Humidity is a measure of the amount of water vapor dissolved in the air, not including any liquid water or ice falling through the air. For clouds to form, and rain to start, the air doesn't have to reach 100% relative humidity at the Earth's surface, but only where the clouds and rain drops form. This normally occurs when the air rises and cools. Typically, rain falls into air with less than saturated humidity. Some water from the rain may evaporate into the air as it falls, increasing the humidity, but not necessarily enough to raise the humidity to 100%. It is even possible for rain falling through warm, humid air to be cold enough to lower the air temperature to the dew point, thus condensing water vapor out of the air. Although that would indeed raise the relative humidity to 100%, the water lost from the air (as dew) would also lower the absolute humidity.

Dew point and frost point LOUIS J. SHEEHAN, ESQUIRE

Associated with relative humidity is dew point (If the dew point is below freezing, it is referred to as the frost point). Dew point is the temperature at which water vapor saturates from an air mass into liquid or solid usually forming rain, snow, frost, or dew. Dew point normally occurs when a mass of air has a relative humidity of 100%. This happens in the atmosphere as a result of cooling through a number of different processes.