Sick of East coast snow (Phoenix, Tucson: house, to live, moving to)

[Juliede]

DH and I are thinking about moving to AZ. I hate the heat though, anyplace that isn't too screeching hot in AZ to live?? Where would you suggest?

[AzDreamer]

AZ has lots of places and the climate is mostly determined by the altitude. You have Yuma at about sea level and Humphrey's Peak near Flagstaff at over 12000 feet. All these places are going to have a wide variation between the winter lows and the summer highs, it's not moderated by an ocean like coastal California.

Here's a map that shows average winter and summer temps and precipitation. Since AZ is dry the daily temperature range is also wide, so an average can be misleading. More telling would be an average low and average high, not the average of the two.

Arizona Climate | Picture of Arizona Climate Map | World Book Encyclopedia (http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?content_spotlight/climates/north_american_climate_arizona - broken link)

I also don't like extreme heat but for some reason the summers in Phoenix are bearable. Maybe all it takes to make the difference is a pool and a shady place to sit.

[Juliede]

thanks for that info, very helpful

[twojulybabies]

As a former New Yorker, I can tell you that I also don't miss the snow. I'm partial to Tucson. It does stay cooler than Phoenix in the summer A good 10 degrees. Tucson is in a "bowl" of mountains and while I wouldn't call the weather mild, it is very tolerable.

Plus, it is only a half hour drive up to Mount Lemmon if you need your snow fix once a year or so. There is bunches of snow up there during the winter and you can even go skiing. The mountains look beautiful during the winter as they often are snow capped. You can see them from your house while you are sitting on your patio with ice tea! Right now it is 75, I'll take that in January!

[ArizonaBear]

Too: 100F here ain't back east '100F' by any means factoring in our much lower humidity.

I am a Wash DC native and Phx summers are no more unpleasant despite running about 15F hotter here on average.