Does Anyone Actually ENJOY the Summer/Heat? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: houses, live in)

[twiggy]

I love our summers, of course they happen from Feb. to May and are gorgeous, then the Arizona winter comes from June to October. At about 2:00 pm in the summer you simply take your shower or dive into the pool then your air condition works great for about an hour. lol
Honestly, cooking anything is the biggest drag of the summer.

[notmuch69]

Originally Posted by RAZZEL

I love Arizona !!!! The summers are tolerable if you have air conditioning and a pool.

Winters are the absolute best.
Nothing better than the smell of the desert after a rain.....
Or the desert breeze in the evening..........

I agree on the winters (Dec - Mar).

[razorbladesmiley]

i'm in Tucson and i actually LOVE the summer heat cuz drying clothes on the clothes line is MUCH faster than the dryer

[sidrah]

It sucks. Use stores for window shopping so you can use their AC!

[sierra331]

Lived in Ahwatukee (Phoenix suburb) for 2 years and HATED the summers. The first summer I almost passed out until I learned about drinking enough water to get you through. What I really didn't like was that if you have kids who are on summer break, you really can't take them out to the parks and all because it's too damn HOT. Luckily we had a pool so spent a lot of time there, but how much swimming can you do, every day from May to October? (Kids go back to school in August, but the heat remains through September.) Lots of folks plan weekends going to San Diego (long haul, but some do it EVERY weekend!) to get away from the heat. We also had an ice rink nearby, spent some time there just to enjoy the AC and not spend $400 a month using our own!

[RickTucsonHomes]

Summer is a great time for playing golf! Rates are low and little to no waiting.

[borborygmi]

In my opinion, anyone who says that they actually enjoy the summer heat of Phoenix is either: 1. Lying; 2. Certifiably insane; 3. Hasn't lived there very long. It might be different if it actually cooled off at night, but it doesn't, not in Phoenix proper. It does somewhat in Tucson, which is why I find summers there more tolerable. Waking up to 90+ degree temps at 5 am before the sun even rises is sheer misery. And it's like that every day. For 5. Straight. Months. No cold fronts, no breaks, possibly excepting the monsoon season during which the humidity actually makes it even worse, at least for me.

The truth is, residents of Phoenix (the sane ones, anyway) simply move from one air conditioned cave to another in the summer months, spending as little time outside as possible. I personally don't care for that lifestyle, but that's just me. I don't find anything remotely "enjoyable" about 5 straight months of triple digit temps.

Bottom line: Phoenix has about 6 months of spectacular weather in the late fall-winter-early spring months, arguably the best that can be found in the contiguous 48 states; 1 month total of transition weather, and 5 months of weather that's absolutely brutal, arguably the worst in the contiguous 48 during the summer. That pretty much sums it up. If you can tolerate the awful to get to the magnificent, then possibly it's worth it. And for most of us, that what we do: tolerate it. "Enjoy" it? Not so much.

[AZParents]

The biggest problem with the heat here, as others have said, is that you never, ever, ever get a break once the summer starts. For example, it may be 95 degrees with 90% humidity for a few summer days back east, but then it rains and it's back down to 78 and some clouds. Here, it's relentless and just wears me down. I get irritable in the heat now.

The other problem here is that there seems to be fewer and fewer rainy/cloudy days here in the summer, especially during "monsoon" season. I moved here from NY in 1998 and I can tell the difference in the summer rains when comparing now to how it was when I first got here.

I find myself less and less tolerant of the summers as years go by. We're going to be moving back east soon and the heat here will be a big part of why we're leaving. Some people love it, and for those people this is a great place to live. It's not for us.

[sskkc]

I have a friend who is 42 years old, 5'6" and weighs 85lbs. She loves Phoenix's summers - when the temp goes above 115, she doesn't have to wear her wool socks - though it's gotta be over 120 for her to lose the sweater.

[pathrunner]

Oh now that made me LOL sskkc!