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I started this post because I kind of feel like they are all pretty bad. I think the only ones that might be a tinge better are Atlanta (not as hot), Phoenix and Las Vegas, because they are dry heat, and with Tampa and Miami if you are near the coast it's more tolerable.
The rest though are terrible. Humid and you don't get the coastal breeze/cooling.
Las Vegas and Phoenix are easily the worst out of all the cities on this list. These are lowland, low-latitude desert climates, the "dry heat" is irrelevant with how hot the temperatures can get. They easily blow past 100°F, even 110°F for summer highs. And then, during the night, their average lows don't even drop below 80°F during July and August - hell, these places have quite a few summer days where the low temperature doesn't even drop below 90°F! To top it all off, the heat isn't really dry at all, they get frequent humid surges off the Gulf of California during the monsoonal season - the storms of the desert monsoon mostly concentrate via orography, so these lowland desert cities don't tend to see much of the rainy benefit at all. I voted for Phoenix because it's a tad worse than Las Vegas concerning what I've described, but both cities are horrendous during summer.
This is a bonus, but I'll also talk about the Northern Mexican coastal cities on the Gulf of California. These places like Puerto Peñasco and Guaymas just might have the most unbearable summers on the entire continent, rivalling Persian Gulf Arabian cities with their combo of desert heat and muggy humidity. I believe that those Gulf of California locations are the only places so far in North America that have experienced the lethal 95°F Wet Bulb threshold.
The inland Texas cities are the next worse after those desert cities. Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio get quite humid during summer, but don't receive as much summer rainfall as places farther east in the Southern US. So they have all the issue of relative high humidity, but also compounded by high insolation and dry nadirs. They really won't cool off at night as a result - Dallas, for instance has quite a few nights that fail to drop below 80°F, and actually has slightly warmer average low temperatures during July and August than even Houston! San Antonio is the least worst of this group, because the farther south location allows to receive more influence from the occasional easterly rains that penetrate inland from the Gulf - indeed, it's the only city here of the three that does not drop below the 2 inch threshold regarding climatological rainfall averages during the summer season.
Houston, New Orleans, and the Floridian cities get a bad rap for how drawn out their high humidity and mugginess persist throughout the summer seasons. Most people just hang their hat on the muggy dewpoints and call it a day, but fail to understand that they receive the full extent of oceanic relief in their climates (unlike the previous groups of cities that I mentioned). These oceanic relief factors mitigate the severity of summers, and include sea-breezes and quenching thunderstorms for substantial cooling relief, and even just thick fluffy cloud cover that reduces the insolation.
Atlanta is a total cakewalk. It doesn't get as much summer rainfall as the coastal South cities, but the precipitation totals and cloud cover is still substantially higher than with the inland Texas cities. Not to mention that the high elevation of the climate takes the edge off the conditions with respect to both heat and dewpoints. It's going to be the most enjoyable of all these cities during summer.
Last edited by kemahkami; 01-18-2021 at 08:25 PM..
Reason: symbol additions
Las Vegas and Phoenix are easily the worst out of all the cities on this list. These are lowland, low-latitude desert climates, the "dry heat" is irrelevant with how hot the temperatures can get. They easily blow past 100°F, even 110°F for summer highs. And then at night, their average lows don't even drop below 80°F during July and August - hell, these places have quite a few summer days where the low temperature doesn't even drop below 90F! To top it all off, the heat isn't really dry at all, they get frequent humid surges off the Gulf of California during the monsoonal season - the storms of the desert monsoon mostly concentrate via orography, so these lowland desert cities don't tend to see much of the rainy benefit at all. I voted for Phoenix because it's a tad worse than Las Vegas concerning what I've described, but both cities are horrendous during summer.
This is a bonus, but I'll also talk about the Northern Mexican coastal cities on the Gulf of California. These places like Puerto Peñasco and Guaymas just might have the most unbearable summers on the entire continent, rivalling Persian Gulf Arabian cities with their combo of desert heat and muggy humidity. I believe that those Gulf of California locations are the only places so far in North America that have experienced the lethal 95°F Wet Bulb threshold.
The inland Texas cities are the next worse after those desert cities. Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio get quite humid during summer, but don't receive as much summer rainfall as places farther east in the Southern US. So they have all the issue of relative high humidity, but also compounded by high insolation and dry nadirs. They really won't cool off at night as a result - Dallas, for instance has quite a few nights that fail to drop below 80F, and actually averages warmer summer lows during July and August than Houston! San Antonio is the least worst of this group, because the farther south location allows to receive more influence from the occasional easterly rains that penetrate inland from the Gulf - indeed, it's the only city here of the three that does not drop below the 2 inch threshold regarding climatological rainfall averages during the summer season.
Houston, New Orleans, and the Floridian cities get a bad rap for how drawn out their high humidity and mugginess persist throughout the summer seasons. Most people just hang their hat on the humidity and call it a day, but fail to understand that they receive the full extent of oceanic relief in their climates (unlike the previous groups of cities that I mentioned). These oceanic relief factors mitigate the severity of summers, and include sea-breezes and quenching thunderstorms for substantial cooling relief, and even just thick fluffy cloud cover that reduces the insolation.
Atlanta is a total cakewalk. It doesn't get as much summer rainfall as the coastal South cities, but the precipitation totals and cloud cover is still substantially higher than with the inland Texas cities. Not to mention that the high elevation of the climate takes the edge off the conditions with respect to both heat and dewpoints. It's going to be the most enjoyable of all these cities during summer.
Kindly look up the data before you pontificate. You are incorrect. Las Vegas does get above 100 and peaks at 107. However the night time lows in the high summer are in the 60s not the 80s.
Phoenix is somewhat hotter and gets some moisture rarely in the monsoon season. Very rare in Las Vegas. If you follow the heat index it is very common for Dallas to be higher than either during much of the summer. And Houston is as bad or worse.
So look up the numbers - google seasonal temperatures. Easy to find. And you won't broadcast nonsense.
Las Vegas and Phoenix are the hottest cities I have been in.
Unbearably hot.
Skin prickly hot.
I picked Phoenix because when I was in Vegas I was in vacation so I was not obliged to leave the hotel during the day.
I really like Phoenix though. The heat is the only major thing that would prevent me from considering it as a place to live
Dallas isn’t much better than Houston. The dry heat thing is a myth for Dallas. It’s humid as heck in the summers in Dallas, and the nights stay hot.
Dallas isn’t much better than Houston. The dry heat thing is a myth for Dallas. It’s humid as heck in the summers in Dallas, and the nights stay hot.
Dallas is easily less humid than Houston but the temperatures in Dallas are usually higher in the summer so it evens out.
The myth part of the dry heat doesn't really come into play as the heat index is pretty much even.
The dry heat myth comes into play with Places like Phoenix and Vegas with heat indexes 110 plus for days on end.
110 is 110. And whether dry or dripping wet that is just too hot.
Houston probably hits 100 for an hour or two one day each summer and with the humidity it would feel like 106. Dallas hits 100s for more days but their 103 degree days would still feel like 106 because it's drier.
Where the myth comes into play is when the temperature is118 in Vegas and 98 in Dallas or Houston and they say the Vegas feels like temp is better because it's dry
Dallas is easily less humid than Houston but the temperatures in Dallas are usually higher in the summer so it evens out.
The myth part of the dry heat doesn't really come into play as the heat index is pretty much even.
The dry heat myth comes into play with Places like Phoenix and Vegas with heat indexes 110 plus for days on end.
110 is 110. And whether dry or dripping wet that is just too hot.
Houston probably hits 100 for an hour or two one day each summer and with the humidity it would feel like 106. Dallas hits 100s for more days but their 103 degree days would still feel like 106 because it's drier.
Where the myth comes into play is when the temperature is118 in Vegas and 98 in Dallas or Houston and they say the Vegas feels like temp is better because it's dry
Plus, it cools down when sun sets, unlike Houston, Miami, NOLA. I have pleasant memories of sitting on the shaded patio of a brewpub in Tempe enjoying an ale in the middle of an August afternoon when the temp was 104. In the Southeast, there is no respite from the humid heat, even in the shade!
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