Is Phoenix peak summer heat similar to cold winter hibernation? (house, landscaping)

[MuscleCar]

How would you rate being snowed in for 3 months, to being "baked in" (?) during peak summer heat? I myself prefer heat, at least you can still have some night activity versus just plain being screwed in the snow. Unless you actually like snow. But heat vs cold, what say you?

[PhoenixSomeday]

Well it's not like you have to shovel heat out of your driveway or wait for the Heat Plows to go through your area or something. House has AC, car has AC, just about any public building you go to has AC, it's not like most people are going to die in the 30s - 1min it takes to walk from one AC environment to the other (if traveling by car and not waiting on mass transit). You can stay inside, but you don't have to if you've got things to do and places to go. Being under 6 feet of snow is another game entirely.

[Bates419]

It's very personal. I spent half my Life loving outdoor activities in winter, but last few years I do not participate. No one can tell you what you will enjoy or use. I have friends that would not think about leaving Canada in winter, they love it. I'm itching at first snowfall forecast.

[grmi66]

I'll take heat over snow any day. Plus if you want cooler weather it's anywhere from a 60-120 minute drive away depending on where in the valley you live and the destination. Not like you can drive 90 minutes from Chicago in the winter to warm up.

I do trail running and hiking and can do it all year long. My concession to summer is having to wake up at 4 AM to sneak in a run while the temps are still in the 70's or 80's.

[phx1205]

Heat wins this battle every time. Nothing shuts down because of the heat (well the airport technically could if it is super extreme) but that’s about it. Otherwise life pretty much goes on as normal all summer. You might have to shift hours you do certain outdoor activities to early morning or evening but that’s about it.

[KurtAZ]

Hehehe...we you are asking people in Phoenix if they prefer being snowed in to 110+ highs. Personally...I like to visit places with snow, not live there. Summer isn't too bad except the electric bills once you get used to it but my wife and I do dread it every year. Right about now, with highs in the mid-80s and sunny it is beautiful, but we know that first 100F day is coming and then it is just hot until October. Hopefully it will be more mild this year judging from our winter but...the Farmer's Almanac says it will be warmer that normal so we shall see.

[Burning Madolf]

Not so much hibernation, but I do treat the onset of summer here a bit like the approaching winter when I lived in the NE.
You want to make sure your a/c is ready just like your heat (especially if you had oil).
I like to make sure any big DIY landscaping projects (tree removal, big landscaping changes, etc) are complete before the high heat.
I guess things like house painting (can't in winter back east, not sure I'd want to here in the peak summer) can be an issue.
And of course there's the pool. Prepped here for constant use, buttoned up and covered back east.
One equivalent I haven't found yet is part of what drove me here: climbing out my 2nd story window with a rope around my waist in the dead of winter to shovel off the roof of my sun room because a ranch house in town had just collapsed due to the amount of snow.

[new2colo]

It’s highly subjective. I say that our hot season is not the equivalent of cold weather season back east or in the Midwest. Our hot season lasts a lot longer than the cold season in most places, excluding the upper Midwest and northern New England. Many people will try to downplay the severity of the heat here, because they spend most all day inside an air conditioned office, home or car.

For instance, it is forecast to be 95-96 degrees a week from today here in Phoenix. Most anyone who tries to tell you that a dry 96 in Phoenix is the equivalent of 80 in Chicago or NYC is clearly fooling themselves. People will be whining about it being “too soon” for it to be so hot, like they do every single year. Most people will have their car AC on full blast and the streets will empty out during the middle of the day. This level of heat is likely to routinely occur for at least the next six months. Peak cold season back east in a solid 3.5 months, December-early March.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by new2colo

It’s highly subjective. I say that our hot season is not the equivalent of cold weather season back east or in the Midwest. Our hot season lasts a lot longer than the cold season in most places, excluding the upper Midwest and northern New England. Many people will try to downplay the severity of the heat here, because they spend most all day inside an air conditioned office, home or car.

For instance, it is forecast to be 95-96 degrees a week from today here in Phoenix. Most anyone who tries to tell you that a dry 96 in Phoenix is the equivalent of 80 in Chicago or NYC is clearly fooling themselves. People will be whining about it being “too soon” for it to be so hot, like they do every single year. Most people will have their car AC on full blast and the streets will empty out during the middle of the day. This level of heat is likely to routinely occur for at least the next six months. Peak cold season back east in a solid 3.5 months, December-early March.

You say people here will downplay the length of the heat season while you try to downplay Nov., Mar and April back east.
November, March and parts of April in say Boston, can be some of the coldest-rawest times of the year.

[yukon]

For instance, it is forecast to be 95-96 degrees a week from today here in Phoenix. Most anyone who tries to tell you that a dry 96 in Phoenix is the equivalent of 80 in Chicago or NYC is clearly fooling themselves. People will be whining about it being “too soon” for it to be so hot, like they do every single year.

Mid 90's IS hot for this "soon" in the year. April average high is 86.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weath...th-average.php



All the numbers are averages, based on climate data gathered from 1981 to 2010.

Average Phoenix temperatures

High °F Low °F
69 46 January
72 49 February
78 54 March
86 60 April
95 69 May
104 77 June
106 83 July
104 82 August
100 75 September
89 64 October
76 52 November
67 45 December