Weather apps lie to you. The truth is in the dew point.

How to know if it's actually nice outside. vox.com/culture CULTURE   It is August, which means that I wake up, open my weather app, and hope against hope that the dew point is at least — at LEAST! — under 70. You may be asking, “What’s a dew point? Can’t I just check the relative humidity?” and I would laugh in your face. How naive! Thankfully, we have Alex Abad-Santos to explain such crucial differences. Last year, he interviewed John Homenuk, the man behind the delightful New York Metro Weather Twitter account, which rates the day’s weather on a scale of one to 10. [Homenuk explained that the relative humidity is essentially useless on a hot day; instead, check the dew point]((on the Apple weather app, it’s just underneath the relative humidity in annoyingly smaller print). What you’re looking for is a dew point somewhere in the 50s — for everyone in the New York area, that’s why the weather has been so perfect over the past few days. Anything above 70 is a sweaty mess. You’re welcome! —[Rebecca Jennings](, senior correspondent Are weather apps lying? The truth is in the dew point. [photo of man's back with sweat on his shirt]( Michael Nagle/Xinhua via Getty Images When a 72-degree day feels like a swampy armpit, I start to realize that everything I’ve ever thought I understood about weather, mainly temperature, is a lie. Sweating through my shirt, wiping my brow, and staring in disbelief at my weather app wondering, “How could this be the 72°F I know and love?” [Thankfully, I’ve found a better number to tell me how it’s going to feel outside]( — and it’s not the relative humidity, which is also a sham. It’s the dew point. The lower it is — ideally in the 50s to 60s — the less sticky it will feel. The higher it is (70s) the closer it will be to my personal hell. (The relative humidity, a sometimes popular metric, measures the dew point against the temperature, making it particularly unhelpful on very, very hot days, when the temperature may be much higher than a relatively low, but still uncomfortable, dew point.) In an effort to better explain why the dew point is the superior way to tell the weather and what it exactly means, I spoke with John Homenuk on a recent rainy, uncomfortably sweaty afternoon. Homenuk, who studied meteorology at Kean University, is a dew point enthusiast and the reason I found out about dew point forecasts in the first place. He’s the force behind the [New York Metro Weather]( Twitter account. As Homenuk confirmed to me, [not all 72°F days are created equal]( — and the dew point might be the best explanation why. [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Chosen, the Christian megahit about Jesus, explained The Chosen’s Christian nepo baby roots — and other ways the hit drama might surprise you. [Read the full story »]( Where is Britney? After Britney Spears was released from her conservatorship, some of her fandom latched on to a new theory: What if she had never been freed at all? [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [Why do so many new songs sound familiar?]( - [Pee-wee Herman’s timeless appeal, explained]( - [What do Americans want from their food? The answers are in the Trader Joe’s recalls.]( - [Can Joe Biden convince Americans the economy is actually good?]( - [How to set boundaries with grandparents](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.