Yeah, but it's a dry heat! (Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: houses, camping, gardening)

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by malamute

The concrete and pavement do make a difference. You can tell that when you're out hiking or walking when it's 100 plus degrees. It's not bad at all until you hit a road or parking lot and the heat is radiating back instead of being absorbed by the ground.

The desert itself can be very pleasant when it's 100 plus. The desert plants and sand soak up the sun's rays.

Lordy. I would not willingly hike or walk in such temps, given a choice...the only time 100 plus is pleasant is when I am inside under refrigerated air!!

I will not go on the White Sands Nature Walk until it cools off a LOT.

[jecc]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Alamo....101, again. It was NOT this hot this early when I was tracking temps, but I am hoping that what they tell me is true....this is unusually hot!!

Cathy, how long have you been in Alamo? I've been in the mountains for almost four years, and I would say that 101 is not unusual at all for Alamo. I don't go to Alamo that often, but each summer, every single time I go down there, it is in the upper 90s or low 100s. Maybe it's just been my bad luck, but my impression of Alamo is that it's hot every day in summer. Up the hill, it's been topping out around 80 or 82 these days but cooling down fast in the afternoon. By dinnertime, it's back into the 70s, and nights have been in the 50s and 60s. Now if we could just get some rain.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Lordy. I would not willingly hike or walk in such temps, given a choice...the only time 100 plus is pleasant is when I am inside under refrigerated air!!

I will not go on the White Sands Nature Walk until it cools off a LOT.

I guess it's what we get used to --- although I can't make myself get used to cold weather. I shiver in refrigerated air -- I enjoy a 100 degree day -- like today is here.

What's great about a state like New Mexico is that it has it all -- we can all escape to some other kind of climate in just a short drive. But -- we shouldn't broadcast that too much.

[mortimer]

Towanda wanted information:

> I think you told us once how to fashion a sort of primitive swamp
> cooler with a wet towel and fan. Can you explain that again? ...

Simply put; get water to evaporate in the air that is inside your house.

A Swamp Cooler evaporates water that is "incoming," but technically, once it is inside the cooler, it is inside the house.

You *could* just take the garden hose and spray down the inside of your house, furniture, bedding, carpets, etc, but it would become so humid inside that the cooling effect would soon be forgotten. (Unless, of course, you have a number of box fans and ceiling fans in every room you just hosed down.) I don't recommend this extreme technique.

Hanging a damp towel in a window that is receiving air works. That is, if the air is blowing from the East, an East window will have air blowing in the house and the West window will tend to have air blowing out. I say "tend" to because the air is not just flowing through the house (if you have a direct shot East-to-West), but it is increasing the pressure inside the house so that air will also flow out any window - including the North and South windows (or sliding doors).

Note, a damp, threadbare, towel will work better than a newer one. A burlap bag - even better, but the water will evaporate sooner than a newer towel making it necessary to put more water on it more often. You wanty air flowing through the fabric. Take a squirt bottle like a mustard or ketsup container and soak at the top so the water drains down and just have a long enough container to catch the excess so it doesn't drip on your sill.

Finally, you can 'force' it by having a box fan or two blowing air *out* other windows elsewhere in the house to that air will be drawn (or sucked, if you will) through the open window with the wet fabric hanging. Such a setup *is* a swamp cooler in all its glory.

You can also hang a towel or 'wet down' a throw rug on tile and blow air across it with a fan to get cooling.

There are box fans sold in hardware stores that have their own water pump and reservoir that can cool a local area such as a room pretty effectively.

These measures might seem extreme, but really; how much do you really need it? At our house at 6080 ft in Albuquerque, we turn on the swamper about 1 pm to 3 pm and turn it off by 7 or 8 pm for the evening.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by jecc

Cathy, how long have you been in Alamo? I've been in the mountains for almost four years, and I would say that 101 is not unusual at all for Alamo. I don't go to Alamo that often, but each summer, every single time I go down there, it is in the upper 90s or low 100s. Maybe it's just been my bad luck, but my impression of Alamo is that it's hot every day in summer. Up the hill, it's been topping out around 80 or 82 these days but cooling down fast in the afternoon. By dinnertime, it's back into the 70s, and nights have been in the 50s and 60s. Now if we could just get some rain.

Jecc, I have been here less than a year.

Your temps sound heavenly.

I knew when I moved here that it would be hotter than I'd like, but I honestly do not remember temperatures last year (when I was tracking them in comparison to Midland's) being this hot for days on end. Temps here were consistently cooler until the day I arrive permanently in Alamo. It was 90 in Midland...and I arrived to 102 in Alamo....last August.

I'm beginning to think that hot weather maliciously follows me around...and jinxes everything....

I've been in 116 degrees in Midland....and up until this week, Midland has been consistently hotter than Alamo. Now they're running about even...or Alamo is worse.

I hear you on the rain. It's dry everywhere...and that's not good, especially if you live in heavily wooded areas.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by malamute

I guess it's what we get used to --- although I can't make myself get used to cold weather. I shiver in refrigerated air -- I enjoy a 100 degree day -- like today is here.

What's great about a state like New Mexico is that it has it all -- we can all escape to some other kind of climate in just a short drive. But -- we shouldn't broadcast that too much.

LOL!! True!

I am used to hotter temps (like 116 in Midland)...but that doesn't make me like them any better.

I love the cool nights and mornings....and I loved it here last winter when the nights would get into the teens...I'd go out in the morning to get my paper...and that first cold snap in the am is awesome. Sometimes I'd go out barefoot just to get a nice cold fix!!!

[catman]

mortimer: I'm very aware of the 'heat island' effect. It's still close to 90 here in Ft Worth at 11 PM (it was 101 humid degrees today), and if I went for a motorcycle ride, I'd be hot until I got out of town, but out away from the city it would be quite comfortable. When there isn't much wind, it's amazing how much cooler it is in the low spots, too!

[mortimer]

This morning after the sun appeared for a while, it was 65 degrees on my West porch and 102 degrees right next to my East-facing front door.

The inside of the house is around 75 degrees.

We turned off the swamper at 7 pm last night and had one window open in the whole house.

It's predicted to be 97 degrees for the high today in Albuquerque.
It might make it to 91-92 up on Tramway Blvd.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by mortimer

You *could* just take the garden hose and spray down the inside of your house, furniture, bedding, carpets, etc, but it would become so humid inside that the cooling effect would soon be forgotten. (Unless, of course, you have a number of box fans and ceiling fans in every room you just hosed down.)

Hubby thinks this is a super idea.

We're going to try it!!!

THANKS!!!

[6 FOOT 3]

Hey they (KRQE 13) said it will be 104 in Alamogordo tomorrow Cathy4017 as i know you'll be happy on that....lol....We aren't too far behind at 96 for tomorrow .