It rained for the 1st time in a couple of months on Friday.  Only light but followed days of overcast skies.  Most mornings, I listen to Radio OZ and shake my head at the Dili weather report.  Predictions of rain are mostly wrong and some of “raining now” comments even more wrong.  When the maximum daily temperatures are in the range 26 to 34 degrees year-round, it doesn’t tend to tell me anything I need to know.  As for comfort, humidity is something that tends to be an important factor.

However, I have just subscribed to the free daily weather reports available at http://www.freemeteo.com and it seems to provide the information that gives a better picture – including humidity.

At 2pm, I read 29 deg and 79% humidity.  Freemeteo predicted 28 deg and 72 to 86% humidity and partly cloudy with chance of rain.  I tend to go along with that.  Freemeteo predicts humidity to rise to 88 to 89% this evening with more clouds.

Does humidity matter ?  Well, spot the fresh arrival straight off the boat in a smart business suit – a garment totally unsuitable to this climate.  You can bet that underneath the jacket, the pristine white shirt is in a sea of perspiration and the wearer being aware of this, unwilling to take off the jacket to display the carnage underneath.