Question: Why does the west coast have a 'dry' heat?

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Reliant

Originally posted by: Tyler
Because the west coast is better.

I have to agree.

Because it's true.
And come to western Oregon or WA state. We don't have a dry heat (or really that much heat for that matter). But dry heat refers to hot weather with low relative humidity. Which, in the desert of Southern CA, is very common. Sacramento, on the other hand, is like humid death.

 

[RossGr]

Originally posted by: Shantanu
I would imagine in the coastal areas, it's comprable in humidity to coastal areas of the same latitude on the East coast.

The difference is, that if you get 15-20 miles inland in California, it's dry. Whereas, in the Eastern part of the country you can go several hundred miles inland to Kentucky or Tennessee and its still quite humid (at least during the summer).

Absoultly not, the Oregon coast is NOTHING like the east coast. First of all we go to the coast, they go to the beach!

Swimmers here (in Oregon) are a hearty breed, either kids who don't know any better or, in a wet suit, it is NEVER comfortable to swim in the Pacific Ocean any where north of San Francisco. While in NJ which is a simillar latidute Places like Cape May and Atlantic city are very popular swimming spots.

There is NEVER a hot humid day on the Oregon Pacific Coast, as compared to the East Coast.

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: Tyler
Because the west coast is better.

 

[jarfykk]

Desert climate. Without the water brought in from the mountains, most of SoCal would be desert (dirt, sand, scrub plants, etc).

So the air is dry, climate does not have alot precipitation. It is called Chaparal.

 

[Shaka]

Originally posted by: jahawkin
The orographic rain shadow has alot to to with it but the west is also dry due to:
-Ocean temp. The eastern Pacific is usually around 40-60 degrees while the Gulf and western Atlantic are 70-80 deg. on average. More moisture can evaporate into the air over the Gulf and western Atlantic than over the eastern Pacific.
-Air flow. Much of the west coast has little onshore airflow due to high pressure that is usually off the coast of California while the midwest and east coast get plenty of onshore flow from the Bermuda high and nocturnal jet (for the great plains).
The midwest also gets very high dewpoints from evapotransporation from (mainly) corn. This can play a huge role in the humidity of the midwest during the growing season.

sounds good!

 

[Shantanu]

For the record, San Francisco has higher humidity than Washington, and Los Angeles is more humid than Atlanta.

Warmer air holds more water. When the temperature is cool, humidity is not a factor for that reason. On the East coast, it's gets hotter than 80 degrees in most places so not only can the hot air hold more water (even though the relative humidity might be lower), but that humidity then exacerbates the heat that you feel.

On the West Coast, it gets hot in inland places, but those places are dry (since they're away from the ocean) so once again humidity is not a problem. In the coastal areas in California, as you can see, the summer highs don't exceed 75 degrees. There's no "heat" of any sort to begin with.