Eli5: Why do places with high humidity often have lower relative humidity numbers than places like Southern California?

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For example, I spend time in Little Rock and San Clemente. LR is always far more humid, to the point it’s not even relatable. But SC seems to generally have a higher relative humidity. Right now it is 84% in SC and 54% in LR. Is this because the air in SC somehow cannot hold as much humidity as the air in LR?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

They don’t. It’s just unusually humid in southern California right now.

RH does depend on temperature, so cooler places can be dryer with higher RH. But SoCal isn’t very cool.

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