First good storm of the season! And a problem.

[nuttysquirrel]

same thing happened to me on a trip on a large spit out in a bay,probably humidity related.does this happen more when camping on beach?

[Cannibal]

Keep in mind folks, "humidity" isn't a word they teach in school out here. For the most part, it just doesn't exist. It has been raining or snowing almost daily for a couple of weeks now and our current humidity is 48%...and I just finished watching a thunderstorm roll through the area. The ground is saturated, yet we can't break 50%.

That's in Denver; Kyle is a few miles north up in Fort Collins which tends to be even drier day to day.

[Loki]

could be like moving a bottle from the refrigerator to the outdoors... in summer?

If the tarp and phone were at low humidity in the house then temp and humidity differences after moving them outside could cause almost instant condensation? Maybe?

[Red Wing]

Keep in mind folks, "humidity" isn't a word they teach in school out here. For the most part, it just doesn't exist. It has been raining or snowing almost daily for a couple of weeks now and our current humidity is 48%...and I just finished watching a thunderstorm roll through the area. The ground is saturated, yet we can't break 50%.

That's in Denver; Kyle is a few miles north up in Fort Collins which tends to be even drier day to day.

It doesn't have to do with precipitation. I spent my summers growing up in Atlanta. As long as I can remember we had a drought warning. Water your grass for a certain amount of time a certain amount of times a week. Try to regulate your showers. Real drought. I'll be damned if it wasn't always humid as all get out. Now how can it be humid and going through a drought at the same time? I KNOW it happens for a fact, I survived through it.

[michaeldoe62]

could be like moving a bottle from the refrigerator to the outdoors... in summer?

If the tarp and phone were at low humidity in the house then temp and humidity differences after moving them outside could cause almost instant condensation? Maybe?

I'm with Loki here. The only thing is he said the windows were open to listen to the storm inside. Unless he keeps his gear in the basement?

[Kyle]

could be like moving a bottle from the refrigerator to the outdoors... in summer?

If the tarp and phone were at low humidity in the house then temp and humidity differences after moving them outside could cause almost instant condensation? Maybe?

This'd be a very real possibility, were it cooler inside than out, but that wasn't the case.

It doesn't have to do with precipitation. I spent my summers growing up in Atlanta. As long as I can remember we had a drought warning. Water your grass for a certain amount of time a certain amount of times a week. Try to regulate your showers. Real drought. I'll be damned if it wasn't always humid as all get out. Now how can it be humid and going through a drought at the same time? I KNOW it happens for a fact, I survived through it.

Weather is an immensely complex beast, and it's a lot more difficult to understand than that. Given the systems that drive thunderstorms, the ground under the formation of one is typically a good bit warmer than surrounding areas. Now hold that thought. As rain falls from higher elevations, where it's much cooler, and given the specific heat of water, rain drops by the millions pull a LOT of heat out of the air as they fall, which is why thunderstorms can often leave the air 15 - 20 degrees, sometimes more, cooler than when the storm started. Now you combine that warm ground from earlier, that is now wet, with substantially cooler air, and you've got the perfect recipe for evaporation and condensation. I think that's where Cannibal was going, and it's a perfectly good line of thought.

Gaseous, atmospheric moisture is very different from liquid water available to your lawn. One does not necessitate the other, hence a humid drought.

[Cannibal]

I think that's where Cannibal was going, and it's a perfectly good line of thought.

Yeah, what he said!

I don't have the first clue how atmospheric conditions work, but Kyle's post sounds really good so I'm gonna say "Yes, that's exactly what I meant".

[Wolverine]

I sit in a cube in a large office building. Not very often, but under the right conditions I notice tiny micro water droplets on my keyboard. I've been told by the environmental engineers in the building it's condensation from normal breathing reacting within the right environmental parameters to cause it. What ever.