St. George Summer Heat Versus Florida (house, utilities, living)

[shawski]

Has anyone lived in both places? How would you compare the two as far as hot summers? Does the lack of humidity make it more bearable? In Florida during July and August, nights seldom cool down below the upper 70s. How does this compare to St. George?

Thanks,
Shawski

[scotttenorman]

I lived in middle Georgia for a couple of summers. I believe Florida is hotter/more humid, but close.

For me, they are just different. For example I was able to ride my bike twenty miles during the heat of the day in GA in July, and August. It was miserable, but it was doable. Here in St. George, it feels like I might burst into flames if I try to go during that time of the day. I thought that I would be able to handle it a little better because of my time in GA.

I think sitting in the shade and relaxing is better here in St. George. It's not sticky, I don't feel as though it's laborious to breathe, and I don't have to change my shirt (not as much anyway!!!!!) I think the big difference is that most of the terrain in St. George radiates the heat back from the sun, whereas in the south east, there is so much lush vegetation it eats some of that up. My yards are concrete/stone/and brick wall with a little grass in the middle and some small trees. Almost no shade, and a lot of the homes out here are similar. Now, in Georgia, most of the property's I saw/stayed at were grass, which got watered a lot. Mature trees were everywhere, so there was plenty of shade.

This will only be my second summer in St. George, and if I remember right, it seems like it was in the 90's well after the sun set? It seems hotter to me here at night than it did in GA. It's a more comfortable heat, but it's still really warm. I highly recommend hiking/biking on the trails here at night in the summer (with a powerful light). There is nothing quite like it.

I definitely prefer St. George's heat over Georgia's.

[shawski]

Scotttenorman,

Thanks for the response. Your description is pretty much what I had anticipated, although I was hoping it might be cooler in the evenings. I looked at historical data on weather.com and that seemed to indicate it cooled down to upper 60's lower 70s at night. Although, that's probably around 5 AM when everyone is sleeping!

Loved your comment about changing shirts. Sometimes it feels like we're changing clothes 3 or 4 times a day. I never did so much laundry!

[BBFlinger]

Here's an example for ya......last year, 2010, July 26th I got up to go to work at 4:00 a.m. and it was 94 degrees. Hit a high of 115. The next day it was 98 at the same time. High was 114. The afternoon of July 27th the monsoonal rains moved in. It rained for 25 minutes. 10 minutes later it was dry as a bone and no humidity. The nice thing about that evening is it actually cooled down to 85.

Having lived in the Marietta, Georgia area in 89-90, I would have to agree with Norman here. Its a different kind of heat. I dont sweat as much out here as I did in Georgia (I think it evaporates before it hits the surface). I find that if you get out early and stay out you dont notice the change very much. However, if you go inside (air conditioned) at noon for lunch, take a little snooze and then go back out at 2 its like getting hit in the face with a board. Not like going from a 40 degree room at 60% RH to a 98 degree day at 98% RH like Georgia (thats more like a brick wall)

People saying its a dry heat is an understatement. Its nice and its alot easier to get use to than the hot water in the air.

[oldtrader]

Florida has a high humidity, and St George has a very low humidity.

In the feels like rating, a 90 degree day with a 90 percent humidity in Florida, it is equal to a little over 120 degrees in St George.

The feels like will be much hotter in Florida at night, due to St George being much cooler at night than Florida.

[Utahooligan]

This is my second Summer living near St George, & I also spent a couple Summers in Florida (Ft Walton Beach) back when I was in the military.

Like everyone else has said, the humidity makes a big difference. I also agree with someone else who mentioned that Florida tends to have trees/vegetation which tend to absorb some of the sunlight/heat, whereas the St George region is mostly desert with rocks & dirt that store & reflect the heat. The area is around 3000' ASL so the nights usually do tend to cool off better than Florida, but in the peak of the Summers here the temps can stay in the 90s throughout most of the night but I think my 4 or 5AM they usually do cool off to the 70s or 80s -- the current & historical data on weather.com will show that. I concur too with what someone else said about the dry high-heat here sometimes making it feel like you're just going to spontaneously immolate yourself when you're out in the sun, but if you're healthy & stay hydrated, you can build up a tolerance to it, though thanks to relatively cheap utilities here in SW Utah, pretty much everyone has air conditioning or a 'swamp-cooler' that they run 24/7 during the Summer. My biggest concern is UVA/UVB rays & skin cancer, and after last Summer, I learned that around May, I need to complete some outdoor home projects so that during mid-June through about late September, I can basically just hibernate inside my air-conditioned house when I'm home!

[tumo]

We've only visited Florida, but we did live in Texas! The heat is very different; like a sauna versus an oven. As a pp said out in the heat here sometimes it feels like you're going to erupt into flames. It's a burning, searing heat that makes your skin hurt. Humidity feels oppressive and heavy to me. I never understood the 90 with humidity feels like 110+, I think it all feels the same heat wise. Just different sorts of miserable The nice thing about southern Utah that Florida doesn't have is mountains! Go an hour and a half north or east and it can be 55 degrees in the middle of the same day that was 115 when you left Saint George. You can actually get out of the heat here.

[BBFlinger]

The nice thing about southern Utah that Florida doesn't have is mountains! Go an hour and a half north or east and it can be 55 degrees in the middle of the same day that was 115 when you left Saint George. You can actually get out of the heat here.

I will atest to that right now. Last Friday it was 102 in St George. I left here at 9 a.m. and drove to Cedar. By 11:00 a.m. I was at the 8000 ft high Navajo Lake. I was in long pants and a Tee shirt. My daughter was in shorts and a tank top. She spent the entire time in the car and I didnt last but 1/2 hour. It was less than 70 and we were not ready for the wind. So, it might be hot but its easy to get away from. Oh yeah, the scenery is breathtaking up that high also.

[oldtrader]

We now live in Southwestern Montana, but previously spent 10 years in St George. We are also very familiar with Florida.

Open two windows one for Florida in your location and another for St George with weather.com in both and compare tomorrows temperature. I just did and found that Tallahassee, FL and St George for tomorrow temperature that the following would be 6 or 8 degrees hotter in St George actual Temperature and the feels like temperature would be 6 to 8 degrees hotter in Tallahassee Florida.

There is a post card of two guys crawling through a desert in the south West with cattle skulls and cactus around them and one says to the other, "But it's a dry heat".

One you feel dry broiling heat, and in the other you feel you are boiling. It just depends on how you want to be cooked with the cooking temperature slightly higher in the South.