Not So Humid Places in the South and the East Coast?

[harllee]

If you give up the oceans request, then Asheville, NC is a great spot with much cooler temps and lower humidity.

I think Asheville can get pretty hot and humid in the summer. It is only at about 2300 feet elevation. In my opinion to get really cool and low humidity you need to be close to 5000 feet elevation. I spend the summer in Banner Elk NC at 5000 feet, wonderful cool summer.

 

[Nick12]

What’s winter like at these elevations

It is snow and at times lots of it. It is a skiers paradise. The Winter Park, FL ski group likes going to NC to ski.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Perhaps, Norfolk, VA?

Nope. Very muggy in Norfolk.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I think Asheville can get pretty hot and humid in the summer. It is only at about 2300 feet elevation. In my opinion to get really cool and low humidity you need to be close to 5000 feet elevation. I spend the summer in Banner Elk NC at 5000 feet, wonderful cool summer.

Asheville can be pretty brutal humidity wise and they have little wind. We used to spend a lot of weekends there when we lived in ATL and decided after a couple of trips in the summer that we wouldn't visit in Jun/Jul/Aug because it could be so hot and humid. As an example...today it's quite pleasant (77 right now) but tomorrow's forecast heat index is 96 degrees.

 

[Huston55]

No not really you really do get used to it. You wear a lot less clothes for a start. Depends what you mean by outside. We live walking distance to the beach and once you are at the beach there are no humidity issues in general. Again, being near the beach there is always a breeze of some sort, except on rare occasions.

I've lived in multiple spots in the VA/DC/MD corridor, FL, NC, TN, KY, AL & Cali (NorCal & SoCal); plus lots of flyover spots in between. I agree with the general characterization of weather in the posts above. The one 'surprising' exception I've experienced is what ShokWave describes above. Beachfront weather on the northern half of the FL east coast is very nice. There's usually an easterly breeze, it's less humid than even 500 yds inland and, together that makes it seems 8-10 degrees cooler and much less humid. Plus, if you're balcony is direct oceanfront and 6th floor or higher, no bugs!

 

[Freedom56]

Are there any places in the South which have all the benefits listed above but which are known to be much less humid?
How far up the east coast do you need to go to get less humid or do you have to go inland?

We just flew back from our condo in South East Florida. It was really humid and we are on the intra-coastal with about a 12 minute walk to the ocean. The humidity gets worse the further inland you travel. It gets much worse in July and August. The only escape from the humidity is inside your air conditioned home/condo. October through May is okay. The people we know that live in South East Florida travel during the months of June through August.

 

[harllee]

We just flew back from our condo in South East Florida. It was really humid and we are on the intra-coastal with about a 12 minute walk to the ocean. The humidity gets worse the further inland you travel. It gets much worse in July and August. The only escape from the humidity is inside your air conditioned home/condo. October through May is okay. The people we know that live in South East Florida travel during the months of June through August.

Yes, all those Florida people come to the high mountains of North Carolina in July and August. When I am at my house in Banner Elk, NC in July and August there are more cars with Florida license plates than with NC license plates. That's OK so long as they bring a lot of money to spend.

 

[Freedom56]

Plus, if you're balcony is direct oceanfront and 6th floor or higher, no bugs!

Agree... We are on the 16th floor facing the intra-coastal and ocean (we have views of both) and there are no bugs up but there are lots of birds (parrots).

 

[Teacher Terry]

I spent 3/4’s of my life in humidity and never got used to it. I can deal with cold much better. Now on the west coast for 24 years and love the low humidity.

 

[gamboolman]

ms gamboolgal and I was born and raised in hot & humid East Texas, then lived all along the Gulf Coast and finally did 18 years in Sub Sahara Africa for the last part of my working career.

Heat and humidity is not all that bad.....just depends.....

And don't mention Cold Weather. We are Stove Up when the temperature gets in the 60's ha !

We will take the heat and humidity vs the low humidity and cold weather.....

King... Sounds like you ought to stay North of I-10 for sure

 

[Pellice]

I'm the opposite - really dislike dry air. My nose burns, my skin dries out, my eyes feel dry. Have to pump humidity into the house in winter. Warm humid air helps my arthritis, helps maintain fluid muscle movements. Right now am in a dry air mass here in the East, and my nose is all stuffed up.

 

[GTFan]

I disagree. I have been a southerner pretty much my entire life and still hate the humidity. Even smack dab in the middle of the country we have it pretty bad at times and I loathe when the dewpoint gets above 70. I will say that if you live in an area that has higher winds, it makes it more bearable as the air isn't nearly as stagnant.

I've lived in the ATL most of my life and the humidity isn't bad at all compared to many other areas. 40-50% or so when it gets 90-degree hot, nowhere near as bad as most anywhere in FL or the Gulf Coast. When my Dad lived in Omaha I used to go visit and play golf there in the summer and the humidity was always worse than the ATL. He now lives in the FL panhandle and it's almost unbearable on the typical mid-90s summer day, but here it's just hot.

 

[NW-Bound]

I dunno. It's either too humid, or too dry, or too cold, or too hot. And most places suffer from 2 of the above, sometimes even 3, depending on the time of the year.

A place that suffers from only 1 problem would be so desirable, that it becomes awfully expensive. And then, it suffers from something else that's not climate related, such as crowding or crime, and who knows what else.

We simply cannot win!

 

[Bamaman]

I've lived in the ATL most of my life and the humidity isn't bad at all compared to many other areas. 40-50% or so when it gets 90-degree hot, nowhere near as bad as most anywhere in FL or the Gulf Coast. When my Dad lived in Omaha I used to go visit and play golf there in the summer and the humidity was always worse than the ATL. He now lives in the FL panhandle and it's almost unbearable on the typical mid-90s summer day, but here it's just hot.

I too lived in Atlanta 10 years. Humidity doesn't bother me that much. But that yellow fog (pollen) hanging over the city in April & May is tough to deal with if you're allergic.

We keep a RV in Helen, GA, and the high elevation is a completely different climate--almost 10 degrees cooler than down in the Concrete Jungle.

 

[Koolau]

Beachfront weather on the northern half of the FL east coast is very nice. There's usually an easterly breeze, it's less humid than even 500 yds inland and, together that makes it seems 8-10 degrees cooler and much less humid. Plus, if you're balcony is direct oceanfront and 6th floor or higher, no bugs!

We did a whirl-wind "coastal" trip to FL in the dead of summer. We drove down the gulf coast all the way to Key West. We came up the ocean side from Miami to Jacksonville. Keep in mind this was perhaps a 5 day trip. The ONLY place I would consider living in FL is St. Augustine. It was not only a lovely spot, but the humidity seemed bearable as did the temperature.

The Keys were awful in terms of heat/humidity. Right on the gulf, there wasn't so much as a ripple on the water - no air movement. Seemed "other-worldly." BUT on the Atlantic side, there seemed to be easterly winds most of the time, blowing much of the humidity away. Of course, our sampling was way to short to make any decisions - except to say "no" to FL unless, maybe, St. Augustine. YMMV

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I've lived in the ATL most of my life and the humidity isn't bad at all compared to many other areas. 40-50% or so when it gets 90-degree hot, nowhere near as bad as most anywhere in FL or the Gulf Coast.

I spent a fair time of my life in the ATL area (about 25 years) and I think it's plenty humid there. Sure, it's not south Florida humid but when the wind only "gusts" to 2 MPH in August, it's damn miserable

I hated San Antonio the most. Seemed like at night, the humidity would roll in from the coast and would sit like a thick blanket until it got up to 100 degrees a little before noon when it burned some of it off...but it was still freaking miserable.

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, summer humidity in Central Texas is pretty bad. Those grey clouds/haze roll in from the Gulf. It’s miserable in Austin too.

Amazingly it is much better down here even though it gets hotter. I guess because we’re half way to desert, and we have substantial breezes. Afternoon humidity drops substantially.

 

[REWahoo]

I hated San Antonio the most. Seemed like at night, the humidity would roll in from the coast and would sit like a thick blanket until it got up to 100 degrees a little before noon when it burned some of it off...but it was still freaking miserable.

Yeah, summer humidity in Central Texas is pretty bad. Those grey clouds/haze roll in from the Gulf. It’s miserable in Austin too.

That must be why no one lives here.

 

[ncbill]

I think Asheville can get pretty hot and humid in the summer. It is only at about 2300 feet elevation. In my opinion to get really cool and low humidity you need to be close to 5000 feet elevation. I spend the summer in Banner Elk NC at 5000 feet, wonderful cool summer.

Just to clarify, Banner Elk is around 3,700' elevation.

Our cabin nearby is at ~4,200'.

Had to buy a fan at Lowe's hardware last summer.

 

[harllee]

Just to clarify, Banner Elk is around 3,700' elevation.

Our cabin nearby is at ~4,200'.

Had to buy a fan at Lowe's hardware last summer.

Well I am actually near the top of Sugar Mountain right outside Banner Elk and it is 5000 feet at my house. I don't even need a fan!

 

[NW-Bound]

My 2nd home is at 7,000', and being in the SW, it occasionally gets up to the 90s in the summer.

It is bone dry there with humidity down to 10% or below, hence a temperature of up to 88F is still comfortable. No need for ceiling fans though we have them, as we are on a ridge, and the wind is always blowing, sometimes just too strong. And if the wind gets hot, it's time to close all doors and windows and turn on the AC.

In the winter, the average low is 18F. That's the same as Buffalo, NY.

 

[Nick12]

Agree... We are on the 16th floor facing the intra-coastal and ocean (we have views of both) and there are no bugs up but there are lots of birds (parrots).

And the jumping lizards that get in your home if you are on the first floor . Once they get in, they are hard to catch.

 

[samcat]

There is nothing on south and east of USA that will have lower humidity. Even here in midwest Cincinnati the summer humidity can get pretty high. But we also get some occasional breaks when the weather blows cooler dry air from the north. All you need to do is compare the amount of green and trees east vs west. Drive I-40 starting in CA (Barstow is where I-40 starts) and beginning in OK you get more green than what you have seen west of there. Anything east of OK is green and that's because of the higher rain and subsequent humidity. Takes moisture to make all that green.



As ShokWaverider said, you do get used to it. Still not fun to be outside working in the humidity though. Even mornings where temps are lower the relative humidity is actually higher so the air is real thick. Dewpoint is the real indicator of humidity. Anything mid-60s and higher is in uncomfortable range, mid-70s is like tropical humidity.


Winter the humidity level drops in the south and east. Even fall starts to lower the humidity and can be very nice days. But late spring and summer it is going to have humidity.

I drove 40 from Barstow to Memphis a couple years ago and remember thinking Oklahoma east was so green!

 

[Indiana Randy]

I get it about the humidity; Listen; First year here in FL I was wondering why ANYONE would live in this 'heat' (humidity) Second year didn't seem so bad actually. Third year I was standing on the black asphalt parking lot at noon in the sun and said to the man who pulled in beside me; Gee, This summer isn't nearly as bad as what we've had! He looked at me like I was crazy and said; YOU HAVE TO BE NUTS TO LIVE HERE!!!!!

 

[rick55]

Come to Long Island! If you can afford the taxes you will find the climate an acceptable mix when you are closer to the water and the ocean breezes. No snakes, no gators, moderate climate with not much snow ( when compared to Massachusetts or Maine) and usually missed by hurricanes. Just a lot of traffic.
We welcome you!