Winter??? (Phoenix, Tucson, New River: new home, buying, high school)

[NezzaBlue]

Having just moved here in May from Connecticut, I am curious to see what people's thoughts on "winter" are. What kind of temps can we expect? I live in the Awahtukee area.

I have a fireplace in my house, and I am wondering if I will ever be able to use it...LOL

Oh yea and this monsoon season, it's only rained a couple times. It this really classified as a monsoon? I didn't see much difference from back home other than the dust.

Any comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[HX_Guy]

Yes, we do have a winter here...although nothing like in Connecticut of course. December thru February are probably the coldest months and you can expect temperatures mainly in the mid 60s to mid 70s for the high and low 40s to mid 40s for the low, although it's not uncommon for the temperatures to dip into the 30s here and there and even to the freezing point. You will definitely get a change to use that fireplace. It's usually still sunny but January and February do bring some rain and gloomy days so it feels a bit more like a traditional winter.

As for the monsoon, it seems especially weak this year, which seems like a trend that is happening more and more often. I believe normally we are supposed to get something like 3"-4" of rain during the monsoon and there have even been years with 7"+. This year, the last I heard, we had somehwere around .4" of rain at the airport, the official place where it is measured. I know some parts of Phoenix got hit hard a couple times, but it seems it lasted 1 week or so and that was about it. For what it's worth, the monsoon season is supposed to last until mid September, so there is still a chance for more.

[wit-nit]

It really depends on where you live in the valley. The above post is fairly accurate. Though last winter it got down to 17 degrees in the NW part of the valley. The outlying areas get much colder than the built up urban centers.
Winters in AZ are like the summers elsewhere in the country, mild to warm temps daily and generally 30-40's late night/early am on the average. That's why so many winter visitors and part time homeowners come to the Phoenix Metro area.

[Magnum Mike]

Winter in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona - Like HX_Guy said, it's mild and nothing like the winters you're used to in Connecticut. We do get near or below freezing temperatures from mid December to sometimes as late as mid February. Days of freezing lows are also not contiguous, we may get 2 or 3 days of very cold temperatures, then it'll be above freezing for a couple of weeks. I also know that we had 2 very cold days in the middle of January of this year, where the temperature dropped to the 20's and the teens in some areas, so days like that are not uncommon. You just have to make sure you put something on your young trees or plants that are vulnerable to freezing, otherwise the freeze will kill them, and it did kill 2 of my very expensive young trees in my backyard.

On the fireplace, you probably won't get to use it much, even on very cold days because of pollution warnings. It's very common to have those so-called "No Burn days", unless of course your fireplace is not the wood-burning type.

To me having a fireplace here in the Phoenix metro area is a waste of money because you' won't use it much. That's why when my house was built, I didn't care for one. You'll see them in rural areas that are higher in elevation, like Black Canyon City, New River and Wickenberg, but you won't see too many new homes with fireplaces within the city limits.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by nitram

It really depends on where you live in the valley. The above post is fairly accurate. Though last winter it got down to 17 degrees in the NW part of the valley. The outlying areas get much colder than the built up urban centers.
Winters in AZ are like the summers elsewhere in the country, mild to warm temps daily and generally 30-40's late night/early am on the average. That's why so many winter visitors and part time homeowners come to the Phoenix Metro area.

I dont know anywhere that has summer lows in the 30-40s. Summer night temps here are usually in the 60s and 70s, sometimes 80s, and Im pretty far north.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

I dont know anywhere that has summer lows in the 30-40s. Summer night temps here are usually in the 60s and 70s, sometimes 80s, and Im pretty far north.

I think what Nitram was talking about was September/early October, where in some places around the country, lows do drop to the 40's and 30's, but not here.. at least not every year! -

I do remember very few instances where we saw lows in the 50's and 40's in mid September here, one of which was in 1971, not long after school started. I was a freshman in high school back then, and I had PE for the first class at 8:00 AM. I was wearing a light PE t-shirt and shorts since school started because it was still warm in the mornings (70's-80's ) but all of the sudden, a storm hit and the low temperature dropped dramatically. I remember buying sweat pants and shirt that same day!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

[b][color=darkgreen]I think what Nitram was talking about was September/early October, where in some places around the country, lows do drop to the 40's and 30's, but not here.. at least not every year! -

Maybe his "winters in AZ" sentence is throwing me off. I think he meant winters, not early fall. But youre correct, fall nights here in Chicagoland are usually in the 40s and 50s at night. I cant wait for those nights again, theyre my personal fave.

[NezzaBlue]

Excellent feedback, Thanks to you all.

For some reason I thought it might have gotten a little colder than that, but it is the desert after all.

I definetely wont miss the snow...
Getting in your car at 8 am in the morning, after it just took you an hour to dig it out, and then getting in it hoping to warm up only to find that the seats, steering wheel, and your hands are all pretty much frozen. LOL

I will miss the smell in the fall though, with the leaves and cool breezes.
And I think I will use my fireplace, on Christmas.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by NezzaBlue

I definetely wont miss the snow...
Getting in your car at 8 am in the morning, after it just took you an hour to dig it out, and then getting in it hoping to warm up only to find that the seats, steering wheel, and your hands are all pretty much frozen. LOL

Well, replace the cold with burning heat and youre gonna be miserable either way. True you wont have to dig the car out, but all summer you can count on a 200 degree oven inside your car, you cant touch the seat buckles or steering wheel. I highly recommend getting a visor and dark tinted windows, that will help some. Sometimes its so hot that the A/C cant keep up!!

Also, Tucson gets pretty decent snow from time to time, so if youre in Tucson in winter there is a possibility you could see snow. PHX gets flurries as well, but its rare. The outlying mountains (McDowells, Superstitions, etc) will get snow on them in winter from time to time.

[NezzaBlue]

[quote=Steve-o;1285614]Well, replace the cold with burning heat and youre gonna be miserable either way. True you wont have to dig the car out, but all summer you can count on a 200 degree oven inside your car, you cant touch the seat buckles or steering wheel. I highly recommend getting a visor and dark tinted windows, that will help some. Sometimes its so hot that the A/C cant keep up!!


You right about that. People back east told us we were nuts to move in May. And I must say it got a little rough this summer at times. ( If I burn my leg on the seatbelt hook one more time...LOL) but seriously I really do prefer it.

I think July was pretty hot but August doesn't seem as bad. People at home are asking me to explain it and I tell them "It's like walking into a huge oven." And then they say, "Well is there a breeze at least?" To which I reply,
"Yes, It's like you turned the fan on in that big hot oven. Still warm" LOL

Thanks for the advice about the car though, I have been meaning to do that.