You can check the dew point to see how the weather will feel. If you know that humidity affects your COPD symptoms, it’s best to plan ahead to lessen flares.Ĭheck the current dew point. It may lead to wheezing, shortness of breath, or coughing. Air that’s cold and dry can irritate your airways if you have COPD. You may not notice that the dew point is high, due to the lack of muggy weather, but a high dew point during cold weather can still harm your lungs. On clear and cold nights without much wind, frost or dew can form. But dew points can still be high in colder months. We tend to feel the humid, sticky effects of a high dew point in the summer. Since COPD already affects your airways, lowered oxygen levels due to humidity can further worsen your symptoms. You might have a hard time breathing, start wheezing, or begin to cough. These happen when your airways contract and go into spasm. If there’s a higher dew point and less available oxygen, people with lung conditions can develop bronchospasms. While some people’s COPD symptoms get better in humid weather, less oxygen may make it harder for others to breathe. If there’s more moisture in the air, less oxygen is present. And if there’s a high dew point, there will be more water vapor molecules in the air. The smaller the difference between the actual temperature and the dew point temperature, the higher the humidity will be.

If it continues to cool down, water vapor will come out of the air as liquid, usually in the form of fog or rain. Here, the air can’t hold any more water as vapor (its gaseous form). It means the temperature that the air must be cooled down to in order to reach a relative humidity of 100%. Dew Point and Breathingĭew point is a tool that can tell how high humidity will be. But dew point, or the temperature at which air moisture starts to stick to surfaces, might be a better measure of breathing comfort in those with the condition. Experts know that humidity, or the amount of water vapor or moisture in the air, affects COPD. If you have a lung disorder, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), it’s important that you understand how the weather may affect your health.

Current dew point