Now THIS is a beautiful day. 12/10/16 (Phoenix, Surprise: ski resorts, living, moving)

[BeanSi]

Heading out to sit on my back deck, with a hot toddy and thermal underwear

[locolife]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

And in June everyone else in the country will be dining outside, while it'll too hot to sit on a patio here (unless you like blistering sun and 114 degree ambient air temps). I don't get posts like this.


IMO, the ONLY place in the country that can truly brag about their weather (year round) is coastal So-Cal.

Not really... the Southeast is pretty sweltering in the summer months too.... Even in when we lived in the Northeast we rarely dined outside in the summer months, the instant the sun started to set we would be bombarded by mosquitoes and even when the bugs weren't bad it was still uncomfortable with the often high humidity levels and almost nobody had a pool. There were occasionally weekends where we'd get what they call "dry" weather and it would be nice enough to dine outside but it was few and far between.

Phoenix has a pretty solid climate.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by locolife

Not really... the Southeast is pretty sweltering in the summer months too.... Even in when we lived in the Northeast we rarely dined outside in the summer months, the instant the sun started to set we would be bombarded by mosquitoes and even when the bugs weren't bad it was still uncomfortable with the often high humidity levels and almost nobody had a pool. There were occasionally weekends where we'd get what they call "dry" weather and it would be nice enough to dine outside but it was few and far between.

Phoenix has a pretty solid climate.

Yeah. People forget how miserable the humidity is pretty much everywhere east of the Rockies in the summertime. They also have much more unpredictable weather (tornadoes, thunderstorms, etc.) and common rainshowers that we hardly see in Phoenix in the summertime (aside from a few random monsoon showers that are usually a welcome reprieve from the heat). So really, you get maybe 30-40 near perfect weather days in, say the Midwest, or 80-90 in the South, as compared to Phoenix where it's ideal 80-90% of the time from early November through late April, or almost 6 months out of the year. Really, only two states have a better overall climate: California and Hawaii, and of course we know that you are going to pay a much higher price to be in either of those.

[maverick974]

I'm not going to debate what area has better weather. I was born and raised in So. Cal. Lived there for my first 25 years. I lived on the Oregon coast for the next 25 and now I have been here for the last 6. I do far more things, I have far more fun and I am far more comfortable here than in either of those other areas.
January and February you will find me riding my motorcycle and taking my boat out to Canyon Lake after a good rain. The huge cliffs turn into giant waterfalls. It's amazing to see.
March through May im taking road trips to places like Tombstone or Mt. Lemmon and I'm still in the boat because it's bass fishing season.
The summer and I'm still on the lake but with waverunners. Nothing like spending a sizzling day on a beautiful desert lake in 80ish degree water.
In the fall is pretty much like summer but more time on the motorcycle.
Winter and it starts all over again.
To me, the best weather is right here simply because I can enjoy this place all year. Can't do that in most places.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by maverick974

I'm not going to debate what area has better weather. I was born and raised in So. Cal. Lived there for my first 25 years. I lived on the Oregon coast for the next 25 and now I have been here for the last 6. I do far more things, I have far more fun and I am far more comfortable here than in either of those other areas.
January and February you will find me riding my motorcycle and taking my boat out to Canyon Lake after a good rain. The huge cliffs turn into giant wa terfalls. It's amazing to see.
March through May im taking road trips to places like Tombstone or Mt. Lemmon and I'm still in the boat because it's bass fishing season.
The summer and I'm still on the lake but with waverunners. Nothing like spending a sizzling day on a beautiful desert lake in 80ish degree water.
In the fall is pretty much like summer but more time on the motorcycle.
Winter and it starts all over again.
To me, the best weather is right here simply because I can enjoy this place all year. Can't do that in most places.

Waterfalls? Nice! I've said this before and I will say it again: I live on a desirable lake in Northern MN (thousands of acres to boat on) and I have driven by thousands of MN lakes. Heck, in our county alone, there are 280 lakes. With that said, none of those MN lakes that I have observed can compete with the beauty of Canyon Lake. If I got to see some waterfalls, that would take it to another level.

Over the past couple of days, I've cracked out the shorts again. In the MN town I live in during the summer , they will have a high temperture of 8 degrees. Today in PHX, it will be 74 degrees. That's an extra 66 degrees of comfort!

But if I had to pick one spot, the PHX area weather would win by a mile. The math is obvious. Calculate it anyway you want and there are at minimum, double the ideal weather days in PHX. Let's say "ideal" is defined as a high of 60 degrees to 88 degrees and at least mostly sunny skies. In the Midwest, cloud cover from October to the middle of May happens over 40% of the time. In July, the peak month of the sun is cloud covered 30% of the time. Getting a MN sunny day plus a high from 60 to 88 degrees to fall on the weekend is like winning the lottery. I've come to expect this every single solitary weekend from late October till the middle of April. Between cloud cover and the cold, it's pure outdoor Hell for the upper midwest for 4-5 months a year. But it is green! To get green you need rain which means bugs.

Most Midwesterners are ignorant to what life is like in the desert. Many have a preconceived ideal that it is brown, flat, HOT, and ugly. A lot of people in 2016 still have never visited Phoenix. When we have friends visit, many are surprised and often inspired. They were raised to assume Fort Myers, FL is the best spot in the world (home of the Twins Spring training). Some people don't get out much.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by locolife

Phoenix has a pretty solid climate.

If you like hell 6 months a year...sure.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by BeanSi

Heading out to sit on my back deck, with a hot toddy and thermal underwear

Looks like perfect BBQ weather, been there done that for many a Thanksgiving,Christmas smoked turkey dinner! Allows one to keep things refrigerated just sitting on the deck and any beverage cold with a snow Koozy...

[locolife]

Originally Posted by jp03

If you like hell 6 months a year...sure.

Hell is a pretty popular place... it's hard to find many cities that have grown as fast as hell. Maybe we should re-brand the place, have a little fun with this concept.

"Hell, AZ. We can't wait to have you here."

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Waterfalls? Nice! I've said this before and I will say it again: I live on a desirable lake in Northern MN (thousands of acres to boat on) and I have driven by thousands of MN lakes. Heck, in our county alone, there are 280 lakes. With that said, none of those MN lakes that I have observed can compete with the beauty of Canyon Lake. If I got to see some waterfalls, that would take it to another level.

Over the past couple of days, I've cracked out the shorts again. In the MN town I live in during the summer , they will have a high temperture of 8 degrees. Today in PHX, it will be 74 degrees. That's an extra 66 degrees of comfort!

But if I had to pick one spot, the PHX area weather would win by a mile. The math is obvious. Calculate it anyway you want and there are at minimum, double the ideal weather days in PHX. Let's say "ideal" is defined as a high of 60 degrees to 88 degrees and at least mostly sunny skies. In the Midwest, cloud cover from October to the middle of May happens over 40% of the time. In July, the peak month of the sun is cloud covered 30% of the time. Getting a MN sunny day plus a high from 60 to 88 degrees to fall on the weekend is like winning the lottery. I've come to expect this every single solitary weekend from late October till the middle of April. Between cloud cover and the cold, it's pure outdoor Hell for the upper midwest for 4-5 months a year. But it is green! To get green you need rain which means bugs.

Most Midwesterners are ignorant to what life is like in the desert. Many have a preconceived ideal that it is brown, flat, HOT, and ugly. A lot of people in 2016 still have never visited Phoenix. When we have friends visit, many are surprised and often inspired. They were raised to assume Fort Myers, FL is the best spot in the world (home of the Twins Spring training). Some people don't get out much.

I know someone online who lives in New Jersey. She takes every opportunity to say "I am glad you like where you live but I will never visit. It's too desolate and ugly there. Where I live is the most beautiful part of the country and I love it here" Okay, fine, but how do you know what it is like here if you REFUSE TO VISIT? She is going strictly by some notion in her head that Phoenix (and any desert city for that matter) is sand dunes and dead foliage (and probably camels!) no matter how many pictures I show her or websites I link her to. That's fine, she can stay in Jersey.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

Yeah. People forget how miserable the humidity is pretty much everywhere east of the Rockies in the summertime. They also have much more unpredictable weather (tornadoes, thunderstorms, etc.) and common rainshowers that we hardly see in Phoenix in the summertime (aside from a few random monsoon showers that are usually a welcome reprieve from the heat). So really, you get maybe 30-40 near perfect weather days in, say the Midwest, or 80-90 in the South, as compared to Phoenix where it's ideal 80-90% of the time from early November through late April, or almost 6 months out of the year. Really, only two states have a better overall climate: California and Hawaii, and of course we know that you are going to pay a much higher price to be in either of those.

I lived out east for 35 years of my life. The humidity isn't bad all the time, and even then, its more tolerable than 115 degrees. Argue all you want, but it is. On the most humid and horrible of days, I would ride 35+ miles on my bike. Here that's virtually impossible on our hottest days. Ever tried to ride in 112 degree heat? I used to be stupid and attempt it, now it just wont. Its not worth the pain! Yes summers out east can get quite sticky at times. And although you might feel a bit sticky, you could be outside in the sun for 12 hours w/o any issue (as long as sunscreen was on). Try doing that in June in PHX! That's just not happenin, unless you're in the shade all day, sitting still, with 8 gallons of water nearby. Now the Southeastern USA is another story, Ill agree. I did a summer in TN... never again. BLECH The Midwest summers are infinitely more tolerable than southern summers. I truly believe places like New Orleans have the worst summer weather in the USA.