Will we ever get a break from the humidity?

Central Florida is currently in a stretch of eight consecutive days of heat index numbers reaching triple digits. It doesn't look like we are going to get much of a break from the high heat and humidity for the first week of summer, either.

The seven-day forecast features much of the same: Hot temperatures and 40-50% rain chances.

High humidity isn't uncommon in Central Florida. In order to understand why, let's first talk about what humidity is.

Humidity is the measure of the amount of moisture in the air compared to the amount the air can hold at a particular temperature. For example, 70 percent humidity means the air currently contains 70 percent of the moisture that it can hold.

Warm air is able to hold more moisture than cool air, and so Florida sees high humidity during a good portion of the year.

In fact, Florida is the most humid state in the country. The Sunshine State's prime location between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean allows for a lot of moisture to surge through the state. Parts of the state do experience less humidity than others depending on the season.

In the winter, the panhandle and North Florida tend to see lower humidity due to cooler temperatures. Throughout the summer, the humidity is pretty constant across the state.

High humidity can cause health problems, such as asthma attacks and other respiratory issues. Even if you do not have health issues, this kind of oppressive humidity can make anyone uncomfortable.

When it is hot outside, your body naturally cools itself by sweating. This sweat then evaporates, causing a cooling effect. In dry climates, the sweat has no problem evaporating.

When it is humid, however, less sweat is able to evaporate and less cooling occurs. This is why we often talk about the heat index. The combination of humidity and temperature give us our heat index for the day, and that number helps to determine if the humidity will cause dangerous conditions.