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I live in the south, have for all of my life and I can't say that I've ever ventured to the southwest. I'd like to though to see how it is to be in an area without all the humidity. If I had to guess though I'd say the summers in the southwest are much more brutal. It's hard to argue that 120 degrees is more comfortable than 95 based on it having 40-70% less humidity. Take away the bugs (mainly mosquitos) and the southern summers aren't really "brutal" more like uncomfortable.
I live in the south, have for all of my life and I can't say that I've ever ventured to the southwest. I'd like to though to see how it is to be in an area without all the humidity. If I had to guess though I'd say the summers in the southwest are much more brutal. It's hard to argue that 120 degrees is more comfortable than 95 based on it having 40-70% less humidity. Take away the bugs (mainly mosquitos) and the southern summers aren't really "brutal" more like uncomfortable.
Phoenix has rarely hit 120 and the record is 122 hit in 1990. The longest streak of days at 110 or above was 18 days in 1974.
Phoenix heat is worse IMHO and feels like you're under a hot blow-dryer.
Deep south heat feels like you're just getting out of the sauner or shower.
The southwest heat I nick named it killer because if you stay out in it too long that's excatly what it will do to you. I would hate for my car to break down in a secluded area of the southwest desert region.
In the southeast I can't remember many days where I felt unsafe being outside.
The moral to the story is that both suck like hell in the summer but the southwest desert heat is more dangerous than the southest heat.
Phoenix is MUCH worse-do not forget that there is monsoon humidity there too, so it can be 115F and humid-far worse than 90F and humid. Phoenix also does not get as windy as the South as often. If it is windy, it is a hot, blowdryer-type wind. But even just a dry 115F is worse than a humid 90F.
I would enjoy that if I were gonna take a dip in the pool, or if it was on a beach.
Most pools in Phoenix, unless they have some kind of technology to keep them cool in the summer, are lukewarm by mid-July, and not very refreshing. Believe me... I owned a house with a backyard pool there for a few years. I got to actually enjoy swimming in it for maybe 3 months out of the year. 4 in a good year.
I like that Arizona has the option of going from low desert valley (Phoenix) to high alpine terrain (Flagstaff) in about a two hour drive and a 30 degree drop in temperature. I wonder how much cooler the Smoky Mountains are relative to say the lower elevations of the Piedmont in the Carolinas.
To answer your question concerning the drop in temperatures from the S.Appalachian valleys up to the 4 5 and 6 thousand foot ridge tops. Before I answer your question, I feel compelled to tell you that when considering the weather and climate here in S.Appalachia, you should take care to not take stock in any ''official'' weather forecast, or climate description of this region. The reason being that the economy of the region depends upon the perpetuation of the myth that the entire mountain region makes for a significant escape from the heat and humidity of the regions surrounding the highlands. This said, every myth does in fact have at least a grain of truth. In fact, during say the month of July, if you were to drive from an elevation of less than a thousand feet ASL from the lower peidmont of S.Carolina where 2 pm temperatures are typically near a hundred degrees with dewpoints in the lower to mid 70s, directly to any location in Western North Carolina, with an elevation of 4500 or higher, with no stops in the valleys, you would get the impression that indeed the southern Apps are a very significant escape from the heat and humidity of the southern lowlands. Here in Western NC, temperatures at and above of locales over 5000 feet practically never reach 90 degrees, and in fact 85 degrees at 5000 feet in these mountains is considered hot, very hot ! In summer the entire SE is prone to afternoon and evening thunderstorm activity and while Florida does deserve the repitation it has as thundertorm capital of the US, there are swaths of mountainous terrain here in the mountains which will actually surpass Florida in terms of summer T. storm occurance ! This proneness to thunderstorm activity, partially explains why it is that temperatures in the S.Apps at 5000 feet are comparable to temperatures experienced in the S. Rockies, at 10,000 feet ! On any given Summer day at even 4000 feet in the S. Apps, one is likely to encounter cooling thunderstorm activity, which as I have stated, garantees that the elevations higher than 4000 feet are very unlikely to surpass 85 while temperatures at greater than 5000 feet seldom surpass even 80 degrees. The cavet to everything I have noted thus far, is the fact that the S.Appalachian lower valleys, particularly those valleys below 3000 feet or so,boast a climate very unlike the surrounding ridges.The valley where I live for example, commonly experiences spring and summer temperatures in the low to mid 90s and dewpoints anywhere from 60 to 70 plus degrees.In fact, the humidity of these lower mountain valleys often matches and or surpasses the levels experienced in Florida ! Being that I live in A S. Appalachian valley, I can attest to the fact that there is just something particularly uncomfortable about a typical Summer Afternoon in these valleys. Perhaps it is due to the intense sunshine common to higher elevations, or perhaps it is the over all stagnation of the lower atmosphere, being that the mountains surrounding the valleys tend to have a trapping affect upon the lower levels of the atmosphere ? I can not say for sure why it is that the typical S. Appalachian valley is far from being an ideal summer escape, but I can tell you that on more than a few occasions during the summer months, I have driven from my home which is at an elevation of about 2400 feet ASL, where the thermometer read 98 degrees F. up to 6000 feet on the Blue Ridge Parkway, to find ongoing hail, torrential rain and temperatures during the hail and rain, below even 60 degrees ! On a rare rainless summer day, one can expect temperatures to drop from the low 90s at around 2500 feet, to about 78 degrees as one travels from valley floor to a 5 to 6000 foot ridge in the S. Appalachians.
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Southern Appalachian cool off in July.
