Fourth of July, Dew Point, Participatory Democracy

It's hot here in New Orleans!  This is my first July here in the city and I am finding I can deal with it reasonably well.  I have become more interested in the weather because what can be done is so conditioned by it. I used to think that in addition to the temperature, it was all about "the humidity" but really it's better to say that it's all about how much water vapor is in the air.  Yesterday evening, the humidity was 48% and the temperature was 93.  This yielded a “RealFeel” temp of 97. The RealFeel™ temp is a patented thing and incorporates many variables to come up with the number, which is supposed to indicate what it “feels like” to a human outside at the time all the variables were measured.  RealFeel includes temperature, dew point, wind speed, sun angle for a given date, solar intensity as defined from the solar index, percent sky cover, precipitation intensity, and altitude.  Other indices like the Heat Index include fewer variables, for the heat index only temperature and humidity.   However, if  you want a single number to add to the temperature to give you a good idea of how you’ll feel outside, it’s the Dew Point.  Dew point tells you how much water vapor is in the air, and humidity just tells you how far you would have to lower the temp to start seeing dew develop (at any given dew point, the higher the temp is, the lower the “relative humidity”).  Humidity is always relative because it is a measure of the water vapor “carrying capacity” of the air, whereas the dew point is not relative. For example, today at 8am the temp was 86, humidity 74%, and Dew Point 76.  At 12 noon, temp was 91, humidity 58%, and Dew Point 74. It felt “sticky” the entire morning, but if you looked only at the humidity, it would appear that it was “less humid” at noon. Not. It’s funny how certain things can seem simple and complex at the same time, meteorology being one of those things.  But I for one am glad I looked into it a bit.  Click on Dew Point for a nice summary, and/or an opportunity to see dew on a flower, and to be annoyed by too many hyperactive pop-up windows.

Did you see fireworks this year?  My wife and I decided to say yes to a friend who invited us to watch from Crescent Park, a 1.4 mile linear park along the river in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans.  At just after 9 pm, the rockets were launched from a floating barge near the French Quarter area of the river. We thought that some wind off the river, augmented by the wind created by the paddlewheels of the tourist riverboat The Natchez, would cool us off (Dew Point pretty much all day long on July 4 was 72-74, good lord!).  And that was true, it did feel a bit cooler.  We also caught just a bit of the water mist from the water-guns of a fireboat on the river (the watersprays rendered red, white, and blue by spotlights as the sky darkened).  

Walking around the park on “people watching rounds”, I spotted two women with Head Count T-shirts working the crowd.  The organization Head Count, in operation since “the turn of the century”, works with live music venues providing volunteers such as Jenny and Katie an opportunity to gain access to the venues so that concert-goers can be canvassed, and those not registered at their current address can sign up on the spot!  Turns out that Jenny is also a bicyclist, and regularly does morning rides starting at City Park.  I hope to join a ride and report back. 

Jenny and Katie with Head Count. They signed up 25 voters!