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I just got back from vacation back east in New York, and just saw your thread about your closing.
C*O*N*G*R*A*T*U*L*A*T*I*O*N*S!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Towanda....I'm SO looking forward to it!!
The movers cannot get here until Aug 13, so I'm here until the 14th. I'll leave here that morning with the dogs, arrange sitting on the Alamo end...and come back the next day and finish up. I hope to be out of here permanently by the 16th. They'll do inventory and load on the 13th, unless he comes by this morning with some good news that I can get out a week sooner....LOL!!
I want to hear how Eldorado is going. Please let us know.
The average maximum high temp in Alamogordo peaks at 97 deg
on June 19 and stays there till July 3. Average highs are
over 93 deg till Aug 11 then are over 90 till Sept 7th.
It has been as high as 110 in the June 19 - July 3 period.
Record highs have been recorded over 100 degrees from
May 20 to just into Sept.
Thanks for the weather data. This kind of info is interesting for the sake of comparing places, but I know from experience that it does not mean much. You have to live in a place to know what it's really like.
For one thing, the humidity factor is something you have to feel in person. People react to it differently. It can make a big difference, as can elevation.
Examples: When I lived in the Anchorage, AK, area, we would get visitors in town from Fairbanks freezing their buns off. This seemed odd given that Fairbanks sees much lower temps than Anchorage. But Anchorage is on the ocean and thus more humid and windy. When it's 20 below there, it can feel colder than 40 below in Fairbanks.
Anchorage is also at sea level, and I very rarely felt cold. Never wore a coat. I wore T-shirts outside year-round, even at 10 or 15 below. Now I live above 9,000 feet in NM and find myself shivering sometimes at 40 above. Go figure.
Another factor is how long any given high temperature lasts on any given day. The "official" record high in Cloudcroft, for example, is 86 (I think). But seldom will you ever see that kind of temp last more than an hour or two, as things cool down almost as soon as they heat up.
And for short periods in direct sunlight, it can reach 90 or higher. But these are never official readings, as official highs are always recorded in the shade. If Alamogordo is 100 in the shade (official reading), you can bet it's hotter in the sun--where you are sure to be, as there are so few trees there. It is a real concrete jungle. While Alamo does cool down at night, it can sustain high temps from late morning till late afternoon, just like these high-desert towns in West Texas. Of course, it can also be very windy, which helps keep you cooler than you'd feel without it.
Also, as I'm sure you know, when it comes to numbers, averages mean very little anyway. Almost nothing is average. Temps are almost always above the average or below it, by definition.
So, bottom line, statistics are interesting, but do not gauge a place by them. That goes for everything from crime to jobs to housing to weather. Averages are about the least important numbers you could ever go by. They are useful for quick, vague comparisons, but that's about it.
> You have to live in a place to know what it's really like.
True, but if you have been in Tucson, for instance, you
have a pretty good idea of what it means to be 90 deg when
that is the temperature. 90 in Phoenix, Tucson, Alamogordo,
even Denver is pretty much the same at a given temp.
If you've only lived in Atlanta, 90 degrees means something
totally different to you when you see it reported in the paper.
> Another factor is how long any given high temperature
> lasts on any given day.
How true! I've noticed that even though temperatures
in June are much higher than they are in August in the
SW, August days seem much more hot because it starts
higher and stays warmer after sunset (due to humidity).
The high in June might be 99, but the overall day isn't
as hot as an August day might be with a high of 93.
> ... averages mean very little anyway. Almost nothing
> is average. Temps are almost always above the average
> or below it, by definition. Averages are about the
> least important numbers you could ever go by. They are
> useful for quick, vague comparisons, ....
I disagree (a little) here:
In the desert SW, we don't see much deviation from the
averages as compared to places in the Midwest where big
weather systems can knock temperatures way off the
average. The differences between the averages are even
better predictors. If it is 90 in Albuquerque, I can
guess with reasonable accuracty what it is at that moment
in any city in the Southwest unless there is a weather
system working its way through.
Just this week, it was a lower reported temp in Phoenix
than in Albuquerque, but generally, the difference is
about 15 degrees.
You can't predict the weather with any certainty in
Alamogordo, but with a knowledge of both the averages
and the highs, you can have a good idea of what to expect.
That is why I listed both of them. This time of the year
this week, you can expect to see temperatures about three
degrees over the average of 93 if it is sunny and about
three degrees under if it is cloudy. You might see temps
over 100 degrees since historical records have been up
that high before, but since it is a record, you know that
it doesn't happen very often.
Here in Albuquerque, I can safely say that it will be right
around 90 and there is no chance that it will be over 100
degrees during the last full week of August. The weather
is so consistent that I could bet money on this and win the
bet 9 years out of 10.
However, if someone wants to quibble about, say a 3 degree
difference, then all bets are off. If the weather report
says the high is going to be 93 and it turns out to be 97
it really doesn't change how the day feels.
Of course, even on a day where the official high is 97, a
bank temp sign might say 103 because of ambient conditions
around the device.
Alamogordo is pretty flat where the built areas are, but
as you said "You have to live in a place to know ..."
Las Cruces, Albuquerque, Tucson, all have variations inside
the metro area that can be as much as ten degrees due to
altitude and topography.
In the daytime, it is hotter in the valley, but at night,
it is cooler, so the first freeze of the year happens near
the river before it gets to the foothills.
In the desert SW, we don't see much deviation from the
averages as compared to places in the Midwest where big
weather systems can knock temperatures way off the
average. The differences between the averages are even
better predictors. If it is 90 in Albuquerque, I can
guess with reasonable accuracty what it is at that moment
in any city in the Southwest unless there is a weather
system working its way through.
All good points and well taken. Maybe the desert SW is more predictable than other places I've lived, though I can say that my nearly three years so far in the CC area have been a little wacky. Actually, the weather has been much more like the historical average over many decades. But this seems wacky because, for the past 10 years, things have not been historically average. People have forgotten was "normal" is.
As for estimating the temp of other places based on ABQ's temp on at any moment on a given day, that's more a factor of regional characteristics than predictable patterns over longer periods. In this region, elevation equals cooler weather, about 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet, give or take. Latitude makes some difference too, which is why 9,000 feet in CO can be colder than 9,000 feet in NM even though the Latitude is only slightly farther north.
In any case, I think we agree that numbers are not as important as on-the-ground, in-person assessment. I can handle 100 degrees in Alamo for an afternoon. Near Los Angeles, where I grew up, I can handle 100 degrees for about 5 minutes, before I get back on the plane and get the heck out of there. Oh, and 75 degrees in Anchorage is torture. The way the sun hits that town in summer is brutal and makes 75 feel like 95, regardless of humidity or wind. I'll take 85 for two hours in Cloudcroft any day over that!
One thing about Alamo as temps go and that is you can be on the desert basin where its hot for those of us that like the dry heat or you can go up to the top of the mountain (20 min drive) and enjoy cool dry temps for those who thrive in that category.....
Sorry to ask, but I've tried using Search to figure
it out, but what and where is "CC?"
> ... 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet,...
Phoenix all time high 122 - Albuquerque 107 <== it works.
Now, tell me why Flagstaff is so much colder than Santa Fe.
They are pretty much the same latitude.
I've used that 5 degree thing a long time, but Flagstaff
has a cooler climate than Helena Montana. I actually like
the climate there. The 5 degree thing works for every
other city comparison I can think of, but not Flagstaff.
> Near Los Angeles, where I grew up, I can handle
> 100 degrees for about 5 minutes ....
wussy (sorry, I don't know why I wrote that)
I think it is interesting that in the spring, temperatures
that nothing in September seem so hot. For instance, in
Phoenix when it first starts going over 95 degrees, it seems
terrible, but in September when the 5-day forecast is for
something like 98, 97, 99, 99, 96 we thought 'ah Fall is here!'
Albuquerque was the same way when I lived here before.
85 on a sunny day is hot in April or May, but crisp in September.
When it is really hot, I like to go out and play tennis or
do a power walk to acclimate to the upcoming temperatures.
I used to do this in Phoenix when it was 118 out - thinking
that it would make 105 seem 'crisp.' .... It didn't work.
All I know is I would rather be in the hot SW than in the warm midwest with its humidity...And many years its the same temp, just different humidity. While my DH is enjoying Timberon where he has met Cheryl and Charlie this last week I am here in IL babysitting grandchildren. But Cathy and I will arrive in Alamo the same day!!!! YEA!!!!
Jane
Mortimer, CC = Cloudcroft. I'm don't know about Flagstaff. My neighbors' daughter lives there, and they tell me it's generally 5 to 10 degrees warmer than Cloudcroft. At 7,000 feet, Flagstaff is 2,000 feet lower than me and my neighbors (we live above 9,000), though it's farther north. So the 5 degrees per 1,000 comes in pretty close. Maybe Santa Fe is the oddball? I really don't know. Never been to Flagstaff.
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