Is the heat really that bad in Phoenix (house, move)

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

If you see someone driving with their windows down at 118, I can guarantee it is because the AC is broken!

That or they moved here from somewhere that didn't require AC in their car and they didn't pay for the option. AC is still an "option" on many lower priced vehicles and can add over $1k+ to the price of the vehicle. My cousin moved here from Idaho to attend ASU and didn't have AC in her vehicle. Needless to say after the first few 110+ days we helped her find one that did

[Tokinouta]

Originally Posted by wase4711

everyone hold hands and chant...heat is good heat is good heat is good

LMAO! Well, at least you don't need towels when you go to the pool. You get out and boom, you're dry. It's like a science fiction movie.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Tokinouta

LMAO! Well, at least you don't need towels when you go to the pool. You get out and boom, you're dry. It's like a science fiction movie.

My hair dries in a jiffy here unlike say, Jamaica last year where it didn't dry for the entire 8 days we were there! LOL

[Renegade007]

115 degrees in Phoenix is better than 85 degrees in Houston. MUCH better.
I like to be able to breathe air when it's hot. Not a soupy mixture of air and water.

[Timothy123]

I am from New England. And in my opinion, the hottest days we experienced in NE were not nearly as brutal as the hot days we've spent during our two summers in Phoenix. The NE has humidity, but oppressively hot days last for a very short period. Whereas in PHX the heat is relentless! It seemed as though once the hot weather had begun their was no break for months on end.

The other difficult adjustment was there was no significant cooling down at night. Beautiful place, but I had a very difficult time there during the summers.

[cobolt]

Last weekend I was in San Angelo, TX and it was 109 degrees, straight heat, no cloud cover, dry. The initial moments leaving the car to walk across the street felt like an oven blast. I have a home up there but am currently working in San Antonio, and although it was 98 degrees in San Antonio and humid when I returned from San Angelo, it somehow felt less oppressive than the drier, hotter heat. I don't know if the cloud cover helped or the fact that I grew up in the Midwest means my humidity tolerance is up, but it did seem counter intuitive to me.

I used to live in Phoenix and a few things I recall about the heat was watching things melt in the parking lot (dropped crayons), how the dashboard of my Honda warped because of the heat, my poor car air conditioner could never seem to keep up with the heat, and having to be careful with the metal car door handle when opening the door. I would open the front doors, turn on the car to get the AC running, and get back out of the car and wait in the sun for it to "cool down" because you cannot believe how incredibly hot it gets inside a car that's been sitting in the sun all day.

You really have to test it out and experience it to see what you can handle. Each person has different tolerances.

[ucctgg]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Last weekend I was in San Angelo, TX and it was 109 degrees, straight heat, no cloud cover, dry.

When was it 109 ?


San Antonio Month Weather - AccuWeather Forecast for TX 78205

[wase4711]

he said San Angelo, NOT San Antonio..

[PBGFL]

Originally Posted by rrah

I'm a lifelong Midwesterner with an adult son that currently lives in the Phoenix area. I'm used to brutally humid days in the summer. I've also heard often that it doesn't seem as hot because it's a "dry heat."

I've visited him enough to learn that it doesn't matter if it's a dry heat. If it's over 100 degrees, it's going to feel hot to most people. 90 degrees with humidity and a heat index of100 will feel just as hot as 100 degrees without humidity. The feel-like temperature is still 100 degrees.

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the most honest answer.

I've lived most of my life on the west coast and brought my children up in Scottsdale, AZ and loved it. Then I grew a brain. Ha ha ha.

I live in South Florida now (Palm Beach) and I can tell you that hot is hot. And in South Florida where I am, it's not really humid - like, ever! I know, I was very surprised too. Now, I understand humidity (I've also lived in NY, NC, VA, SC, FL, South TX, West TX, CA, and Nashville, TN. (military)

Phoenix is HOT. There is no doubt about it.

Summers are dry until around August when the humidity starts to creep up, but that usually only happens when it might rain. (Yes it rains occasionally in Phoenix!)

To me, I prefer the Palm Beach heat to the Scottsdale heat. Where I am it's not very hot and like AZ, it really only gets uncomfortable when it's about to rain. BUT - some people prefer the dry heat (your skin will take a beating) and do quite well in the heat. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of those people, it just got too hot for too long for me.

As others have mentioned, getting your running around done in the wee hours of the morning will help. It is beautiful there and if you can find things to do without having to go out much in the summer, you'll be fine.
I concur with the getting out of Phoenix thing, go to Flagstaff like everyone else and you'll be fine.

Good luck. Either way, Phoenix is very lovely and it has all four major sports too!

[locolife]

^^^^This just doesn't add up, I just looked at palm beach and the dew point is 77 with 77% humidity, temp is 85 and it feels like 97. That is very damp air.