Art Horn, Meteorologist

The 'Art' of Weather

Q:

What is the dew point temperature?

A:

The easiest way to think of dew point temperature is this: It is the temperature at which you would have to lower the actual air temperature down to in order for the air to be completely saturated. For example, if the air temperature is 80 degrees and the dew point temperature is 50 degrees we would have to drop the 80 degree temperature all the way down to 50 degrees for the air to be saturated or for dew to form on grass or for fog to form. If the air temperature is 80 degrees and the dew point temperature is 75 degrees we only have to drop the air temperature down to 75 for the air to be saturated, get it? So the dew point temperature is a measure of how saturated the air is at any point in time.