This week's question comes from a Morning Brief reader who is tired of the mugginess this time of year: "Why doesn't rain reduce the percent humidity? Yesterday we had rain for several hours, and the humidity actually increased. Why doesn't rain remove more moisture from the atmosphere?"

So we asked meteorologist extraordinaire Sara Tonks to set us straight! Turns out, rain is sneakier than we thought.

“Rain does remove moisture from the atmosphere, just not where we are,” she explained.

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“When a cloud gets too heavy, it starts to lose its rain, so yes, the cloud is drying out, but all that moisture is falling right down to us. As those raindrops fall, they evaporate a little, which then adds water vapor to the air around them."

It's kind of like passing the baton. The cloud gets rid of its water, and now we have it.

Eventually, the ground gets wet too. And guess what happens next?

“That moist ground starts putting moisture back into the air.”

Translation: Puddles, wet sidewalks and soggy soil start adding to the humidity you feel around you.

(MORE: How Big Can A Raindrop Be?)

Sara put it perfectly: “The ground isn’t a sponge, and the atmosphere isn’t a water slide."

So why does it sometimes feel less muggy after it rains?

"Sometimes, yes, it does feel nicer after a storm. But that’s usually because the air has cooled down, not because it’s less humid," she added.

Cooler air can hold less moisture, so even if the total amount of water in the air is the same (or even more), it feels better on your skin because the temperature dropped.

And timing matters. “If it rains in the late afternoon, the sun’s going down, temps drop, and it feels like a reprieve,” Sara said. “But really, there might be more moisture in the air. It’s just cooler.”

(MORE: Why You Should Care About The Dew Point)

Still following? One more thing:

"Remember: relative humidity is relative. It depends on how much water the air could hold at a certain temperature. The hotter it is, the more it can hold, so the relative humidity could look low, even if there’s actually a lot of moisture in the air."

Sara says to think of the atmosphere like a party: “Rain doesn’t scare anyone off. You, in fact, just have more people at the party now.”

So the next time you're left feeling sticky post-rain, you aren't alone... and now, at least, you know why.

Weather.com lead editor Jenn Jordan explores how weather and climate weave through our daily lives, shape our routines and leave lasting impacts on our communities.