The planet is heating up.
Warm weather is a selling point when picking holiday destinations. But as temperatures rise around the world, travelers are becoming all too aware of how uncomfortable heat and humidity can prove to be. Before you book your next tropical holiday, take a look at this new study by HouseFresh, which has mapped the most humid cities in the U.S. and around the world.
Related: It’s Terrifying How Hot It Is in These 8 Places Around the World
Most Humid Cities in the U.S.
The study analyzed humidity data for more than 14,000 cities and ranked destinations according to the number of humid days per year.
Coastal cities have higher humidity levels than deserts because water bodies impact moisture levels in the air. So, unsurprisingly, Honolulu, Hawaii, came up top with 337.1 humid days per year and is the most humid major city in the U.S. Florida dominated the top 10 with seven of its cities taking spots—Miami, Cape Coral, Palm Bay, Sarasota, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. The remaining two spots were taken by the Texan cities of McAllen and Houston.
When examining cities with lower populations (10,000 or more), Kailua in Hawaii pushed into the top spot with six more humid days than Honolulu. Meanwhile, College, Alaska, has practically no humid days—the number for this city was 0.4.
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Most Humid Global Cities
According to this analysis, seven countries have cities with 365 humid days per year. So it’s not surprising that those countries dominate the global list: Libreville, Gabon; Balikpapan, Indonesia; Macapa, Brazil; Singapore; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Cartegenia; Colombia.
The ten most humid cities in Asia all experience 365 humid days per year: Balikpapan, Indonesia; Cebu City, Philippines; Davao, Philippines; Bacoor, Philippines; George Town, Malaysia; Pontianak, Indonesia; Klang, Malaysia; Dasmarinas, Philippines; Kuantan, Malaysia; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
The continent’s geographical location is a major factor with warm seas and monsoon seasons influencing the temperature.
The results from South America are similar—all 10 cities listed have 365 humid days: Cartagena, Colombia; Barranquilla, Colombia; Soledad, Colombia; Macapa, Brazil; Belem, Brazil; Ananindeua, Brazil; Santa Marta, Colombia; Monteria, Colombia; Manaus, Brazil; and Recife, Brazil. Cartagena experiences 248.9 extremely humid days annually.
The cities in Africa don’t get respite for more than a few days in a year either—all 10 have at least 364 days of uncomfortable humidity. Libreville in the central African country of Gabon leads the charge with 365 humid days. The other nine are: Douala, Cameroon; Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola; Mombasa, Kenya; Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Monrovia, Liberia; Mogadishu, Somalia; Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In Oceania, Fiji’s capital Suva takes the heat with 356.6 humid days annually, while the eight Australian cities on the list range from 315 to 71.3 humid days. Last on the list is New Zealand’s Waitakere with 57 humid days, which is milk compared to the other continents. Here are the top 10: Suva, Fiji; Cairns, Australia; Darwin, Australia; Townsville, Australia; Gold Coast, Australia; Brisbane, Australia; Newcastle, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Toowoomba, Australia; and Waitakere, New Zealand.
European cities don’t have this level of humidity. Palma in Spain, which tops the European humidity charts, witnesses 116.8 humid days a year. Europe’s top 10 are: Palma, Spain; Valencia, Spain; Naples, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Palermo, Italy; Rome, Italy; Genoa, Italy; Makhachkala, Russia; Malaga, Spain; Murcia, Spain.
The U.S. also doesn’t have to deal with uncomfortable muggy weather as much as other cities in North America—San Pedro Sula in Honduras has 363.5 humid days per year.
Too Hot to Handle
Last summer was uncomfortable for tourists in Europe. France, Spain, Italy, the U.K., and Greece saw intense heat waves that had travelers scrambling for shade and water. In Athens, the Acropolis was shut down and several tourists fainted in Rome.
In the U.S., heat stress is the number one cause of weather-related deaths. The hottest city in the country, Phoenix, recorded a 50% rise in heat fatalities in 2023—at least 579 people lost their lives due to extreme temperatures. But it’s not just heat that’s affecting populations around the world; rising humidity levels can also cause discomfort.
The body temperature can manage temperatures of 36-37 degrees Celsius (96.8-98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). When the temperature climbs up, the body can overheat, especially if the humidity levels are also high. Humidity can prove to be dangerous. In hot conditions, sweating helps regulate body temperature and cool down, but when there’s already vapor in the air, the sweat doesn’t evaporate. In these muggy conditions when you’re drenched in sweat, you feel uncomfortable, nauseous, and dizzy. Heat stress or heat stroke are common, particular in children, the elderly, or those who spend time outdoors.
Colin Raymond of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, explains, “If you’re sitting in the shade with unlimited drinking water in California’s Death Valley, conditions may not be pleasant, but they’re survivable. But in humid regions, once you approach wet-bulb temperatures of 34 to 36 degrees Celsius (93-to-97 degrees Fahrenheit), it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. You can’t survive for extended periods of time.”
This is an important piece of information for tourists who visit countries and spend an extended period of time out of their hotel rooms. Please consider temperature and humidity levels before you venture out. Wear loose clothes, keep yourself hydrated, and eat well if you’re in a region that’s hot and humid.
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I read the list of cities that will be too hot to live in by the year 2050. I also look for cities that are the most hot right now. Many that I find are not even on the list of those supposedly inhabitable by year 2050. For example some of the hottest cities now are Yuma, Arizona, Bangkok, Thailand, Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Aden in Yemen, Niamey and Djibouti City. I wonder why these are not included in that list.
Thank you for this article. Having been in Honolulu and Singapore I have not noticed any similarity and how I actually feel when we were at these respective places. Singapore is on the equator so I think it's always hot there and humid too. It did not feel oppressive in Honolulu but that could be because we were there in the winter.
we went to Malaka which is in between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and it was very warm there. I definitely felt it. Nationwide
Opinions vary, but acknowledging differing perspectives is key. Thanks for sharing your take on Texas' Buc-ee's pit stop experience.
I have questions. By what scientific standard is a city, etc., "humid"? Virtually all places on earth have humidity, so where is the threshold for being considered "humid"? Is the standard above human tolernce for a particular humidity level? Since climate change (according to environmental extremists it's really "man caused" "global warming") has been going on since the ice ages hasn't mankind already adapted to changes in climate? Well, yes, or we might not be around today. Since much of the projections of climate change (aka. man caused global warming) are based on computer models isn't the man caused climate change accusation an unproven theory? Yes. Computer models are based on human opinion, conjecture, guesswork, etc. Since the historical record for climate is such a tiny fraction of the existence of mankind's effect on the world why are not other factors considered, such as sunspot activity, volcanic output, etc., considered as a cause for "clinate change", aka "man caused global warming"? Then again we're back to the fact that "man caused global warming", aka "climate change" has not been proven. Unfortunately, well educated experts, including one of the founders of the Weather Channel, who disagree with the assessment of the "man caused global warming/climate chage" theory are denigrated instead of being engaged in honest intelligent debate.