<p>We're interested in purchasing a vacation lake house in the piedmont/foothills of North Carolina. In earlier summers there, when driving from the mountains home to lower (sub-1000ft) elevations,  I've noticed that one has a very distinct sense of descending into a noticeably &quot;yucky&quot; layer of elevated heat, humidity, and haze.  (It's actually visible from the right vantage, much as it sometimes is when landing in an airplane).</p>
<p>I think it'd be very desirable for this vacation home to be above this layer. But I don't know how to figure out what the typical elevation of the top of the layer is.  I'm not even sure how to define the layer.</p>
<p>So I seek advice on how to quantify what I mean by this &quot;yucky&quot; lower layer of the summer atmosphere, as well as how to determine what its elevation is.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-11T09:26:51.460Z
Keywords: inversion, boundary layer.  Look up some [Skew-T log-P diagrams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skew-T_log-P_diagram) from nearby weather stations.  I don't know if anyone collects seasonal statistics on those, but lots of stuff from NOAA is publicly archived so probably you can browse such diagrams to get an idea.
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-14T07:46:35.180Z
Think it may well depend quite a bit on winds, topography, and vegetation.  In particular, a gradual slope onto a wide area of high elevation would likely still be in the wider dirty mixed layer, while a sudden steep jut would probably be separated from it if high enough.  So thinking you may be looking for larger\somewhat steeper hills that stand out more?
JeopardyTempest
<meteorology><atmosphere>
what elevation is top of southeastern US summer humidity/haze layer?
RustyShackleford
# what elevation is top of southeastern US summer humidity/haze layer?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-11)

We're interested in purchasing a vacation lake house in the piedmont/foothills of North Carolina. In earlier summers there, when driving from the mountains home to lower (sub-1000ft) elevations, I've noticed that one has a very distinct sense of descending into a noticeably "yucky" layer of elevated heat, humidity, and haze. (It's actually visible from the right vantage, much as it sometimes is when landing in an airplane).

I think it'd be very desirable for this vacation home to be above this layer. But I don't know how to figure out what the typical elevation of the top of the layer is. I'm not even sure how to define the layer.

So I seek advice on how to quantify what I mean by this "yucky" lower layer of the summer atmosphere, as well as how to determine what its elevation is.

**Tags:** meteorology, atmosphere

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Keywords: inversion, boundary layer.  Look up some [Skew-T log-P diagrams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skew-T_log-P_diagram) from nearby weather stations.  I don't know if anyone collects seasonal statistics on those, but lots of stuff from NOAA is publicly archived so probably you can browse such diagrams to get an idea.  
> **username_2**: Think it may well depend quite a bit on winds, topography, and vegetation.  In particular, a gradual slope onto a wide area of high elevation would likely still be in the wider dirty mixed layer, while a sudden steep jut would probably be separated from it if high enough.  So thinking you may be looking for larger\somewhat steeper hills that stand out more?  

---

## 0 answers

