Why does humidity make temperature feel hot, but restaurants use misters to cool the patrons?

Question

I live in a town with a lot of humidity in summer. I perspire a lot, but restaurants around here have misters outdoors to “cool things down”. How does that work? How can adding more humidity make the heat more tolerable?

In: 340

Answer 1

Liquid water (mist or sweat) on skin -> take heat away by evaporating into vapor

Humidity = how much water vapor already in the air.

High humidity = less “room” for cooling evaporation to take place = sweat and misters less effective as humidity goes up