I've noticed that the Piedmont seems to be far more inclined toward high humidity in the summer than other areas. Why are we so predisposed to high levels of humidity? Does it have to do with out geography or just bad luck?

MIKE MOSS SAYS:      Jessica,     We certainly have our share of humid days during the summer, especially compared to some inland areas to our north and to the higher elevations in the mountains to our west and northwest. However, I'm not sure we really end up much more humid than a lot of other lower to mid elevation areas across the southeastern U.S., as we can frequently note even higher dew points along the Gulf Coast and even along coastal portions of our own state. All of us across the southeast are subject to high humidity at times as a result of geography that places us adjacent to the western Atlantic and the warm Gulf Stream current, and just on the northwest side of a persistent high pressure ridge (the Bermuda High) that occurs in the summer and often produces a broad southwesterly low-level wind pattern that also transports humid air up this way from the Gulf of Mexico.