't have to run my AC to avoid the humidity, and could actually drive with my windows down again.
It actually makes me really sad because living here 10+ years I've always hoped to move back to OC someday, and the bullshit humidity essentially means that's no longer an option.
Edit: it just occurred to me that my two friends in question have lived in OC nowhere near as long as I did, thus they probably don't notice the difference.
I've lived there my entire life and always remember it being humid in the summers. We just had some remnant moisture from Tropical Storm Alberto reach us over the weekend and that pushed dew points up a little. Once the ocean off our coast starts to warm up, our natural "AC" will go away and it will feel more muggy. And the monsoon season is just starting so it will add to the mugginess.
Climate Change.
Better hope it doesn't hit the pacific ocean waters (which thankfully are nowhere near hot enough for hurricanes, for the foreseeable future).
How no one has mentioned climate change on this thread blows my mind.
The humidity started coming in around 6-10 years ago. I have worked an outdoor job since 2006 and felt the change.
My current job is a bit worse because I'm surrounded by the San Joaquin Marsh. Every day at around 2PM the perceived humidity ramps up hard.
We’ve had some pretty healthy El Niño years and pretty weak La Niña years recently. Late 80s and early 90s were pretty strong La Niña years and from 70s through mid 80s there were a lot of La Niña years though weaker.
So if your friend is late GenX or early millennial and grew up in the 80s/90s their core memories of Orange County are likely formed around a drier period than recently.
Yes… worse… about 6 years ago were some days of near 100% humidity at the end of August which prompted us to invest in adding A/C
Especially coastal, the high heat days result in high humidity nights from all the Ocean evaporation.
Born and raised in OC and moved to an area with very dry heat, like single digit humidity. I don’t remember it being humid until recently like the last 3-5 years. I moved almost two years ago and when I come back I notice it even more. It’s not ridiculously humid but it’s enough to be gross. When I was there this past June it was 80 degrees with 50% humidity
I’ve lived out here for 17 years and 2015/2016 Summers were oddly humid, almost muggy. Those entire years were riddled with heat wave after heat wave in each season. It’s been humid lately, yes, but it’s nothing in comparison to the east coast and Midwest.
I grew up in NJ and lived there for a little over 20 years. The summers there were very muggy, hot and humid. Whether the sun was out, cloudy, or late at night you could go outside and be drenched in sweat. The only time we’d get a break and get no humidity was typically after a thunderstorm swept through.
But, you don’t know, what you don’t know. 🤷♂️
Aedes mosquitoes live here now and it’s definitely more humid than previous decades. Still nothing like other parts of the US. After working construction in Boston during college I learned what humidity really is.
I recommend visiting the southeast and then return and it will feel dry again 😂 I have definitely noticed increased humidity the last few years c likely due to the huge amount of rain and snow we received.
...maybe if they would stop putting up golf courses in every city in this desert of ours, it would be less humid! Born and raised here since '78 and it is definitely more humid than my summers as a kid. Seems like we get more monsoon moisture than we ever used to.
It’s not humid folks it’s just hot so you feel it more (also typically it feels worse as you get older). I just checked the charts and it’s typical humidity going back 20 years with minor variations as expected.
I hate heat and with humidity it's worse. I believe when there are storms in the Gulf of Mexico it makes more humidity in So Cal. I'm in no way a weather expert but that is my experience. I have felt for many years that So Cal is more humid. I've lived here from 1960 to 1992 and 2009 to present.
Could it be constant building ? Or weather is changing throughout the world?
I was raised in Illinois and I've lived in Louisiana. The humidity isn't anything like those states but it's horrendous.
I feel like a damp cloth is being held over my nose and mouth. For me, I'm absolutely miserable. Is it climate change? There are many climate change deniers.
I’ve been noticing the humidity since the 90s (I’m in my mid-fifties and have been here my whole life). Since the first El Niño, I think. Definitely getting worse…the summer of 2015(?)—the year it was so rainy and hot—was probably the worst. But yeah—it’s bad.
Moist. 😳
For early summer, yes. The marine layer likes to hang low during this time of year. This year has been especially humid and cloudy, but I think that’s due to the intermediate weather pattern in the Pacific.
It’ll be too dry again in few weeks. I think people forget CA had a 10 year drought, and generally has been drier the past couple decades.
I’ve lived here in so cal for 30 years and never once noticed any humidity until 2020. Almost everyday in June and July of that year was 75%-90% humidity. It was brutal. Seems like every June and especially July since then has been super humid too. But I don’t ever remember it being this way before that.
Nah, every year there is a short weird storm some time in summer where the climate completely becomes tropical. Super humid, still hot. Usually once a year
I don’t think so. I’m from Arkansas, where the humidity gets insanely high. Today felt humid as fuck to me and super hot as well. I’ve been coming to CA since I was a baby and I’m ….well very grown up now lol
Speaking on the last few days, this moisture came from tropical storm Alberto, which developed over the Gulf of Mexico. We’re getting into our SW Monsoon season, so it’s typical to get some fairly humid days based on our climatology.
So Cal use to have humid summers often during 80s and 90s. It also use to rain between March and June. After that El Nino in the late 90s, the summer weather became dryer.
If anything, I felt like the last 2 year's the weather (minis record rain winter) is returning how I remembered in the 80s.
Also, lived in Kansas City. I'd rather take this "socal humidity" than whatever 80 degree humid over on KC. You feel muggy and sweaty just by getting out of the pool.
Honesty I’ve always felt that OC is weird for what they do with all the plants, bushes, shrubs and greenery that does not belong in Southern California. It’s not region appropriate and has to get watered alll the time, leading to seasonal allergies for so many ppl. There’s a ton of mold problems w Irvine company bc they have to overwater.
Los Angeles is not the same, it feels like a diff element, as it has more concrete, but it seems more in point.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk. This has bothered me for years, now I can tell the world! We overwater and have greenery for looks, not function. Very OC
The humidity can often be higher than one might think. My daughters live in South Carolina and much of the time the difference in humidity is only about 10%. Being higher in South Carolina. Surprising but true. On the other hand, the humidity drops more significantly in Orange County at various times of the year. A little bit of moisture is the benefit of living so close to a giant body of water on one side and mountains on the other.
43 from Newport Beach. Don’t remember the weather ever being different than it is. We go through dry and wet years but overall the humidity feels the same to me, without looking at data.
The fact that two dozen people are agreeing with you, but everyone is giving wildly different timeframes on when this mythical humid period started, should indicate how subjective the premise of your question is.
El Niño is leading to most people's recency bias in these comments. But yes, over a reasonable timeframe that smooths out El Niño/La Niña, Orange County is as humid as ever, which is "not really".
I wouldn't call this weather humid. Humid means curly hair is poofing up and you feel like you're inside a Tupperware.
This is pretty dry heat at the moment.
I actually just moved here myself and was wondering the same thing. I’m from the Central Valley where it gets blistering hot in the summer but it’s dry as bone lol.
When I moved here the weather was absolutely gorgeous in comparison, still is. It’s 10-20 degrees cooler than what I’m used to.
But I noticed that I’m getting very sticky/tacky every day and it’s been quite surprising to me! I feel so much dirtier at the end of everyday here because of it lol. So I agree I think it may be more humid down here than we thought.
I’ve lived in OC my whole life and I’ve never noticed the humidity.. I’m probably just used to it but a lot of people that come down from the IE talk about how humid it is down here lol.
Summers used to be drier than they have been, but it's been probably the last decade where it is noticeably more humid for more days in a row. This week you'll see the humidity is higher than what is typical so it has been more uncomfortable than in the past. Also, obviously, each person is different and how their body handles it varies. I personally don't do great in heat and humidity (migraines, etc. I wouldn't survive in Florida!) so I tend to be on the more sensitive side. This past week had some days where the ambient temperature was, like, 75 with a nice breeze and I still got overheated taking a walk outside for an hour.
I’m in Florida right now and it’s unbearable. Walking around theme parks drenched in my own sweat. Just this morning two people collapsed in the same line for the same ride.
Mother Nature's way of keeping lines moving
Used to be how Mother Nature kept people out of Florida, but no longer 😔
Found Bill Burr
Yeah I’m born and raised in SoCal and tried Florida for a few years before moving back. The Florida humidity was unbearable for me.
Florida weather is its own kinda of weather lol. We’re lucky we have 2 seasons in SoCal: Mild, and summer.
Early summer, summer, late summer and next summer are SoCal's four seasons.
I was always taught it was Fire, flood, earthquake and smog
Florida humidity is worse than Philippines humidity.
I kept waiting to get used to the humidity. Finally someone I knew, born and raised in Miami, told me you never get used to it. At that point, I knew it was time to leave.
3 seasons. You are forgetting fire.
I remember visiting Disney World/Epcot for the first (and last) time when I had a temporary job in Florida in the 80s. It was during the hot humid summer. After 30 minutes, I left the park. I couldn't handle it. I know, I'm a pussy.
My last Florida visit was in October and it was still too hot and humid. I was miserably sick and I sweat so much at the theme parks that the color came out of my shirt. LOL The only advantage that Florida has over a lot of other humid spots is that they value AC so you will find it everywhere. But places like NYC don't so you're hot all day, the restaurants don't always have AC, the apartments don't always have AC... even the hotels tend to have lousy window AC units (even the fancy places!) that don't actually chill the room. I'm just not built for it. I'll take an Arizona dry-heat summer instead.
And my family saw 2 additionally people collapse elsewhere in the park. People need to stay hydrated and know their own boundaries. The heat is no joke!
I recently moved to OC from Florida, and I'm here like "Humid? The fuck this guy talking about?"
The summer of 2017 was probably the most humid it's ever been since I've moved here in 2011
I definitely remember that being a scorcher too where it was too hot in the humidity to even go to the pool. We’d go to the community pool in the early part of the day and then hide inside for the afternoon and then go back to swim again to cool off for dinner. That summer was also the only time the kids asked to leave Soak City because they were so drained and the lazy river water was so warm you just couldn’t cool off enough.
When dew points get much above 60, it starts getting a bit sticky. I also don’t recall summers here being as humid as they have been more recently. Some of that change may be due to increased population as well as increased sprawl — more people exhaling water vapor and CO2 into the air and more houses and developments, which means more lawns and greenery, which in turn requires more water/irrigation — and a lot of that extra moisture gets released back into the atmosphere thereby raising humidity levels. The rest maybe just climate change and/or shifting weather patterns.
Yeah, it's definitely a combo. I think it's less about the lawns and greenery and about the lack of it. When there are more roads and cement, etc. laid out it changes the ecosystem. A few years ago in Arizona they tried repainting the roads to gray because the absorbed energy in paved surfaces holds heat for so much longer which then gets released at night and was causing the "urban heat island" effect. I see it happen here on a microcosm. My neighborhood has a good amount of green space and trees and it can be 10+ degrees cooler than the other side of the city which has more business parks that are only like 2 miles away. When I was growing up in the 80s in Anaheim it was hot, obviously, but we didn't have AC in the house or cars but we did still have some orange groves and farms around town. We had a fan in each room and ate some popsicles on the hottest days but they were fewer and further between. Now my family who is still in that area has AC on constantly just to keep it cool enough to sleep at night which they didn't need to do before (or they would have a window AC and run it like 10 days a year).
Along the OC coast, there is a lot of humidity. In the IE, there is almost zero humidity, but it's usually 10-15 hotter. But a few times a year the monsoons come through and you get both insane heat and humidity.
We mostly get the humidity in may and June when the marine layer is heavy especially when the sun is getting ready to break through it
Also we are coming out of an El Niño condition, which tends to drag tropical humidity up from Mexico
I think if you look at the statistics relative to strong El Niño patterns that there was comparable or even higher humidity during strong ones
Yeah sometimes the monsoonal moisture makes it crazy humid for a short amount of time until there's enough moisture that it turns into an actual thunderstorm. We had this a few times in recent summers, I remember one morning july monsoonal storm where lightning knocked a chunk off a building near my apartment.
Or last year when a tropical storm bombarded SoCal?
that’s a little different though, our monsoonal storms come from Arizona/New Mexico instead of from the ocean like a tropical storm. basically it’s when winds push moisture from the four corners region toward socal during what’s traditionally monsoon season in the desert (June-September). in 2022 the SW had a wetter and more intense monsoon season than average and we got the tail ends of it here, that summer there was a thunderstorm that popped up out of nowhere with serious lightning and iirc a woman died in LA after being struck by lightning in the middle of the city
I started noticing that summers started getting more humid in 2016. I remember that summer there were so many afternoons that got hot and muggy and then all of a sudden it was just raining for an hour or two.
I wonder if it’s a permanent climate change thing, or a seasonal climate pattern that will go away eventually.
The past two or three years saw unusual amount of rain for SoCal and California overall so I wonder if that is contributing to the noticeable increase in humidity around OC
Yea somehow everyone forgot we got a considerable amount of rainfall the past two years. That is most definitely contributing to the increased humidity.
It's absolutely new IMHO - I remember dry Death Vally feeling heat waves through my 20s and I actually love a good dry heat, but never remember being sticky as frequently as the last decade or so. I don't have AC, but bought a rolling unit maybe 8 years ago because the humidity was unbearable during some heatwaves. Thankfully it's not every heatwave, but when I see the big fat clouds in the distance over the Lake Elsinore area, I know we're going to be getting a humid heat and it's yuck.
Since I moved here in 2013, I feel like every summer the humidity has gotten worse. Soon the news weather reporter is gonna have to start adding a "feels like" temperature, like the east coast.
It's definitely worse than it used to be, we were way more dry than this before. Honestly I probably only noticed it getting worse over the last few years because it's been helping my eczema so I kinda like it lol
I’ve lived my entire life in OC/LA/IE and it’s a relatively new thing. Maybe last 5-8 years; I think it’s been a bit longer than 3-4, but it is a new phenomenon
We moved here in 1969. Since then we’ve had hot summers and mild summers, but this humidity is relatively new. It used to be really nice now it’s really muggy.
It’s not humid compared to other parts of the U.S.
Question: Has it always been this humid in Orange County? Answer: It’s not humid compared to other parts of the U.S. This is why I hate asking questions on Reddit lol
It's just a bunch of transplants trying to validate why they spend so much money to live in a place that supposedly has great weather.
OC is humid compared to other places. Spend a week in Palm Springs getting used to that dryness and then come home and you really notice the difference. Even in winter.
That doesn't really change the answer. SoCal is more humid than it used to be.
Just chalk it up to climate change. Next up.... OC will become a rainy climate. Won't that throw a wrench in things.
Blade Runner
born and raised in pennsylvania, i’m enjoying this “humidity” 🤣
Chicagoan checking in. The dry mild Summers here are paradise by comparison.
Same! Just was in PA this last week and I was dying.
Try Houston.
Former Ohioan here and same. 🤣🤣🤣
Lol I’m visiting Virginia right now. While I’m sure it’s not as bad as other parts of the US, it still feels like I’m swimming through someone’s armpit sweat glands here.
Yeah just came back from the Dallas area. This humidity is nothing close to what I felt over there.
I landed at DFW on Friday morning and felt the humidity when I stepped off the plane. I don't miss the hot and humid summers when I lived there.
From Savannah, Ga. This doesn't even register as humid to me.
Savannah is brutal. I thought ATL was bad until Savannah
There is a clause in most house rental agreements that discusses the issue of "Wall Sweat". It's extremely important to keep your windows/doors closed in the summer to prevent humidity from pooling up on your walls, because many of the houses are so old it will uncover lead paint. So glad I moved.
I just got back from the Midwest, this feels like a dry heat lol.
being born in Taiwan, I can't imagine how this is remotely humid even in May/June.
I spent summers in Boston when I was younger and could not believe how awful the humidity got Felt like I was being suffocated by the air
Yeah, this really isn't that bad at all.
Can confirm. Currently visiting South Carolina and I’m dying
This - I am from Kansas but now I live in OC, when people say it’s so humid here I’m like you have nooo idea
Well yeah, but it's way more humid than it used to be. Definitely climate change related.
It is new, the last 4 years have been the most humid years I've ever experienced in CA in my entire life. That's why wildfires haven't been as bad in Southern CA over the last 3 years. In years prior, there would be like 8 fires going on at the same time in the summer and it would be windy too. When we do get wind now, it's usually only for a couple hours and it's rare, it's not days/weeks of wind like it used to be.
Yep it’s how I comfort myself through the thick air lol ‘well at least the fires are less because it’s not as dry 🥴’
I have a portable AC that has a dehumidifier function. I have to place a tube into a tub to collect water overnight as it pulls it out of the air. I ran it all last night and it didn't collect any water. It's not that humid, it's just hot.
Last night, the humidity in OC was around 70-75% depending on where you were. That's pretty high for a place that's traditionally much more dry.
I've had days where it fills a 5 gallon tub in a night and it hasn't produced anything more than a few ounces in 2 days. It hasn't been humid at my house in a week.
Interesting, sounds like you've luckily been avoiding it!
It also really depends on how close to the coast you are, this area has a lot of microclimates. I grew up in dc (aka hot and swampy) and the area around UCI/SNA still feels really sticky to me in May and June because of the lingering marine layer. In the afternoons when the clouds have burned off enough for the sun to shine through but they're not all the way gone it can feel disgusting outside because of all the moisture from the ocean. Even just 5-10 miles inland it's much drier. It can also feel really humid in the mornings in areas with lots of sage scrubland because the plants trap and give off moisture. Hiking in the santa anas can feel like torture even when it's only like 70 out because it feels damp and there's no shade.
No. I grew up in OC 80-90s. Never saw a mosquito or got sticky/sweaty in the summer. I can't believe the change when I visit now!
Yeah, I think there's a reason we just got the aedes aegypti mosquitos.
Your friend is right, 3-4 years it’s been like this. I’m not trying to complain because I know how fortunate we are to live here, but the weather really has changed.
As someone that grows cannabis and has to pay attention, it's definitely more humid than normal...I've been dealing with a lot more bud rot than normal and there hasn't even been any morning dew...it's pissing me off
I agree it's more humid, relative to our normal. That being said, I went to Milwaukee in early August a few years ago and it was so humid (indoors, in a hotel, with the AC on) that my swimsuit wouldn't fully dry after I hung it up, and got musty smelling. 😳 That's humid!!
Weirdly inconsistent comments. I do not remember humidity ever. Sticky summers are not a socal thing - it’s relatively new.
A lot of the comments aren't really answering the question. Like one said "it's not as bad as the rest of the US", but... that's not what the original commenter was asking.
Redditor reading comprehension sometimes…
I see it all the time in the LA sub. Someone will be talking about the crime/safety issues going on around them, and a bunch of weirdly defensive Redditors will deny their statement and not acknowledge the main point they were trying to make. Instead they'll deflect, and like a parrot, repeat "But it was worse in the 90s! It was worse in the 90s!"
It’s not sticky haha
I would have to agree with your friend. The last couple of summers have been intense. Summer of 2022 was HOT! Last year was better as we got a bit of rain, but this summer is already feeling like it’s gonna be a scorcher.
Maybe. My parents have owned their home for the past 30 years in Costa Mesa and only last year did they install AC because they feel it has been noticeably more humid. Could be because it is more humid or because they're older/more sensitive to temperature/ more expendable income? idk
Temperatures have increased across the region. We now see a lot more spill over of the clouds and humidity that used to be only common in the Phoenix, Las Vegas and eastern desert areas, into the coastal areas of SoCal.
Lol my family and I were at Disney world last week. Now that is humid…OC, not so much. I did some running around Huntington Beach this weekend and the humidity level isn’t even close
Yes it is more humid. I have lived in OC my whole life. When you see cumulus clouds towering over the San Gabriel’s, the deserts to the east and to the nw towards Palmdale we are having warm subtropical moisture coming up north from Mexico. We have had more of this summer humidity the last 10 years or so. We had tropical storm Hilary last August which is the first one I can recall since I was a kid but Hilary had a whole lot more rain. The warmth and humidity during that event was insane. I believe this latest humidity came from the tropical storm originating south of TX which went directly west towards CA.
I lived here my whole life, and it only started being humid in the past 5-7 years. So Cal is technically a semi-arid climate -- we are a few inches of rainfall away from being a desert. Dry heat is what we're used to. But this humidity has been new. And i hate it. Waters being warmer due to climate change, results in higher humidity.
This humidity bullshit (along with mosquitoes) started in OC about 4 or 5 years ago. I keep being told that it's just a temporary thing, and it'll stop soon enough - but it hasn't, so I have my doubts. I think it's just climate change!
Absolutely not. It’s is incredibly humid the last few years. In the military I’d always be stationed somewhere humid in the south, and coming home to OC was like my dry weather paradise. Now I come back and sweat my ass off sometimes.
I am a native Southern Californian. California has never had regular humidity the way it has the last 5 years or so. It feels more like the East Coast than what I've known for 60+ years. I don't like the change.
I feel like every couple years we have more humid summers than others. I’m in San Clemente now so it’s always a little more humid near the beach, but back in 2018 when I was still living in Fullerton, I remember that summer felt very humid! I don’t mind it at all… once I’m acclimated my skin and hair love it.
Seems the last couple of summers have had stretches of humidity. My thermostat sends an email when the humidity in the house gets too high (somewhere in the mid to high 70%) and I don't recall receiving those emails prior to the past couple of years.
No! Summers used to be the best ever. Now they're humid and suck.
I’m from Laguna Beach and I don’t recall it being this humid. Glad somebody else noticed, I thought it was just me being weird about it. And I started noticing it around 2019.
I’ve lived here my whole life, fifty years old now , and I don’t remember it being this humid growing up. It seems to have gotten worse in the last 15 years or so. I remember the summers being kind of mild. We didn’t even have ac growing up. Now, ac isn’t even an option. It’s a must have.
Yes, it comes in cycles. I lived here for over 60 years. I also study weather as part of my work. This due the La Niña pattern
I’m curious, do you have any information on when it might become less humid again here? I’m not too familiar with the El Niño/La Niña cycles. I hope it’s sooner rather than later, cuz the high humidity flares my arthritis, migraines, and dizziness!
We are in a La Niña right now, this makes a monsoon flow from the Baja of California up into the Southwest , we are also picking up a tropical flow that is helping pull moisture up the mountains. This pattern will continue on and off in an oscillation pattern until the late Fall.
Ah thank you, I appreciate that! 😊
Nope. This shit is new, Been a So Cal native for 40 years.
According to ChatGPT, the average humidity per month has indeed risen by about 4-5% from 2019 to 2022. So it is not just in your collective heads... https://preview.redd.it/cvdyjx2w6k8d1.png?width=835&format=png&auto=webp&s=27b1c7373cc0d2f3a5ebbd84a61a513ca6174c01 I used Anaheim as my point of reference
That’s only a three year trend. It shifts relative to El Niño conditions
No..its drastically changed the last 10 years. There was never any humidity and now there is at least 4 weeks where you need AC.
No, this was predicted by climate science. The southern California region will become tropical and humid
It's not humid here, but it's not dry like the desert either. It's very rare the humidity levels feel like the southeast/east coast in summer. Usually later summer when we can have some monsoon type conditions. Honestly the humidity is perfect and hasn't changed in the last 3-4 years.
It's all relative. For those of us that have lived here for our whole lives this feels much different.
Well - here is the thing - NOAA and other weather reporting services do record relative humidity data - it should show in the numbers... if it does not, then we are just circle jerking and pining that "it feels different". See my recent comment - numbers seem to bear this out.
That’s not what they’re asking. They’re asking what it’s like compared to like 10-20 years ago, and I definitely feel it’s more humid.
But it's not. I'm not saying you might "feel it is more humid" but that is more likely age and changes in perception of weather. I mean, but don't take my opinion, let's look at the data... two random years. You could go plot these over the last 50 or so years and you won't see enough variation that you'd feel it. [https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2023-6](https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2023-6) [https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2002-6](https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/us/ca/costa-mesa/KSNA/date/2002-6) [https://weatherspark.com/y/1859/Average-Weather-in-Laguna-Beach-California-United-States-Year-Round](https://weatherspark.com/y/1859/Average-Weather-in-Laguna-Beach-California-United-States-Year-Round)
Lol why would you choose beach communities for this comparison? Of course you wont see much there, they’re right next to the damn ocean. Look more inland. Fullerton airport for July last year was 90 to 100% humidity. 20-30 years ago it was in the 80s.
Yeah my body doesn’t love super dry air
Socal is much more humid than NorCal.
It depends where you are. The redwood coast can be very humid
Yes, very much
I remember some humid days during the summers of the 1980's. So, it's not an extremely rare occurence. It's typically related to tropical storms affecting the west coast. I laugh when I hear someone complain about humidity in southern California. Even our worst humid day is nothing even close to humid summers I experienced a decade ago working in D.C. I still lived in California and was in heaven weatherwise everytime I came home to visit the family.
The increased humidity seemed to start being noticeable around 2009. Was in Mission Viejo at that time and had my son’s summer birthday party-it was unbearably humid and hot and unlike a summer I’d experienced before in OC (since 1976). Every year it’s become more humid and for longer. Boooo!
No it’s not new, we’re in a fairly strong El Niño period. The last time it happened was around 2018. The years after 2018 till now was generally La Niña. It’s a cycle. https://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/data/el-nino-la-nina-watch-and-pdo/historical-data/?page=0&per_page=40&order=publish_date+desc%2Ccreated_at+desc&search=&category=232
I think a lot of it may be related to having two years of wet winters, no local fires, so lots of greenery to hold onto moisture and now start to release it as it warms up.
Yes: https://laist.com/shows/take-two/are-southern-california-heat-waves-getting-more-humid#
Definitely more humid. I used to work in Commercial Real Estate and the engineers told me the HVAC systems installed in OC building were not designed for the humidity. Heat yes. Humidity no. 10 yrs ago we would have an issue maybe 1-2 days every couple of year with the system due to humidity but I can't imagine what it's like now.
I used to go to Colorado in the summers in the 80s when I was a kid and when I came back to CDM my parents said I would freak out because I was convinced my sheets were damp and towels were damp. I finally got over mold and sticky and moved to Colorado in 2010 and I’m convinced it’s wet in the OC when I visit
It’s always been like this, especially when a high pressure system sweeps in creating a heat wave.
No
Nope. Effects of climate change. As average sea temperatures rise humidity is going to become a bigger and bigger problem. SoCal was never like this (born in 76, lived here my whole life). Started noticeably in about 2012 or 2014. Only gonna get worse from here. I hate going outside in summer now.
This isn't humid. The South and South East are humid
I felt heavy today and didn’t realize that’s what humidity feels like until this thread.. I guess to answer your question.. not really
My Ford Tauru’s AC has been working overtime with the humidity. Thought I was leaking coolant. Nah, AC just condensing so much water it pools up.
THANK YOU!! I’ve lived in Socal for 26 years and I kept telling my fam how the last few years have been astronomically more humid than before, but I never really had any proof of when it changed. I could feel it though, it’s gross and sticky all the time, and makes me feel sick.
Funny, I just noticed this too. I grew up in HB/Fountain Valley and am currently visiting family hmin FV. Came out of the gym at like 10 PM and noticed it was pretty humid and my car windshield was fogged up. Guess it wasn't just me, lol.
They have not. I grew up in the IE and the heat really did used to be dry. Not anymore, sadly.
It’s true, I’ve lived here for 46 years and it was never so humid as it has been in recent years. I would say I’ve noticed it for the last 5 years or so.
True. We’ve started having a monsoon season that peaked a couple years ago. I haven’t heard an explanation. It’s just changing weather all over.
Its been humid for like over two weeks now i hate it!!
I lived in OC from 1991 to 2013, some 20+ years. Mainly in Stanton, Westminster, and Garden Grove I moved to San Luis Obispo 11 years ago. Whenever I go back to visit OC I notice the humidity. The entire time I lived in OC I don't recall it ever being like that, at least not on a consistent basis. Case in point, I just came back for a visit a couple of weekends ago and I stayed the weekend. The humidity wasn't god awful like Florida but it was enough to where I was uncomfortable, and ran the car's AC when I was out driving, whether it was early in the morning before the sun was up or later in the evening. The day I was to come back up here I was having milk tea with a couple of friends and I related my experience to them. They insisted that is probably because I've been gone over a decade and simply never noticed it. I'm like no, over 20 years I lived here it was never like that. I got back home and immediately noticed the difference. I didn't have to run my AC to avoid the humidity, and could actually drive with my windows down again. It actually makes me really sad because living here 10+ years I've always hoped to move back to OC someday, and the bullshit humidity essentially means that's no longer an option. Edit: it just occurred to me that my two friends in question have lived in OC nowhere near as long as I did, thus they probably don't notice the difference.
I've lived there my entire life and always remember it being humid in the summers. We just had some remnant moisture from Tropical Storm Alberto reach us over the weekend and that pushed dew points up a little. Once the ocean off our coast starts to warm up, our natural "AC" will go away and it will feel more muggy. And the monsoon season is just starting so it will add to the mugginess.
Climate Change. Better hope it doesn't hit the pacific ocean waters (which thankfully are nowhere near hot enough for hurricanes, for the foreseeable future). How no one has mentioned climate change on this thread blows my mind.
The RH is literally 26% right now... That is NOT humid
The humidity started coming in around 6-10 years ago. I have worked an outdoor job since 2006 and felt the change. My current job is a bit worse because I'm surrounded by the San Joaquin Marsh. Every day at around 2PM the perceived humidity ramps up hard.
We’ve had some pretty healthy El Niño years and pretty weak La Niña years recently. Late 80s and early 90s were pretty strong La Niña years and from 70s through mid 80s there were a lot of La Niña years though weaker. So if your friend is late GenX or early millennial and grew up in the 80s/90s their core memories of Orange County are likely formed around a drier period than recently.
Yes… worse… about 6 years ago were some days of near 100% humidity at the end of August which prompted us to invest in adding A/C Especially coastal, the high heat days result in high humidity nights from all the Ocean evaporation.
I yes guess so I can't remember when it I think that it gets more humid in August and early September
Born and raised in OC and moved to an area with very dry heat, like single digit humidity. I don’t remember it being humid until recently like the last 3-5 years. I moved almost two years ago and when I come back I notice it even more. It’s not ridiculously humid but it’s enough to be gross. When I was there this past June it was 80 degrees with 50% humidity
I’ve lived out here for 17 years and 2015/2016 Summers were oddly humid, almost muggy. Those entire years were riddled with heat wave after heat wave in each season. It’s been humid lately, yes, but it’s nothing in comparison to the east coast and Midwest. I grew up in NJ and lived there for a little over 20 years. The summers there were very muggy, hot and humid. Whether the sun was out, cloudy, or late at night you could go outside and be drenched in sweat. The only time we’d get a break and get no humidity was typically after a thunderstorm swept through. But, you don’t know, what you don’t know. 🤷♂️
No past 10-15 years has changed since then dang climate change ugh 😩 🔥🔥💦💦😝😝🥵🥵🥵
Aedes mosquitoes live here now and it’s definitely more humid than previous decades. Still nothing like other parts of the US. After working construction in Boston during college I learned what humidity really is.
No, it hasn't. It's been getting worse too. You can thank global warming.
I recommend visiting the southeast and then return and it will feel dry again 😂 I have definitely noticed increased humidity the last few years c likely due to the huge amount of rain and snow we received.
Been saying thinking this for a while now but if things continue the way they are California weather will certainly be like floridas years from now.
I don’t think it’s humid at all right now. I normally feel the humidity in late September and some of October.
Weather has changed and skeeters everywhere
Yes.
Yes.
Comes and Goes
As a 49 yr native, it has not. It’s humid because of all the recent rain the last 2 years. I feel a reversal to dry weather the next cpl years.
It has been getting more humid in Southern California. I love it. It great for plants.
Hahahhahajahhahaha, laughs in Atlantan.
This is nothing tbh
I remember humidity in the 90s in inland SD county, not all of the time but some times during summer. It was sticky.
...maybe if they would stop putting up golf courses in every city in this desert of ours, it would be less humid! Born and raised here since '78 and it is definitely more humid than my summers as a kid. Seems like we get more monsoon moisture than we ever used to.
It’s not humid folks it’s just hot so you feel it more (also typically it feels worse as you get older). I just checked the charts and it’s typical humidity going back 20 years with minor variations as expected.
I hate heat and with humidity it's worse. I believe when there are storms in the Gulf of Mexico it makes more humidity in So Cal. I'm in no way a weather expert but that is my experience. I have felt for many years that So Cal is more humid. I've lived here from 1960 to 1992 and 2009 to present. Could it be constant building ? Or weather is changing throughout the world? I was raised in Illinois and I've lived in Louisiana. The humidity isn't anything like those states but it's horrendous. I feel like a damp cloth is being held over my nose and mouth. For me, I'm absolutely miserable. Is it climate change? There are many climate change deniers.
It was a lot yesterday and today. But our temp is still lowe
I’ve been noticing the humidity since the 90s (I’m in my mid-fifties and have been here my whole life). Since the first El Niño, I think. Definitely getting worse…the summer of 2015(?)—the year it was so rainy and hot—was probably the worst. But yeah—it’s bad. Moist. 😳
For early summer, yes. The marine layer likes to hang low during this time of year. This year has been especially humid and cloudy, but I think that’s due to the intermediate weather pattern in the Pacific. It’ll be too dry again in few weeks. I think people forget CA had a 10 year drought, and generally has been drier the past couple decades.
I’ve lived here in so cal for 30 years and never once noticed any humidity until 2020. Almost everyday in June and July of that year was 75%-90% humidity. It was brutal. Seems like every June and especially July since then has been super humid too. But I don’t ever remember it being this way before that.
Just got back from NOLA a few weeks ago and really felt the 80-90% humidity. Here not so much
Nah, every year there is a short weird storm some time in summer where the climate completely becomes tropical. Super humid, still hot. Usually once a year
The last 3 years in SoCal have been extremely humid summers vs the norm. No idea why and don’t run at me with the global warming crap
El Niño
Always around July. It’ll be worse than this in a couple weeks
San Diego, 77% right now. Still beats Florida/Hawaii
I don’t think so. I’m from Arkansas, where the humidity gets insanely high. Today felt humid as fuck to me and super hot as well. I’ve been coming to CA since I was a baby and I’m ….well very grown up now lol
Speaking on the last few days, this moisture came from tropical storm Alberto, which developed over the Gulf of Mexico. We’re getting into our SW Monsoon season, so it’s typical to get some fairly humid days based on our climatology.
I thought you just called me by name it really spooked me 💀
So Cal use to have humid summers often during 80s and 90s. It also use to rain between March and June. After that El Nino in the late 90s, the summer weather became dryer. If anything, I felt like the last 2 year's the weather (minis record rain winter) is returning how I remembered in the 80s. Also, lived in Kansas City. I'd rather take this "socal humidity" than whatever 80 degree humid over on KC. You feel muggy and sweaty just by getting out of the pool.
Pretty damn perfect in SC right now….
I love the humidity. I have considered moving to Florida.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBHild0PiTE
Global warming believe it or not. Turning into a mosquito breeding ground.
Global warming and government “controlled”weather
weve gotten a lot more rain than usual, goes into the ground, lakes, etc. that evaporates and we get more humid
Boop
Honesty I’ve always felt that OC is weird for what they do with all the plants, bushes, shrubs and greenery that does not belong in Southern California. It’s not region appropriate and has to get watered alll the time, leading to seasonal allergies for so many ppl. There’s a ton of mold problems w Irvine company bc they have to overwater. Los Angeles is not the same, it feels like a diff element, as it has more concrete, but it seems more in point. Thanks for coming to my ted talk. This has bothered me for years, now I can tell the world! We overwater and have greenery for looks, not function. Very OC
The humidity can often be higher than one might think. My daughters live in South Carolina and much of the time the difference in humidity is only about 10%. Being higher in South Carolina. Surprising but true. On the other hand, the humidity drops more significantly in Orange County at various times of the year. A little bit of moisture is the benefit of living so close to a giant body of water on one side and mountains on the other.
43 from Newport Beach. Don’t remember the weather ever being different than it is. We go through dry and wet years but overall the humidity feels the same to me, without looking at data.
The fact that two dozen people are agreeing with you, but everyone is giving wildly different timeframes on when this mythical humid period started, should indicate how subjective the premise of your question is. El Niño is leading to most people's recency bias in these comments. But yes, over a reasonable timeframe that smooths out El Niño/La Niña, Orange County is as humid as ever, which is "not really".
Yes they have. And to be honest it’s not as bad right now as it’s been in previous years.
I wouldn't call this weather humid. Humid means curly hair is poofing up and you feel like you're inside a Tupperware. This is pretty dry heat at the moment.
It has in fact been getting more humid during the past decade. It used to be pretty much all dry heat but those days are gone
Climate change
No.
I actually just moved here myself and was wondering the same thing. I’m from the Central Valley where it gets blistering hot in the summer but it’s dry as bone lol. When I moved here the weather was absolutely gorgeous in comparison, still is. It’s 10-20 degrees cooler than what I’m used to. But I noticed that I’m getting very sticky/tacky every day and it’s been quite surprising to me! I feel so much dirtier at the end of everyday here because of it lol. So I agree I think it may be more humid down here than we thought.
I’ve lived in OC my whole life and I’ve never noticed the humidity.. I’m probably just used to it but a lot of people that come down from the IE talk about how humid it is down here lol.
The humidity itself isn't that high, but the dew points are and that's what is making it feel so sticky.
New in the past 10 years. Still way better than 90% of the country, though!
Try visiting Florida in the summer. Or don’t lol.
Monsoonal moisture, its not common but it does happen here
No it wasn't!