Denver Or Phoenix

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Great post, steve22, and I mostly agree-- except for one thing:

That is absolutely, 100% incorrect. Phoenix is the king of sunshine, hands down. No comparison. Denver is a sunny place more often than not, and it has a western, dry climate too, but Phoenix is WAYYYY more consistently sunnier. And that's the problem, IMO. For the vast majority of the year, Phoenix is constant sunshine from sunrise to sunset without a cloud in the sky, for stretches of months at a time. Even in the monsoon season, the vast majority of the day is still pretty sunny. Denver is usually partly cloudy, a mix of clouds and sun, actually. For many days, especially on summer mornings, it might be like a desert day, but pretty much every single afternoon there they get dark thunderstorm clouds rolling in, and it can get a little gloomy at times. Totally overcast days are infrequent, but they occur more often in Denver than in Phoenix. And actually, given the same temperature, you can get sunburn EASIER in Denver than in Phoenix, due to the higher elevation. AZ might be #1 for skin cancer, but CO is right up there, possibly second place in that statistic. I also like Denver's climate, but just wanted to set the facts straight.

I think I have read somewhere a statistic that Denver recieves more sunny "days" than Phoenix, but having lived in Phoenix I have to agree that overall hours might be a different story. If it's a sunny day in Phoenix, there's not a cloud in sight, and probably won't be. In fact, during the summer it can sometimes create an almost reverse seasonal affective disorder when you wake up to day after day of clear blue skies and 100+ degrees.

And if you like your weather that way, and a lot of people do, then Phoenix is fantastic from that point of view. Me? I think I'd like a little more variation from day to day...week to week...or even hour to hour...

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by steve22

No way. You can ski in Denver, and it's very sunny and pleasant down in the city most of the time excepting the occasional snowstorm. Daytime highs in Phoenix aren't really that much warmer than Denver in the winter, at least not nearly enough to make me want to give up the great outdoor activities in CO. At the start of the Rock n' Roll marathon this year in PHX, the temp was 30! That race was damn cold, let me tell you. Lots of folks from out of town were shivering and pretty disappointed. Contrary to popular belief, winters in Phoenix are hardly balmy. So no thanks, think I'll keep Denver, year round.

I lived in Phoenix for quite a while, and though it can get pretty chilly on winter evenings I think it's a little unfair to compare Phoenix cold to most anywhere else =) On the other hand, I think anyone who tries to claim that Phoenix's dry heat is better than "hot and humid" has never spent six weeks of 108+ degree temperatures in a dry heat. It's a lot like sticking your head inside your oven set at 350, and just kinda leaving it there.

Let's boast about the hot, but let everyone else have their cold. Chilly just don't compare!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by zenkonami

Let's boast about the hot, but let everyone else have their cold. Chilly just don't compare!

PHX's daytime highs are decently mild, most definitely. However, compared to Miami, PHX's winters are chilly. Compared to Minneapolis, theyre warm. Make sense? I think thats what he was trying to say. I think.