[ELI5] How do meteorologists objectively quantify the “feels like” temperature when it’s humid – is there a “default” humidity level?

Question

[ELI5] How do meteorologists objectively quantify the “feels like” temperature when it’s humid – is there a “default” humidity level?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

A simple answer since this is ELI5: Your body feels cooler on a hot day because your sweat evaporates. More humid days mean more water is already in the air and less of your sweat is evaporating and cooling you down.

In Canada we use the humidex system, which is a combination of the temperature in Celsius and the dew point. Humidex tells you basically how uncomfortable you’ll be on a given day based on how much your sweat can evaporate and cool you down.