Does Anyone Actually ENJOY the Summer/Heat? (Phoenix: restaurants, law)

[DR1665]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

I have lived here almost 14 years and still not aclimated to the intense summer heat, it seems like it's just hotter than it used to be.

Monsoon season used to bring some good rainstorms in July and August and everyone acted like it was routine, but now everyone gets all excited over a rumble of thunder and a couple of raindrops.

I've been here just under ten years and, although I'm acclimated to the heat, I will say that it seems as if the summers are getting hotter and lasting longer. It seems like that.

On the other side of the spectrum, winter seems colder too. I know it's almost 60* outside today, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel chilly. Bring on the heat, I say, knowing full well in 5 months I'll be asking myself why I still haven't put more thought into moving to the Pacific northwest like I do pretty much every year.

Monsoon is pretty much a joke these days unless you live well outside the 101 loop in Phoenix. You see the storm clouds roll in, ominous brown dust cloud leading the charge. After the dirt blows in, you look around and see how the bulk of the clouds have split and gone around the metro area, thanks to heat island effect.

It's a bummer. There were a couple times last monsoon season where my wife and I got out of bed, jumped in the truck, and drove 60 miles out of town just so we could experience a little rain. Crazy, I know, but true.

We get more rain because of El Nino than we do in monsoon season. I believe we got about 15 minutes of light rain/sprinkles in Glendale last summer during monsoon season... and that was over the course of 2-3 occasions. Since January, we've had what, 7"? Ironic.

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Go figure.

Exactly.

EDIT: Although I still love Phoenix and consider it home.

[zenkonami]

Actually I really enjoyed the heat. I always considered it a bit of a cultural thing for Phoenix shared by few other cities (Las Vegas, perhaps being the other...L.A.s San Fernando Valley never quite gets as hot.)

People who haven't experienced it tend to view it as a point of weakness when Phoenicians complain about the heat but usually because they haven't spent a summer it. There's something fascinating about human being spending their summers trying to escape living in a dry furnace where your perspiration evaporates too fast to cool you. Requires a bit of a masochistic streak to truly enjoy it. Also forces you to consider spending more time outdoors early morning and at night.

[ShipOfFools42]

I have the utmost respect for you Arizona folks for being able to handle that heat, but man, yall are crazy! I am originally from Alabama, where an average summer day is ~97-98 degrees (albeit with extreme humidity), and that is HOT, so I can't imagine 115. I've been told that the dryness of your climate makes up for the heat and makes it more bearable, but 115 sounds like an oven to me.

[notmuch69]

115 does feel exactly like an oven! And a blow dryer when it's windy! I don't know how the paint on cars holds up as long as it does.

[rnlke]

the daily average high only gets to 104* in these graphs.
highest average temp 90*
the highest nightly low is 78*.

doesn't seem too bad. just don't be out mid-day in the sun.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by rnlke

the daily average high only gets to 104* in these graphs.
highest average temp 90*
the highest nightly low is 78*.

doesn't seem too bad. just don't be out mid-day in the sun.

Yeah, the average high is a little bit above 104. It's 107 for a couple weeks in late July/August. People like to say it is 115 all the time even though it typically hits that temp only a day or two a year and is above 110 "only" about 15 days or so per year. At least half of those are in June when the humidity is about 2% and the nights drop to the chilly 70s. Folks from other states do the same kind of overstating. You often see remarks that it is 90 degrees and 90% humidity when that is really not the case.

Still, summer heat is not fun here, at least to me. But is one of the least of my complaints about Phoenix.

[algia]

I have one more thing to add. We also can't forget that if someone is overweight, 200+ lbs 107 will feel a lot hotter...we get hot here too but there's no way my AC goes below 77 in July or I'll be freezing to death! So it also depends on the person...I am always cold in AC.

[actinic]

Originally Posted by DaveyO

I love it. I lived in the Chicago area and experienced exactly what hopsonkl did, year after year. I'd rather have 4 months of 100+ degrees and relatively dry, than the usual Chicago summers of about 85 degrees with 90% or more humidity.

That's *not* usual. The avg temperatures are less, the avg humidity considerably less but then again these forums excel at misinformation. Also there are breaks in the Chicago weather, not the consistently hot weather in Phx.

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by algia

I have one more thing to add. We also can't forget that if someone is overweight, 200+ lbs 107 will feel a lot hotter...we get hot here too but there's no way my AC goes below 77 in July or I'll be freezing to death! So it also depends on the person...I am always cold in AC.

QFT. The day I got here, it was 91. I saw that the AC was set to 77 in the library and I was cold in there. I'll probably die of hypothermia going into a grocery store in the summer

[roundball]

Originally Posted by acrylic

I'll probably die of hypothermia going into a grocery store in the summer

You should here my kids whine when we walk by the freezer/dairy section at the grocery store.

My favorite part of summer is walking out of an overly air conditioned store into the heat.