Acclimating to the heat

[kell490]

Originally Posted by Gixxer1K

Not sure why you keep posting this but it's far from the truth! Maybe all the people you know hibernate all summer but I know many who are outside and a good part of the day whether it be their jobs or they just plain like the heat.

My neighbors comes home every day from work and puts her umbrella up (no pool) and sits outside,this is usually around 2:30 in the afternoon. One of my friends is always outside doing stuff around his house all day long. He actually loves the summer heat and waits until September/October to go back east to visit family. I'm in customers homes a lot and bring this subject up often and most have no problems with the heat and they're not just sitting inside with the ac blasting all day long. I've been outside every day this week working,one day was a little humid (I think it was Wednesday) but other than that it's not all that bad. If you start your day outside it's not as bad as when you're going in n out of ac all day. Sure I prefer the dryer weather but I'm not going to lock myself inside all summer and hate life because of the heat.

I keep posting this because I see replies here all the time that says the summer heat is not that bad or it's a dry heat then I ask them what happend to the dry heat those same people reply oh it's monsoon. If you come from brutal winter states with humid summers I can see why they think the weather here is great. Summer months they don't spend any time maintaining a yard, and winter is mild here.

Your experience may be different but drive around neighborhoods no one is outside between 10am-7pm. Right now it's 100F 35% humidity I doubt anyone is doing yard work.

[AzScorpion12]

Originally Posted by kell490

I keep posting this because I see replies here all the time that says the summer heat is not that bad or it's a dry heat then I ask them what happend to the dry heat those same people reply oh it's monsoon. If you come from brutal winter states with humid summers I can see why they think the weather here is great. Summer months they don't spend any time maintaining a yard, and winter is mild here.

Your experience may be different but drive around neighborhoods no one is outside between 10am-7pm. Right now it's 100F 35% humidity I doubt anyone is doing yard work.

Well you just described a good part of the area so that's why many don't think the weather here is all that bad. Add gloomy days where the sun may not come out for weeks and that just make Phoenix even more desirable. I was in Chicago for 2 weeks this past Christmas and I swear I only saw the sun shine for 2 days the whole time I was there. It's absolutely depressing! So again many natives know no difference and long time residents may have forgot what it's actually like back in fill in the blank.

35% humidity...lol We'd love to have summer days like that back east.

[ABQSunseeker]

I'm not sure somebody really acclimates to the heat. You just have to make your peace with it and endure. I found that, if anything, the longer the heat lasts the more wearing it all is. Worn down. I found temps above 105 too hot.

If you have a pool you might enjoy it, especially at night. I looked forward to swimming in my pool but midday sun has its hazards unless you have sunblock.

[Ultrarunner]

Swimming in Death Valley is my closest experience... step out of the pool and dry in minutes... swim suit and all...

Seen some Southwest pools with pergolas... keep the sun at bay.

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by Gixxer1K

I was in Chicago for 2 weeks this past Christmas and I swear I only saw the sun shine for 2 days the whole time I was there. It's absolutely depressing! So again many natives know no difference and long time residents may have forgot what it's actually like back in fill in the blank.

wow, so you were in Chicago during a sunny winter stretch!
you hit it on the head; folks who have lived in AZ for most/all of their lives aren't really exposed to the misery of a Midwest/east coast fall and winter gloom-a-thon

I may off a bit, but I think one October/November in Chicago we went 23 days with out the sun shining...

[kell490]

Originally Posted by Gixxer1K

Well you just described a good part of the area so that's why many don't think the weather here is all that bad. Add gloomy days where the sun may not come out for weeks and that just make Phoenix even more desirable. I was in Chicago for 2 weeks this past Christmas and I swear I only saw the sun shine for 2 days the whole time I was there. It's absolutely depressing! So again many natives know no difference and long time residents may have forgot what it's actually like back in fill in the blank.

35% humidity...lol We'd love to have summer days like that back east.

Actually I would not mind living some place where it was gloomy all day my skin burns really easy plus this high UV causes eye damage and skin cancer my skin isn't made for this kind of UV. I guess after almost 30 years here just get tired of sun, dust, dry all the time.

[BKDH]

I don't understand why everyone keeps arguing about weather. Every human has their own threshold of tolerance for heat, cold, sunny, gloomy, humidity, dryness. etc.etc. It is up to each individual to find out their tolerance level and adjustments needed for acclimatization to a particular type of weather. There is no one size fits all or even most.

Personally, heat or cold doesn't bother me much but I strongly dislike relentless sunshine. For that reason, I like Phoenix monsoon season better than the supposedly gorgeous winter/non-summer months because at least there is frequent cloud cover in monsoon as compared to months when there is just endless sunshine, but this is just me.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by BKDH

I don't understand why everyone keeps arguing about weather.

We're not arguing. We just love weather threads here at C-D.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Having acreage with timber gives options... living in a climate where A/C is a residential anomaly suits me.

Growing up as a child we never heated except when we had guest over the Christmas Holidays...

One of my treasures is my 1940's Wedgewood stove... one side is gas and one side is wood... the water tank even provides hot water...

America was never so dependent on electricity as we are now... many sociologist have said vast regions of the country are only hospitable through the widespread application of A/C...

There is a difference when technology is a convenience vs life or death...

For all I know the extreme heat of the South West is nothing more than exaggeration... but then I have to think how many homes in Phoenix are without cooling?

I have no idea how what you're rattling off about is Phoenix specific, this sounds like an issue with 21st century life in general and if so you've got plenty of places to go live completely off the grid and avoid modern day technology. Alaska would probably suit you well. For the majority of us, we like the convenience technology has created and you posting on the internet indicates you don't mind it either.

As others have said, a/c here isn't life or death but it's sure a lot better with it. And the same goes for technology and machines in most cities- cars, escalators, elevators, fire supression systems, engineering improvements (the last 2which will sure help the Bay Area when the next quake comes), and many more.

[ElleTea]

I'm putting a fork in this thread. It's done