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For the cities Palm Springs is the hottest. Than Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson. But that is pretty misleading. Tucson may well be the least pleasant and Phoenix as well as they both have lower peak summer temperatures because of the Monsoon. They do not get as hot but they get reasonably high humidity which is worse than the higher but drier conditions in Palm Springs and Las Vegas.
I would also note that all of these cities have interesting views. The mountains surrounding Vegas are as high or higher than those around Palm Springs.
Albuquerque
Tucson (based on hearsay only)
Las Vegas
Phoenix
El Paso
I've heard that Tucson and Albuquerque are very similar but I haven't visited Tucson so I can't personally confirm that. Albuquerque has four seasons and high elevation which makes it stand out. It has almost a perfect four-season climate. Winters are cool and sunny and it rarely tops 100 degrees in summer. Oppressive Phoenix heat means living inside much of the year..intolerable. Las Vegas is in a league of its own for entertainment but also very hot from my experience. Quality and COL might be better in Albuquerque but the public schools really need to improve. Albuquerque is very friendly and perhaps the most family oriented place you can imagine and not as retiree focused as other places on the list. I've passed through El Paso but didn't see much. I have no experience with Palm Springs and wonder if it belongs in the group...I'll have to visit sometime.
I agree with you.
Does Palm Springs belong in this group
I has a tiny population compared to the others....
even Las Cruces, NM has more than double the population of Palm Springs,
if Las Cruces was included it might even win the pole.
Also some mentioned Las Vegas and Tucson climate being “tied”,
not sure about that...Tucson imo wins easily over Vegas...warmer winter, cooler summer.
Palm Springs has the warmest winters...very nice....but has very hot summers,
then again Phoenix and Las Vegas very with more uncomfortable nights in summer.
El Paso climate is better than most, still mild winter (much like Vegas) but cooler summer,
Albuquerque even cooler summer but with a cooler winter, still mild and sunny but not warm.
If you don’t like tons of heat Albuquerque is the best....
if you love heat and warm winters ....Palm Springs is the best.
All climate data is from 1981-2010 normals taken at the airport,
except Palm Springs (post office) and Albuquerque (Petroglyphs National Monument weather station
on Albuquerque’swest side as Albuquerque Sunport data doesn’t represent the city temps well).
Does Palm Springs belong in this group
I has a tiny population compared to the others....
even Las Cruces, NM has more than double the population of Palm Springs,
if Las Cruces was included it might even win the pole.
Also some mentioned Las Vegas and Tucson climate being “tiedâ€,
not sure about that...Tucson imo wins easily over Vegas...warmer winter, cooler summer.
Palm Springs has the warmest winters...very nice....but has very hot summers,
then again Phoenix and Las Vegas very with more uncomfortable nights in summer.
El Paso climate is better than most, still mild winter (much like Vegas) but cooler summer,
Albuquerque even cooler summer but with a cooler winter, still mild and sunny but not warm.
If you don’t like tons of heat Albuquerque is the best....
if you love heat and warm winters ....Palm Springs is the best.
All climate data is from 1981-2010 normals taken at the airport,
except Palm Springs (post office) and Albuquerque (Petroglyphs National Monument weather station
on Albuquerque’swest side as Albuquerque Sunport data doesn’t represent the city temps well).
Albuquerque is just not as nice a city as Phoenix or even Tucson or Vegas. El Paso is under rated too. Great info on the weather...
Palm Springs is much larger than you are saying. Not the city limits but its connected to a mini-metro from Palm Springs to Indio that is much larger than Las Cruces.
The Coachella valley contains the resort cities of Palm Springs and Palm Desert, as well as Rancho Mirage, Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells and Cathedral City altogether with a population is almost 500,000.
Does Palm Springs belong in this group
I has a tiny population compared to the others....
even Las Cruces, NM has more than double the population of Palm Springs,
if Las Cruces was included it might even win the pole.
Also some mentioned Las Vegas and Tucson climate being “tiedâ€,
not sure about that...Tucson imo wins easily over Vegas...warmer winter, cooler summer.
Palm Springs has the warmest winters...very nice....but has very hot summers,
then again Phoenix and Las Vegas very with more uncomfortable nights in summer.
El Paso climate is better than most, still mild winter (much like Vegas) but cooler summer,
Albuquerque even cooler summer but with a cooler winter, still mild and sunny but not warm.
If you don’t like tons of heat Albuquerque is the best....
if you love heat and warm winters ....Palm Springs is the best.
All climate data is from 1981-2010 normals taken at the airport,
except Palm Springs (post office) and Albuquerque (Petroglyphs National Monument weather station
on Albuquerque’swest side as Albuquerque Sunport data doesn’t represent the city temps well).
You apparently do not understand these desert climate. Did you not notice that Phoenix and Tucson are both hotter than Las Vegas in June...but cooler in July and August? Guess why? The answer of course is the Monsoon which makes both Phoenix but particularly Tucson quite unpleasant. So if you want a pleasant plasce and like a little heat you will do much better in Las Vegas. Palm Springs is really hot.
For a winter place Palm Springs and then Phoenix. Albuquerque freezes hard...got to be a little nuts to live there in the winter.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,604,784 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lvmensch
You apparently do not understand these desert climate. Did you not notice that Phoenix and Tucson are both hotter than Las Vegas in June...but cooler in July and August? Guess why? The answer of course is the Monsoon which makes both Phoenix but particularly Tucson quite unpleasant. So if you want a pleasant plasce and like a little heat you will do much better in Las Vegas. Palm Springs is really hot.
For a winter place Palm Springs and then Phoenix. Albuquerque freezes hard...got to be a little nuts to live there in the winter.
I should note that during monsoon season that Palm Springs has what are called "gulf surges" when they get winds straight out of the SSE, which blows up super humid air straight from the Gulf of California (which in August has a 90° water temp), and will give the Coachella and Imperial Valleys bouts of dewpoints in the 75°+ range, but no rain.
I don't know if it was last summer or the one before, but I remember seeing El Centro, CA with a temp of 107° and a dewpoint of 72° 🏜️🌡️🔥
Albuquerque is just not as nice a city as Phoenix or even Tucson or Vegas. El Paso is under rated too. Great info on the weather...
Palm Springs is much larger than you are saying. Not the city limits but its connected to a mini-metro from Palm Springs to Indio that is much larger than Las Cruces.
The Coachella valley contains the resort cities of Palm Springs and Palm Desert, as well as Rancho Mirage, Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells and Cathedral City altogether with a population is almost 500,000.
I agree with you on that. Not sure why Albuquerque is in 2nd place. I've been there, it kind of gave off El Paso vibes and the scenery and terrain are exactly alike in both cities. I only spent 1 night in Albuquerque. I never explored the city, but for the night I was there, it kind of felt a lot like El Paso's west side. My friend who used to live in ABQ has mentioned it's just like El Paso but without the border. Tucson is very different from both cities. Out of the 3 medium sized desert cities, it's the best one. It's definitely better than Las Vegas for living. Vegas is just too touristy. El Paso is probably the least desirable in the southwest. Las Cruces feels like a suburb of El Paso, not really any different, except it has a real college and not an oversized high school.
1) Distinct local/state culture and traditions coupled with
2) Cooler summers and somewhat "real" (sunny) winters (i.e., a pleasant four season climate).
New Mexico really has a flavor of its own. The cuisine is amazing and there is so much excitement around chile season in October. There are New Mexican traditions that have been passed on for centuries of old families whose roots far precede New Mexico's annexation to the USA. Overall, the state and city are steeped in history and culture, making it an interesting place to live.
I lived there for two years and often long for it in my winter blues. I even considered returning, although I realize the pace of life is too slow for me much of the year. (I do like the slow pace of life there when I desire my winter hibernation).
You apparently do not understand these desert climate. Did you not notice that Phoenix and Tucson are both hotter than Las Vegas in June...but cooler in July and August? Guess why? The answer of course is the Monsoon which makes both Phoenix but particularly Tucson quite unpleasant. So if you want a pleasant plasce and like a little heat you will do much better in Las Vegas. Palm Springs is really hot.
For a winter place Palm Springs and then Phoenix. Albuquerque freezes hard...got to be a little nuts to live there in the winter.
Las Vegas is twice the elevation of Phoenix (same elevation of Tucson give or take) but in a heavy rain shadow from the Sierra Nevadas that they get HALF the rain as Phoenix and Tucson. In fact Phoenix and Tucson almost do not even belong in the desert classification because they get 8" of rain a year, the boundary before going into BSk like Denver is and the majority of the inland West. Las Vegas on the contrary, gets roughly 4". If you like the occasional weather change that isn't warm clear and sunny (believe me it can get old after a while), Las Vegas would suck for that.
Las Vegas also gets quite a bit colder in the winter, possibly due to the rain shadow and the extra aridity bringing more temperature extremes (anyone knows it's humidity that makes temperatures temperate, even mild desert climates like Lima are still temperate because of how humid it gets).
To me ABQ is most appealing based on weather alone, it doesn't reach triple digits and gets slightly colder winters than El Paso. Las Vegas has the same winters as El Paso but with a more than 10 degree uptick in the summer. Palm Springs is the warmest and maybe even the driest on all fronts, making it the more "true" desert city as far as climate goes.
As a Phoenician, there comes a point when it's hot outside and it just stays miserable no matter how much hotter it gets. For me a 102 degree sunny day doesn't feel much more different than a 115, because it's already hotter than my preferred tolerance and I'm uncomfortable anyway. Summers between Phoenix and Las Vegas are frankly the same, arguments against that are just arguing semantics at that point. Both are hot and sunny, with the occasional monsoon season in Phoenix which to me I view as a relief rather than an unpleasantry.
If you view ABQ as hard freezes and uncomfortable, I strongly recommend to you to never visit Santa Fe up the road, as Santa Fe is still a desert climate and significantly colder than ABQ. I wonder why Santa Fe wasn't included, both Santa Fe and ABQ are cold desert climates (versus hot desert climates like all other places on the thread) but Santa Fe much colder being at 7000 feet in elevation.
Las Vegas is twice the elevation of Phoenix (same elevation of Tucson give or take) but in a heavy rain shadow from the Sierra Nevadas that they get HALF the rain as Phoenix and Tucson. In fact Phoenix and Tucson almost do not even belong in the desert classification because they get 8" of rain a year, the boundary before going into BSk like Denver is and the majority of the inland West. Las Vegas on the contrary, gets roughly 4". If you like the occasional weather change that isn't warm clear and sunny (believe me it can get old after a while), Las Vegas would suck for that.
Las Vegas also gets quite a bit colder in the winter, possibly due to the rain shadow and the extra aridity bringing more temperature extremes (anyone knows it's humidity that makes temperatures temperate, even mild desert climates like Lima are still temperate because of how humid it gets).
To me ABQ is most appealing based on weather alone, it doesn't reach triple digits and gets slightly colder winters than El Paso. Las Vegas has the same winters as El Paso but with a more than 10 degree uptick in the summer. Palm Springs is the warmest and maybe even the driest on all fronts, making it the more "true" desert city as far as climate goes.
As a Phoenician, there comes a point when it's hot outside and it just stays miserable no matter how much hotter it gets. For me a 102 degree sunny day doesn't feel much more different than a 115, because it's already hotter than my preferred tolerance and I'm uncomfortable anyway. Summers between Phoenix and Las Vegas are frankly the same, arguments against that are just arguing semantics at that point. Both are hot and sunny, with the occasional monsoon season in Phoenix which to me I view as a relief rather than an unpleasantry.
If you view ABQ as hard freezes and uncomfortable, I strongly recommend to you to never visit Santa Fe up the road, as Santa Fe is still a desert climate and significantly colder than ABQ. I wonder why Santa Fe wasn't included, both Santa Fe and ABQ are cold desert climates (versus hot desert climates like all other places on the thread) but Santa Fe much colder being at 7000 feet in elevation.
Actually if you go by the heat index you will find that Phoenix and Tucson are higher than Las Vegas during the high summer. And high humidity makes heat miserable. Try Houston or Miami which regularly exceed Las Vegas even though the temperature is nominally 10 degrees cooler.
The problem with ABQ is the winter. Three months with the average low below freezing. I understand the snow seldom sticks but the ice will be present and walking difficult.
I would think the winter climate in Tucson and Phoenix is well superior to Las Vegas. But compensated for by the much worse summers, particularly in Phoenix.
And I would also note that the 110 days in Vegas at the end of June early July are actually much more pleasant than the 105s in late July and August. 3% RH forgives a lot of temperature.
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