Keeping cool in soaring temps, without air conditioning (farming, tractor, temperature)
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Last trip we took to Florida, we visited the Henry Ford home and museum in Fort Myers. Of course, I loved looking at the old cars, but the house was interesting, too. Had VERY wide porches on all 4 sides, looked to be 12 to 15' deep, and the guide explained that it kept the heat out of the house.
Many people do not realize that Rhode Island is one of the hottest places on the whole east coast. That is because it is paved over much more than most places. I grew up in Providence, and just walking outside you were hit with a blast of heat from the pavement. I'm looking forward to moving to northern Maine, where summer nights are actually cool, and summer days comfortable.
I am from northern European ancestry, with blondish hair, blue eyes, and skin that burns instead of tanning. I suffer terribly from the heat. Not that other folks don't...but I think it makes a difference in your genetics. Anyway, I have suffered long enough! A/C has not made me "soft"; it has saved my life on at least one occasion. My feeling is, it's far easier to heat a building in winter than it is to cool it off in summer (without power), so I'm going to where I can do that.
OOOF! You folks who live in triple-digit territory, I sweat for you! HEY! Turn the A/C up, willya?
Up until the 1940's-1950's homes were designed specifically with the climate in mind and to take advantage of air flow/sun orientation in summer and winter. When a/c became the norm rather than the exception such thoughtfulness in home design was greatly abandoned. The homes in FL today do not reflect the FL my mother grew up in or the one I visted before the age of 10. Back then one story concrete block homes painted white or a light pastel were the norm and often the tile or asphalt roofs were painted white as well. Only the wealthy neighborhoods had 2-story homes and those had sleeping porches.
Don't get me wrong, I greatly appreciate a/c; but, I know that even in these temps I can live without it if I must. The elderly, those with compromised health or whom have suffered heat related illnesses previously, and infants, have less ability to control their body temps and are more vulnerable to the heat. The first two heat casualties were found in my city yesterday, one was an infant.
Yesterday it was 112 and the third day in a row of triple digit temps. At 10 pm last night it was still in the mid-'90s.
Holy Cow! It has been almost that hot here a time or two, but it's so much drier here than where you are. That kind of heat with the humidity you have must be insanely miserable.
I have been researching and emailing about land in the Schuyler County area of Missouri (right up by the border with Iowa)... but your report of that kind of heat is giving me second thoughts. I'm not all that fond of heat, especially with high humidity. Does it regularly top 100 in the summer there?
Holy Cow! It has been almost that hot here a time or two, but it's so much drier here than where you are. That kind of heat with the humidity you have must be insanely miserable.
I have been researching and emailing about land in the Schuyler County area of Missouri (right up by the border with Iowa)... but your report of that kind of heat is giving me second thoughts. I'm not all that fond of heat, especially with high humidity. Does it regularly top 100 in the summer there?
I am not 100 percent sure, but if it is like Ok, which is a boardering state, then yes, hot and humid. At least thats how last summer was in Tulsa. I could not get out of there fast enough!
I am not 100 percent sure, but if it is like Ok, which is a boardering state, then yes, hot and humid. At least thats how last summer was in Tulsa. I could not get out of there fast enough!
Northern Missouri and Iowa have the distinction of sitting between the two largest rivers in the country (Missouri & Mississippi). This tends to kick up the humidity factor a tad.
I am not 100 percent sure, but if it is like Ok, which is a boardering state, then yes, hot and humid. At least thats how last summer was in Tulsa. I could not get out of there fast enough!
Yes, it's like that in the other bordering states too. I grew up in MO. Unless there are microclimates of which I am unaware (there probably are), generally speaking the state is hot as hell. Humidity frequently exceeds 90%, and the wind is like a blast furnace - literally! Same goes for KS, TN, KY, southern IL, not sure about NE.
I no longer visit relatives in those areas from May thru September.
Yes, it's like that in the other bordering states too. I grew up in MO. Unless there are microclimates of which I am unaware (there probably are), generally speaking the state is hot as hell. Humidity frequently exceeds 90%, and the wind is like a blast furnace - literally! Same goes for KS, TN, KY, southern IL, not sure about NE.
I no longer visit relatives in those areas from May thru September.
I hear ya! My oldest decided to stay in Ok. I felt 8 years was long enough.
High heat and high humidity usually means crops grow far faster and with far less watering - of course, it also means that rot and mold are problems. I used to have a year-round garden in SC - my problem was things growing that I didn't want there! So High heat and high humidity are not all bad.
We also didn't have air conditioning for many years - I had never been in air conditioning until I went to the new High School that had it; and, that same year, Dad installed Central air unit in the house. We lived with fans - not even ceiling fans, but window fans! We lived. It was hot, and I spent most of my time outside then anyway.
Now we live in a place with 8 months of winter and potential snow; but our summers have low humidity (we are in North Central NE, the east has humidity of 80-90% in the summer near the rivers) and it is a challenge to grow things, even with abundant water. We have been tapping 100 degrees every couple of days here for the past three weeks; very unusual.
I can take cold better than heat as I have gotten older; you can always put ON more clothes when it's cold, or build a hotter fire, or whatever; but when it is hot, little kids ask their mommies why the old lady down the block didn't iron her birthday suit!
Holy Cow! It has been almost that hot here a time or two, but it's so much drier here than where you are. That kind of heat with the humidity you have must be insanely miserable.
I have been researching and emailing about land in the Schuyler County area of Missouri (right up by the border with Iowa)... but your report of that kind of heat is giving me second thoughts. I'm not all that fond of heat, especially with high humidity. Does it regularly top 100 in the summer there?
Would you like to feel beads of sweat dripping off the end of your nose? If not, do not move to Schuyler County, Missouri or any place else east of the hundredth meridian in the US or southern Canada. In my experience it's the humidity that determines whether I can tolerate an area. I can deal with cold; I can deal with dry heat; I cannot deal with humid heat. Generally speaking, North America west of the hundredth meridian is dry; east of it is wet. I couldn't find a map showing longitude worth linking so look in your atlas. The hundredth meridian runs roughly about two thirds of the way west through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma continuing the same line through Texas. The West was typically considered to begin west of that line. It was the eastern side of Long's Great American Desert.
Humidity has the worst of both heat and cold. It makes hot weather feel hotter and cold weather colder. You can find maps showing humidity and those showing length of growing season. If you want pleasant weather avoid the humid and the long growing season areas. These places (and I am deadly serious) make the hottest summer days in Utah seem delightful in comparison. I suggest a trip back east at this time of the year. You'll come back with a new appreciation for Utah.
I've talked with a number of people who have said it's fine because everything is air-conditioned. The outside isn't and that means they don't go out unless they must. the railroads did store ice from the winter and ice (called frozen water) was actually a successful American export back in 1881. But even if you cut ice all winter to cool your house in the summer you'll still need to go outside if you're going to grow anything. Besides, who wants to stay in the house all of the time?
Would you like to feel beads of sweat dripping off the end of your nose? If not, do not move to Schuyler County, Missouri or any place else east of the hundredth meridian in the US or southern Canada. In my experience it's the humidity that determines whether I can tolerate an area. I can deal with cold; I can deal with dry heat; I cannot deal with humid heat. Generally speaking, North America west of the hundredth meridian is dry; east of it is wet. I couldn't find a map showing longitude worth linking so look in your atlas. The hundredth meridian runs roughly about two thirds of the way west through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma continuing the same line through Texas. The West was typically considered to begin west of that line. It was the eastern side of Long's Great American Desert.
Humidity has the worst of both heat and cold. It makes hot weather feel hotter and cold weather colder. You can find maps showing humidity and those showing length of growing season. If you want pleasant weather avoid the humid and the long growing season areas. These places (and I am deadly serious) make the hottest summer days in Utah seem delightful in comparison. I suggest a trip back east at this time of the year. You'll come back with a new appreciation for Utah.
I've talked with a number of people who have said it's fine because everything is air-conditioned. The outside isn't and that means they don't go out unless they must. the railroads did store ice from the winter and ice (called frozen water) was actually a successful American export back in 1881. But even if you cut ice all winter to cool your house in the summer you'll still need to go outside if you're going to grow anything. Besides, who wants to stay in the house all of the time?
Oh, I believe you. I spent about 4 July weeks in coastal Louisiana. This was years ago and I was much younger. I thought I was going to die. Horribly oppressive heat/humidity. As you said--sweat dripping off the end of the nose any time I was outside.
I'm not a big fan of hot weather. As someone else said, you can always put more clothing on if it's too cold, but if it's too hot... well you can only take so much off. That was one reason for my interest in far north North Dakota, UP Michigan, and northern Maine. It can get pretty hot in those places, but it doesn't last long and the average highs in summer are fairly pleasant.
I have been to Missouri (my mother was born there on a backwoods farm near Eldon), but haven't spent much time there at all--and it's been a lot of years ago. I've never been to that northern area in Missouri, though. Sounds like maybe it would be just a wee bit too hot for me during the summer. It's hot enough here!
I'm not a big fan of hot weather. As someone else said, you can always put more clothing on if it's too cold, but if it's too hot... well you can only take so much off. That was one reason for my interest in far north North Dakota, UP Michigan, and northern Maine. It can get pretty hot in those places, but it doesn't last long and the average highs in summer are fairly pleasant.
If you're naked and still hot your options are rather limited. I've never been in northern Maine in summer but I have been in both UP Michigan and northern Vermont. The UP is very humid and hot enough to be quite miserable; Vermont isn't much better. When I looked at a humidity map from the National Atlas I noticed that North Dakota has larger areas of high humidity than the other plains states.
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