Plain answers
Why is it so ___?
Plain answers to the weather questions people actually ask, each one connected to a live view of the air above you.
Why is it so humid?It feels humid when there's a lot of water in the air, and dew point is the number that measures it. Here's how to read it, and where your humid air came from.
Why is the air so dry?Dry air has very little water in it: a low dew point. It usually comes from deserts, high altitudes or very cold places, or from air sinking from high up.
Why is it so hot at night?Nights stay warm when clouds or humid air trap the day's heat, when wind keeps mixing warm air down, or when the air itself arrived hot from somewhere else.
Why is it so foggy?Fog is a cloud at ground level: air that has cooled to its dew point. On the West Coast it's usually the marine layer, cool ocean air trapped under warm air.
Why is it cloudy when the radar is empty?Weather radar sees rain and snow, not clouds. Cloud droplets are far too small, and the radar beam can pass over low clouds entirely.
Santa Ana winds, explainedSanta Ana winds are hot, dry winds that blow from the deserts toward the Southern California coast when high pressure builds inland. Here's how they work and why they're so dry.
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