2024-06-29T21:34:42.070ZHeat seemed to dominate the day in the District on Saturday, as temperatures returned to the 90s in bright sunshine. Humidity was back, too, creating a sense of summer stickiness that was confirmed by a “feels-like” reading of 100 degrees.Perhaps the return of the parameters of summertime unpleasantness seemed all the more frustrating when judged against the manifold delights of only the day before. Friday, a day to enjoy, had a high of 85 degrees, and humidity seemed absent.But Saturday appeared to follow along the sweltering path blazed in D.C. in most of late June. Saturday was the District’s 12th day in the last 13 with a temperature above 90 degrees.As of 5 p.m., Saturday’s high temperature stood at 93 degrees. That was four above the average high for June 29 in Washington.In addition to its heat scores, Saturday scored high on two of the most widely cited scales of humidity. Just before 5 p.m., the heat index, often called the feels-like temperature, had reached 100 degrees.The feels-like figure is often accepted as an accurate indicator of atmospheric ability to induce a sense of sweaty misery. But it is not the only one.There is also the dew point. That figure indicates the amount of water vapor being borne by the air. The more moisture already carried by the air, the less capacity it has to foster comfort by sopping up perspiration.All that is preamble to reporting that on Saturday the dew point reached a generally deplored high of 73 degrees, after spending most of the day in the only-slightly-lower 70s.Various verbal characterizations have been associated with dew-point readings.Readings above 70 are often termed undesirable, oppressive, even miserable.With all these seeming disadvantages, Saturday still had resources to mitigate the full ferocity of summertime steaminess.A breeze of at least 10 mph generally prevailed. It rose to 15 or 16 mph in late afternoon. It rippled leaves on the trees. It made its presence known to those walking about or sprawled on lawns, and it contributed to the feeling that even a sizzling summer day provides its pleasures.Specifically, it helped carry away some of the moisture typically produced by summertime exertion.Lots of clouds also sailed the blue skies above. Often they served as an atmospheric awning of sorts. When it was unfurled overhead, bringing welcome shade from the sun, even if for only a few minutes the sensation of searing summer heat seemed to decline clearly and abruptly.And even 93 degrees, the high in the city, seemed not far beyond what might be expected and accepted in the District, a place that has earned over the years a fairly formidable reputation for sultry summertime heat.获取更多RSS：https://feedx.net https://feedx.run