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Whew. Finally October and the weather has been awesome. September was tough on me and I'll know that for next year but these last couple of days have been wonderful. Especially today.
So yay, I survived my first Arizona summer and it wasn't even difficult, until September. I'll remember that for next year.
And, I totally miscalculated how solar panels would help, because I've never been in an apartment building that had them, so I was being my usual Minnesota conservative self and not using the air conditioner much. I was shocked when I got my bill this month and it was $74 instead of the usual $24. I called the electric company because there were many days I chose to be uncomfortable rather than turn on the air.
Turned out it's a $74 credit, not debit. They estimate and when they did the actual reading I was way under. So, next summer I'll be a lot more comfortable, knowing I can use the air much more frequently.
Exactly! I hate the desert. I'm glad you like it, OP, and really wish you well there. Kudos for making the move. But I don't envy you.
Where Meo is living is not exactly, technically desert. The hard definition of desert is an area with 10 inches of rain a year or less, and the Tucson area gets between 10-12 annually, the greenest, wettest area of Arizona. But with that extra precipitation comes some unwelcome guests: More humidity and more insects. I just moved here from Las Vegas and hadn't been bitten by a mosquito in 22 years, and in Tucson I was bitten just 3X today!
Las Vegas is much more desert, only 3-4 inches of rain a year and you won't see any saguaro cacti growing around Las Vegas, those cacti needs lots of water to survive and grow. But what I hated so much about Las Vegas was the merciless winds that can blow through that valley, up to 70MPH at times.
This time of year and you drive south from Tucson to Nogales it's green, green, green!
In Phoenix, the highest recorded high was 122F and that has only occurred on handful of occasions.
The average high in Tucson is 98F for the months of June, July and August.
The average high in Phoenix is 105F for the months of June, July, and August.
Even when the temperature in Arizona is highest, it is far more pleasant than my ten summers in St. Louis.
Numbers are very misleading. Before moving to Tucson from Las Vegas, in June, I watched the temps in Tucson like a hawk for years, and couldn't figure out why the temps were, oftentimes, lower in Tucson than in Las Vegas. Yes, the elevation in Tucson is a couple hundred feet higher, but I didn't factor in the effect of the monsoons and, at times, Florida-like humidity. I have COPD and there were times, when the humidity was so high here, I could hardly breathe. Overlooked is the Feel Index!
But I'd chop my head off before moving back to drier Las Vegas! I'm here to stay!
"city’s ozone levels put residents at risk for serious health problems, such as premature death, asthma attacks, and cardiovascular harm."
"Particle pollution levels can be lethal, lodging deep in the lungs and triggering asthma attacks, heart attacks or even strokes, the release said."
“Since we have such high levels of year-round particle pollution, our citizens face increased risk for lung cancer,†she said in the release."
(I know Sierra Vista is not near Phoenix - just responding to HTY483)
Lack of wind! The lowest average windspeeds in the country are tied between L.A. and Phoenix: 6.2MPH. Not enough wind to blow it away in both cities. I just moved here from Las Vegas, and do I miss their average annual windspeeds of 9.2MPH? Being Las Vegas is hemmed in by mountains from every direction, if they had 6.2MPH windspeeds, you'd be choking up there!
Not to pry into personal business, but you bring up your smoking (which sounds life-long?) and 'allergies' and your difficulties breathing.
Could you have the beginnings of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from smoking or some of that disease which includes emphysema and lung disease (deterioration of lung functions) and pulmonary/circulatory disease (COPD is not cancer and is very different from cancer).
Not to mention that smoking often causes serious heart disease and atherosclerosis. No need to answer, if you do not feel like it!
The minute someone says they say they have COPD, it's automatic that it infers smoking as result of it. Many with COPD have never smoked, they might have worked in a manufacturing site with lots of dust, or they could have lived in L.A. during the 60's through the 1990's when breathing in the air in L.A,. was the equivalent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes every day. Yes, even small children were, in effect, smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day.
I have COPD and I still smoke, but I've cut down to a half pack a day. Best advice to any smoker is to urge then, not to quit, but to cut down, cut down, cut down. Just the terrifying idea of the word Quit can make any smoker reaching for another cigarette!
Nowadays, I might take only 2 puffs, snuff it out, pick it up later, 3 puffs, snuff it out, so to Meo I can only urge you to cut down, but not quit!
One big plus I haven't see Meo posting is the proximity to Mexico, why is that?
I'm sorry for the loss of your son. It's never easy losing a loved one, especially a child. Been down that sad road myself.
Congrats on your move to AZ. Now that I'm retired, I split my time between the CA coast, desert, and Flagstaff. I thrive in the heat, so you won't have me rubbing it in this summer.
This sounds prefect to me, I love the Palm Desert area!
Cottonwood is indeed lovely. However the Cottonwood area does get a lot more snow up there than we get down here.
I think meo made the right choice (sorry AZDB ).
Hey Deelighted, I love in CW and we get no snow as a rule. Sedona does though. Do you mind sharing what town you are in? I LOVE Cochise County and think about relocating but can never seem to pull the trigger.
Where Meo is living is not exactly, technically desert. The hard definition of desert is an area with 10 inches of rain a year or less, and the Tucson area gets between 10-12 annually, the greenest, wettest area of Arizona. But with that extra precipitation comes some unwelcome guests: More humidity and more insects. I just moved here from Las Vegas and hadn't been bitten by a mosquito in 22 years, and in Tucson I was bitten just 3X today!
Las Vegas is much more desert, only 3-4 inches of rain a year and you won't see any saguaro cacti growing around Las Vegas, those cacti needs lots of water to survive and grow. But what I hated so much about Las Vegas was the merciless winds that can blow through that valley, up to 70MPH at times.
This time of year and you drive south from Tucson to Nogales it's green, green, green!
The "wettest and greenest" is not Tucson. The White Mountains get far more rain and very green. Places like Pinetop, Hawley Lake, Heber, Salt River Canyon, and Alpine get a lot of rain. So does the forest around Flagstaff. The past month I went up those places a few times and got rained on a lot with summer monsoon.
But Tucson does get a lot of rain during the monsoons - more than Phoenix.
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