Good Lord it's STILL too hot!!! (Phoenix: transplants, amusement parks, tornadoes)

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Even if it's only 70 degrees out, the sun here is a real killer. That's why cultures around the world who are native to desert areas take long afternoon siestas. The problem with Phoenix is that we take the same lifestyles and daily schedules that were developed in a completely different geography, throw it into a desert, and pretend nothing's odd.

I am so with you on this. I used to ride my bike around town a lot, and have had several cars with no A/C, and my biggest complaint is feeling dirty after that (even though I left my house having just gotten out of the shower. I've joked around that instead of daylight savings switches (which we don't observe anyway), Arizona should switch to a graveyard shift during the summer months. Obviously, I know that wouldn't work since "the world is flat" and we depend on banks, etc being open in the rest of the country. Would be nice though. But joking aside, though I would love a long siesta during the hottest part of the day in the summer (10am to 6pm...because it's still hot till the sun goes down), that would never be practical in this global economy.

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by joninaz

If Arizona stayed like this year round, it would have 20 million more residents. And I say that as someone who spent 12 years in LA and San Diego. Phoenix really is the valley of the sun. I'd have to really think hard to count the last 5 times it was cloudy. If anything, the tough summers are what keeps many away - so maybe it's a hidden blessing in a way.

I agree with you there, except for those people who migrate here just for the nice weather (snowbirds). I really love the elderly, they're the best story-tellers, but I wish they'd stay off the road.

[Great Joy]

Originally Posted by Artliquide

That's because you live in Boston and are used to cooler weather, so for you, 95 degrees is hot. For those of us who just went through a 110+ summer, 95 feels very nice.

Artliquide, I agree.

Irwin, to kindly help you know, I don't think most of us on this AZ board are realtors (I'm also not one). And, we're not trying to "sell" AZ to get people to move here. We're just kindly helping people who are moving here with info to hopefully assist them with their moves. I also think that most posting in this thread were just sharing with other locals how nice we think the weather is right now. We are just commenting; not boasting to other states. At least I'm not.

I grew up in WI so I know when it hits 90 there, it is hot. If the every day average summer temp in AZ was 70s/80s like it is in WI, then yes 90 would feel hot to us here in AZ too right now. However, we (Phoenix, AZ) just had several summer months with temps of over 100 with 90s at night, so 90s in the afternoon and 70s/80s at night feels wonderful.

Besides, my guess is that some of our other AZ residents (specifically those that live in the higher elevations...ie. Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, etc) think the weather right now in Phoenix feels hot to them also.

[Great Joy]

Originally Posted by irwin

If you want great weather, move to Southern California.

It's funny you say that. Before moving here, I had heard that too. Several of our close friends here are from southern California, and they say they look forward to getting back to Phoenix because they often have to work jackets when they visit their friends and families in CA. I think for many people, we just get too used to the heat.

Don't get me wrong, I get tired of the 100+ temps by the end of Aug and look forward to the weather as it is now.

[MotleyCrew]

The problem with southern CA is the smog. We fled there for northern CA years ago because we could not breath any longer. I especially love visiting Ontario to gaze out of the hotel window and not being able to see Mt. Baldy a few miles away. You can have it!!!

[From KW]

Are you still running AC? Just during the day?

[vegaspilgrim]

I'm still running AC day and night. Only difference is the unit isn't turning on as often as it was a month or two ago.

[HX_Guy]

At night too? I think you'll find if you open the window, the AC won't turn on anymore even if you leave it on AUTO.

We still run the AC from 8:00 AM until we go to bed around 11:00 PM, but during the night, we crack open the window (if you have it wide open, it actually gets too cold since it's in the 60s outside overnight) and when we wake up, it's actually 76 degrees in the house which is very nice.

Of course if you still have all your windows closed, then you will still need the AC.

[Joshhh]

Looks like it should be cooling down next week!

[Great Joy]

We're only running our AC during the afternoons.