Is there any part of NM that isn't blazing hot in summer? (Albuquerque: credit, new home)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

A few days ago here in Milwaukee, it was 79 degrees at 5pm and fairly darn humid. But you know what? It was very enjoyable and comfortable. Humidity levels were probably a hare higher than *ideal* and temps were probably a hare lower than *ideal* (due to cloud cover...a sunny 79 is great to me), but honestly, that humidity felt great. There is just a look in the air, a smell in the air, etc.

Funny you mention the smell... I was talking to my wife about that, how the air smells so sweet when the humidity is up. Im assuming the moisture in the air amplifies all the scents? I dunno. Anyways, I remember that day youre referring to... it was quite humid, but the temps werent hot so it felt pretty good to me as well. Now if that humidity wouldve been around when it was 85 degrees, I wouldve been running for the nearest pool with a ice cold Sam Adams in my hand.

Back on track... I still think ABQ has the best temps in NM. Santa Fe is gorgeous in summer, but too cold at night in winter for many, whereas ABQ is decent in winter, too hot for others in summer. After spending many weeks in PHX in summer, I can say that driving through ABQ, while hot, is relief from Phoenix. We did encounter some rainstorms near Tucumcari that brought the humidity up a lot but we thought it felt great.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Santa Fe is beautiful though, and some folks posting here like Towanda, Devin Bent, etc., love the area.

I live in Santa Fe county at 6,000 feet which means that I should have weather very similar to portions of ABQ. This is something that is apparently hard to understand.

Today I woke up and it felt cold when I got out of my shower. In a few hours, it was warm outside. Then I drove up to the Audubon Center in SF at 7,500 feet -- the temperature was 60 at 2 PM with a cold wind blowing off the foothills -- it felt cold.

I'm back at 6,000 feet -- the temperature is 68 F with no wind at 4 PM.

The worst thing about the weather here is losing jackets. I often put one on in the early morning but take it off by noon and sometimes leave it somewhere.

[mrgoodwx]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

I guess some of this is apples-to-oranges and relative. If you are from deep MS or deep Alabama, etc, to you probably Albuquerque's summers are great (even Las Cruces'). If you are from Chicago or Cleveland, Albuquerque's summers can be long and hot. It just depends on what you are comfortable with and used to.

I think there is a lot of truth to EnjoyEP's statement. Muggy, deep south summers are etched in my memory forever, and summers in Albuquerque will always seem great to me. In Albuquerque, the least favorite part of summer to me is the very beginning, before thunderstorm season arrives. The blazing, hot, relentless sunshine during the typical heat wave just before thunderstorm season can make some people very uncomfortable. Once the heart of thunderstorm season is here, especially late July and August, I really enjoy an evening on my patio after a thunderstorm, when the temperature has dipped into the 60s, or even high 50s.

I will admit, my wife and I go visit family in southeast Texas from time to time for a "humidity break." We've had a lot of days lately with afternoon relative humidity between 3 and 6 percent. That's too dry for a lot of people. My wife has actually been in Miami the past 5 days, and when I talked with her on the phone last night, she said, "my skin is smiling!"

[malamute]

Originally Posted by catman

I must say that I don't tolerate high humidity with heat very well. Here in Ft Worth, TX, I'm already looking forward to autumn, dreading the summer nights when the temperature stays at 80 degrees or above. I'd much rather be in Albuquerque than Mississippi!

I've been where it's hot and dry and find that immensely preferable. The cool nights are indeed a slice of heaven. I can hardly wait to move to NM or trans-Pecos Texas (Ft Davis/Alpine/Marfa).

In the desert even if it gets too much on the warm side, a shower will cool you off very nicely, but in the very humid parts of the country a shower just ends up making you feel worse, because you're wetter and will feel even muggier.

I was in San Antonio last June and while it's a nice city, it was scorching hot. So hot it was almost hard to breath and you really didn't feel like doing much outdoors. I think it was only in the 90's but felt much hotter. The evenings and mornings were quite nice however.

One thing you can end up missing are lakes because on a very hot summer day it can be fun jumping into the closest lake.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Devin Bent

I live in Santa Fe county at 6,000 feet which means that I should have weather very similar to portions of ABQ. This is something that is apparently hard to understand.

Whooaa, Devin. I do understand that. And I don't think I have stated anything that elicited a sarcastic response.

I was just referring to that you seem to be a pretty big proponent of Santa Fe itself and the surrounding areas on the forum. Wasn't saying that to slight you in the least. If I misrepresented what I thought were your likes, I apologize. It would've been (at least to me) if someone like Towanda said "hey, that EnjoyEP fellow really seems to like Albuquerque." I find Santa Fe beautiful and was very thankful to have it near ABQ as a destination point. Wasn't my cup of tea to live in / near, but hey, to others, they would say the same about ABQ and LC - that is fine for sure.

On a fairly unrelated note though, I do respectfully disagree that 6000 feet with a more northern latitude in the proximity of more mountains represents portions of ABQ; well, it does (so now I am contradicting myself), however, very, very few portions of ABQ. We so happen to have an amazingly high (disproportionate, almost, not that there is anything wrong with that) amout of ABQ-based (or ABQ-wannabes like me) folks that reside east of Tramway (the foothills), which is really the only area of ABQ that goes to 6000 feet. While this is beautiful territory with a good amount of folks living in it, it is still honestly a really tiny slice of the city.

To me, ABQ's more resemblant altitudes are in the heart of the majority of its altitudes - in that 4950 to 5500 or 5600 foot altitude with central latitude in the state.

So actually, I will not disagree with your assertion, but I would say the most "general" weather points in ABQ would be places like the Sunport, Old Town, Uptown, Paseo and Coors, etc.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Funny you mention the smell... I was talking to my wife about that, how the air smells so sweet when the humidity is up. Im assuming the moisture in the air amplifies all the scents? I dunno.

I don't know either, but yeah, I talked to many midwestern transplants to Albuquerque who were in my age range (30 to 45) and for those that weren't huge on living in the high desert, the one major complaint I heard more than any was that they missed "smells" in the summer. They often lammented that ABQ smelled like nothing to them, and they missed the "nature" smells that the more humid midwest produced.

Now, to me, honestly, I love the smells of summer in the Midwest, but I really loved the various smells in Albuquerque in the summer too. I guess I could feel both sides of this coin. To me, nothing smells sweeter than the smell of Albuquerque earth in July after a 94 degree afternoon when the first drops of rain start to fall out of the dark monsoon clouds. There is something magical-almost of the smell of the desert in rainfall.

But Steve, again, I cannot dispute what you are saying and largely I do agree with it. I spoke to many other folks too, who would've wholeheartedly agreed.

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Anyways, I remember that day youre referring to... it was quite humid, but the temps werent hot so it felt pretty good to me as well. Now if that humidity wouldve been around when it was 85 degrees, I wouldve been running for the nearest pool with a ice cold Sam Adams in my hand.

Hey, I could do Sammie. Sierra Nevada or (Chicago's own) Goose Island Honker's Ale or IPA would work well too (or for a New Mexican brew, Isotopes Slammin' Amber).

It was weird...I think because there was a lot of cloud cover that day, it didn't even feel the remotest bit "too warm"...I think even in the midwest when the sun is much more mellow, still, 79 or 85 *in the sun* with humidity feels quite a bit warmer and in need of refreshment than such temps with the clouds. Also, that day was fairly windy which helped keep things *ideal* too.

Hey, I have absolutely no ill feelings about upper Midwest weather in that high-70s range with some humidity like we had that day. It was really, really, really nice. I commented to my wife that on days like that, it is like a whole different city up here. My neighbors were out chatting (one - the instant I got out of my car after coming home from work and was still in my tie, etc. - tossed me an ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbon - yes, 'tis true PBR - and we all chatted standing outside with the kids playing, etc.) - soft warm breezes, that is when life is hard to beat in the upper Midwest.

Now, after that hearty memory, I could lament the awful 43 degree super-windy day we had today (with lows tonights dropping into the low-30s / high-20s), however, that might start another Steve-O v. EnjoyEP words-off, so we'll let that one go for now!!

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Back on track... I still think ABQ has the best temps in NM. Santa Fe is gorgeous in summer, but too cold at night in winter for many, whereas ABQ is decent in winter, too hot for others in summer. After spending many weeks in PHX in summer, I can say that driving through ABQ, while hot, is relief from Phoenix. We did encounter some rainstorms near Tucumcari that brought the humidity up a lot but we thought it felt great.

I agree with this all.

I met - while still living in ABQ - relatives from WI *who vacationed - in July - in Phoenix* (God help me understand why they'd forsake one of the very best months in WI to vacation in freaking Phoenix in July)...they headed back home through ABQ where we were in a streak of very hot 99 to 102 degree weather (very uncomfortable to most not used to high heat). They were like, "well, this is pretty miserably hot, but then again, compared to where we just were........THIS FEELS GREAT!!!" Again, I suppose it is all relative.

Oh, and as for your experience in Tucumcari, that is pretty much classic New Mexico - such varied, extremely different climates. To me, Tucumcari is more "panhandle of Texas" than it is New Mexico, however, that would be like acting like all of NM is like ABQ or Las Cruces which admittedly it isn't. That is where NM is so fascinating to me...you've got cold, snowy areas like Chama, Red River, etc., which rival Colorado skiing areas, you've got low, hot deserts like Carlsbad and Las Cruces, you've got temperate high desert cities like Albuquerque and Silver City, etc. The high west near the Continental Divide (Grants, Gallup, etc.). Just so much variation.

Actually, that is a great way to point out how hard it is to answer the OP's question. If by NM you mean "Carlsbad' or if by NM you mean "Chama"...you'll get entirely different answers.

[catman]

Originally Posted by malamute

I was in San Antonio last June and while it's a nice city, it was scorching hot. So hot it was almost hard to breath and you really didn't feel like doing much outdoors. I think it was only in the 90's but felt much hotter.

I know exactly what you mean. Fort Worth is similar when it's hot (a little less humid, perhaps, but not enough to matter). The only advantage to FtW is that San Antonio's hot season is almost twice as long. The heat and humidity together are almost suffocating, especially mixed with air pollution. August is my least favorite month. The dry heat of NM is much preferable, IMO.

[rbmomof3]

jazzlover I wouldn't call it ignorance. How would people know unless they've reallllly researched or lived there? Kinda rude to say that in my opinion.

[rbmomof3]

Ok I will be more specific with what I'm looking for. I bet that will help some.

I DO want to stay away from 100 degree weather if that's at all possible in NM. At least most of the summer, I realize that there will be a few days that are like that but I'd like somewhere that has 80-90's. I don't mind snow as long as it's not staying a ton and dries up quickly. The problem I'm having with Nebraska (one of many) is that our backyard is mush because the snow stays and/or it rains for a couple days then is dry just long enough to dry up the yard then it rains again..at least this year it's been like that.

I have 3 children 4 and under. So it's important to me to be able to let them play outside all year round.

I want to garden. I realize from talking to some friends that NM the water is harder to come by? They lived in Albeq.. how ever you spell it lol. But if I save bath water or something for the garden it won't be that bad.

I'd also like to have an acre or two for animals. My hubby grew up on a farm and I really like the idea of having some animals, chickens, etc. He says even in extreme heat like 100's the animals are fine with some shade.

I would like to live within driving distance (an hour or two) of a zoo or some cool things to do with the family.

So those are some things I'm looking for. I realize housing is going to be more expensive, but I'll be okay with that since by next year our HUGE credit card debt will be gone and we'll get approved for more.

Rebecca

P.S. I haven't had a chance to read all the posts after page 6, WOW do you guys like talking about your state, which is great for me!

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by rbmomof3

jazzlover I wouldn't call it ignorance. How would people know unless they've reallllly researched or lived there? Kinda rude to say that in my opinion.

From Websters:

ignorance: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness

What's rude about that?