Mystery Puddles Finally Understood

Two weeks ago, Typhoon Sinlaku came to Taiwan for an extended visit. This was a big deal for people in parts of south and central Taiwan. The last I read, 11 people were killed. A tunnel collapsed on occupied vehicles, a bridge collapsed causing cars to plunge into the fast-flowing river, and flood waters caused a seven-storey hotel to fall on its side. The BBC posted some terrifying videos online here and here.

Typhoons are indeed very dramatic events – unless you live in a big city. For those of us around Taipei, we had to deal with heavy rain and wind only strong enough to foil umbrella usage. The power and water stayed on, and 7-Eleven stayed open. All in all, the typhoon experience was extremely boring. Schools and offices were closed, which would have at least meant a day off for me, but it was the weekend. Public transit was suspended, so there was no way to get anywhere even if I didn’t mind getting soaked. I stayed inside from Friday night to Monday morning. I watched a lot of CNN reporters worrying about a storm in Texas (they didn’t cover Sinlaku until it was downgraded to a tropical storm and headed for Japan), and I watched the movie channels even after they were on repeats. I ate constantly, and obsessively checked the lame posts on an online forum for ex-pats.

It was a very lackluster weekend and not worth talking about, let alone writing about. But during the typhoon, I found mysterious puddles on my floor. There was nothing coming from the ceiling, and nothing coming from the windows. My air conditioner wasn’t dripping, and my fridge was working fine. The water wasn’t coming from any source. It was just in a puddle on a random spot on the floor. This evening, I came home to a big puddle again. After 30 seconds of detective work, I came up with a satisfactory explanation; the puddles are coming out of thin air.

The humidity as of 8 p.m. was 89 per cent. The daytime humidity was likely in the low 90s, and it would have been even more extreme during the typhoon. The puddles wouldn’t be mysterious to most people in the world, but humidity has never been a talking point of mine. So, in the spirit of personal growth, here are some fun *wince* conversation starters about humidity:

- About 0.001 per cent of the Earth’s water is in the air as vapor, clouds, or precipitation at any given time.
- Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and therefore increases temperature as well as increases with temperature.
- Humidity with heat can kill you. Humidity can trap the sweat on your body so no heat can escape.
- The most humid places in the world are usually close to the equator and near a coast. They include many cities in South and Southeast Asia like Kolkata, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.
(sources: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whumdef.htm and Wikipedia for list of humid cities)