Medical question about humidity

[mistermoose]

Hi guys

I hadn't ever considered Sydney to be humid, but have recently read this in a climate summary about the city. As far as I had read on the forum before, Perth is known for its dry heat and Brisbane for its humidity, but Sydney (I thought) was the warm and mild (and sometimes rainy) city.

There are medical reasons for this question, so please could anyone who's lived in Sydney let me know how humid the climate is and how it would compare to Durban for example, just to give me an idea.

Thank you

[Sharon]

As far as I know Brisbane is more humid than Sydney but having lived in Dbn all my life, I don't think it's as humid. I may be on for a terrible shock in Jan and Feb though! I am really battling with dry skin here.

[OubaasDik]

Well I have been there for 2 weeks - in Feb and in Oct and I thought it was pretty muggy - not very hot, though.

But even I would hardly claim that as being the last word about Sydney climate.

[Mara]

I lived in Brisbane and found it much more humid than Durban, in high summer months.

Although I have never lived in Sydney, from what I understand it is not as bad as Brisbane, but yes, it can also get pretty humid.

Melbourne is dry heat, that is why we live here, I have/had an inherited heart condition, which used to make it very difficult for me to breath in areas of high humidity and and twice I had to return early from Brisbane by air, instead of driving back with hubby, due to difficulty breathing. I have since had surgery, and am hopeful that I will now be able to survive in Queensland, as I would love to go and see the Great Barrier Reef.

Even in summer when Melbourne hits 43 degrees, it is dry, not humid. You do sometimes get a day here and there when there is some humidity, usually just after it has rained, which is rare though, because mostly we get our rain in the winter months.

[mistermoose]

Thanks guys, and thanks Mara for the comparisons between cities. From what I've seen online, the humidity in Sydney peaks at about 70-80%, whereas in London the average is 91%+. Have you ever experienced breathing problems when visiting London, as a comparison?

[AAAZR]

We've been in Sydney for 8 months and so far we've MAYBE had one or 2 days where the humidity got to me a bit, for the rest its been pretty much the same as Johannesburg..But like Sharon said, maybe the worst is still to come.

We are happier than we've ever been, I absolutely love Sydney's weather and people. I can't see us living any where else.

Edited January 6, 2013 by AAAZR

[AAAZR]

I would say at this stage dry is a better description of our weather.

[Fish]

As far as I know Brisbane is more humid than Sydney but having lived in Dbn all my life, I don't think it's as humid. I may be on for a terrible shock in Jan and Feb though! I am really battling with dry skin here.

It's hard to tell from short experiences so I looked it up to find the long term medians.

Durban seems much more humid than Brisbane on average according the figures I could find:

Monthly mean relative humidity (%) at 14:00 at Durban International Airport (1986):

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

70 70 68 65 61 54 56 60 66 69 71 69

Source: http://www.ceroi.net...te/temperat.htm

Brisbane mean monthly relative humidity 3pm:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

59 60 59 55 52 51 46 44 46 52 55 57

Source: Bureau of Meteorology - http://www.bom.gov.a...cw_040214.shtml

And Sydney:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

62 64 62 59 57 57 51 49 51 56 58 59

Source: Bureau of Meteorology - http://www.bom.gov.a...cw_066062.shtml

And Melbourne:

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

47 48 49 52 59 63 61 56 53 50 49 47

Source: Bureau of Meteorology - http://www.bom.gov.a...cw_086071.shtml

Maybe someone can find more official long term figures for Durban?

Edited January 6, 2013 by Fish

[Gizmo]

Perth is supposed to be the "driest" climate, but to me, it feels more humid than Cape Town (just a little bit).

I have only been to Brisbane, GoldCoast and Sydney on holiday (not lived there) and it was in the spring time. I found them all very humid (although, I am not used to humidity, being from Cape Town originally).

[Mara]

Hi Mistermoose, no, I have not experienced breathlessness in London, but then I travelled there (a) in winter and ( before my heart condition was diagnosed, so obviously at that point it did not affect me as much.

[Sibella]

We lived in the UK but I can only compare the humidity to Melbourne which doesn't really help.

But I found it interesting that my six year olds' asthma is much better here. She developed it in the UK after getting pneumonia when she was 3. She was on a preventer until we moved here 1.5 years ago. Since then I've stopped the preventer and she only keeps her blue pump at school just in case, can't remember when last she used it. So her asthma is obviously aggravated by cold, humid air.

Great relief for us except now all of us suffer from hay fever! Small price to pay...

[mistermoose]

Thanks very much for the replies guys, this has really helped

[rozellem]

London is the only place I have ever lived, where I have been so hot and sticky at night, that I could not sleep. Sydney does get hot in Jan/Feb, but humid is not the first description that comes to mind. Perhaps a few humid days somewhere during summer. In general offices and shop/shopping centres are air conditioned. We have lived in 4 houses (in 4 years) and we have never switched on aircon. We have a few white, standing fans (from Bunnings, under $20 each) and we switch them on occasionally. When I choose houses in Sydney I actually looks for the gas bayonet points indoors rather than aircon. Having your own gas heater to plug into these points is a absolute lifesaver in winter. It gets pretty cold.

[Mara]

Something I have just thought of, in Melbourne a lot of homes have evaporative cooling, which is completely different to air conditioning.

Evaporative cooling : You have to open your windows, the more that are open the better it will work. It blows in the cool air and pushes out the hot air through the windows, so it is refreshing the air all the time. It does not dry out the air in the house. Depending on the size unit in the home, they say it will cool the air to around 12 to 15 degrees lower than the outside temperature. We just had a 43 degree day and our home was cooled to 26 degrees, which was quite liveable. I may add though that our home faces due north and does not have any windows on the west side. It only works in dry areas, not in areas that have high humidity. It is much less expensive to run than air conditioning and much healthier.

Air conditioning : we all know how that works, it really dries out the air and you are just recycling the same stale air all the time.