Heat in Phoenix? (living in, cost of, shop)

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by notmuch69

I like to be active outside during the day and not be sweating constantly, so I am quite grumpy in Arizona from May - Oct. The only time I like the heat is when I'm tubing the Salt River or boating at the lake.
My car steering wheel is burning hot even when it's not in direct sunlight, and don't forget about the nice metal part of the seat belt too. What's almost bothers me more is when it's still 90 out at 5:00 am!
Dec - Mar is my favorite time of the year in Phoenix when I can actually enjoy being active outside. I even dread April coming when it gets in the 90s.

Use an oven mit for car if need be, cheap and would do the trick

[dreamboatannie953]

Originally Posted by Spot

I've lived in many different climates, including Phoenix and Tucson, and I definitely agree that personal preferences matter. Some people love the heat, some love the cold.

For my money, Denver CO has the best weather in the US. Yes it snows, but we have over 300 days of sunshine per year. Today, 1/31/10, it was 55 degrees, sunny and beautiful. Open a window at night and the house is cool and pleasant. Snow days are rare, but even when they come we have sunshine the next day and moderate temps. Summers range between 70-90 degrees, with most days between 75-85. Perfect.

I can't handle the extremes. AZ is way too hot. MN is way too cold. Give me the moderate climate here at the base of the Rockies any day!

What about all those very cold night you had this last December there? One night got to Minus 17, now that is unbearably cold... How can you even heat a house in that low if a temp?

[azriverfan.]

Like any normal adult, I go to work in the morning and come home in the evening. I work in an air conditioned office. Taking the 2 minute walk to my car in 110 heat doesn't kill me somehow. In the mornings it's nice. In the evenings it's nice. Unlike a cold winter, the weather actually improves in the evening and doesn't get worse. Unlike a cold winter, the weather is not worse in the morning on the way to work. Unlike a cold winter, I can actually jump in my pool when I get home. Unlike a cold winter, I'm not concerned about flights being cancelled or roads being shut down. Unlike a cold winter, I don't worry that we will lose power. Unlike a cold winter, I don't have to drive 20 mph slower and worry about sliding on ice and killing someone or myself. Unlike a cold winter, I don't need to start my car 5-10 minutes before I leave. Sure, if I'm sitting at home doing nothing then yeah, I can see how you would hate Phoenix since you can't do aerobics outside at 1 PM in July

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Spot

I've lived in many different climates, including Phoenix and Tucson, and I definitely agree that personal preferences matter. Some people love the heat, some love the cold.

For my money, Denver CO has the best weather in the US. Yes it snows, but we have over 300 days of sunshine per year. Today, 1/31/10, it was 55 degrees, sunny and beautiful. Open a window at night and the house is cool and pleasant. Snow days are rare, but even when they come we have sunshine the next day and moderate temps. Summers range between 70-90 degrees, with most days between 75-85. Perfect.

I can't handle the extremes. AZ is way too hot. MN is way too cold. Give me the moderate climate here at the base of the Rockies any day!

It's one thing to say you have MORE moderate weather relative to MN and Wisconsin but Denver doesn't have moderate weather. Denver is a cold weather city. Just because you aren't as cold as Chicago, Green Bay and Minneapolis, it doesn't mean you are San Diego or even Dallas. Denver lost power and it's entire downtown and airport was shut down to snow and extreme cold. You can't describe a city like that as having moderate weather regardless if the sunshine is out.

[pookycat1]

Yes, in the summer the car is hot when you first get in. But it was the same when I lived in So. Cal. Inland Empire and I left the car in the sun all day! I moved to this area from there 2 years ago and I have no plans of going back (unless I win the lottery and I can buy a house in Santa Barbara, lol). Sure the heat can be intense, but the real hot days (over 110) are not that many. Days over 90 are bearable for me. The first summer I was here I went to back to Cali. for a week visit my mom in Riverside and it was 95 degrees there. However it was so humid it felt like 115, and it was so yucky! I couldn't wait to come back to the Phoenix dry heat. Like everyone says, air con is the key and we do have a pool. Obviously it's a liveable area and well worth the heat in my opinion! Like I told people who thought I was nuts for moving here cause of the heat, if it were that horrible then no one would live here, simple as that! It's not like people here have some sort of super mutation that makes us resistant to heat, lol.

[dreamboatannie953]

Originally Posted by pookycat1

Yes, in the summer the car is hot when you first get in. But it was the same when I lived in So. Cal. Inland Empire and I left the car in the sun all day! I moved to this area from there 2 years ago and I have no plans of going back (unless I win the lottery and I can buy a house in Santa Barbara, lol). Sure the heat can be intense, but the real hot days (over 110) are not that many. Days over 90 are bearable for me. The first summer I was here I went to back to Cali. for a week visit my mom in Riverside and it was 95 degrees there. However it was so humid it felt like 115, and it was so yucky! I couldn't wait to come back to the Phoenix dry heat. Like everyone says, air con is the key and we do have a pool. Obviously it's a liveable area and well worth the heat in my opinion! Like I told people who thought I was nuts for moving here cause of the heat, if it were that horrible then no one would live here, simple as that! It's not like people here have some sort of super mutation that makes us resistant to heat, lol.

I noticed last summer it was well over 100 in Phoenix everyday from June till Sept.... was it hotter than usual last summer? How cool does it feel at night when the sun is down but it is still in the 90's? Is it cooler because there is no sun to make it feel hotter?

[maverick974]

I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. It was 113 when we pulled into town. Blazing hot although it didn't feel all that bad because it was so dry but we did stay in the hotel until nightfall. We watched the Bellagio water show at 10:00 pm when it was still 95 and it felt heavenly. Without the sun glaring down on you, IT FEELS GREAT.
I'm from the Oregon coast so we NEVER see temps even close to that but even at 95, I didn't even break a sweat.
It was wonderful.

[notmuch69]

I noticed last summer it was well over 100 in Phoenix everyday from June till Sept.... was it hotter than usual last summer? How cool does it feel at night when the sun is down but it is still in the 90's? Is it cooler because there is no sun to make it feel hotter?

It's cooler when the sun is down but still not comfortable. You still need to run AC in your car at 3:00 am. I hate leaving for work at 6:30 am and feeling a hot blast of air when I open the door. It's so unrefreshing!

[adolpho]

Cost of living is so low here, I can afford to leave for 4 months during the Summer.

[backtochitown]

Don't let anybody fool you (these people have had to convince themselves it isn't hot to maintain sanity...believe me I know because I tried to do it too)...90-100 degrees with low humidity is still pretty dang hot especially with the relentless sun beating on your noggin all year long...believe it or not you will get sick of the sun too.

I lived in the Phoenix area for a long while and you have a good chance of seeing 90+ degree temps in 9 of the 12 months...you most likely will see 100+ days of 100 degree weather...and maybe a half month worth of those days over 110...you will see 100 degrees at midnight...when monsoons arrive you will get 'relief' from 108 degree days by them turning into 102 degree days with high humidity...and don't forget all that nasty dust being stirred up by 'storms' that hardly drop more than a teaspoon of rain.

After a few years and once the novelty of heat wore off I found it to be absolutely miserable there from late May to early November...a heck of a lot longer than the 'miserable' winters in Chicago.

You will grow to miss green and rain quickly as Phoenix is mostly brown, dead and dusty...winters are great but the smog and pollution in Phoenix are the worst at that time period...and so is the snowbird traffic.

To each their own but if I were you I'd rent for the first few years...no reason to really buy there anyway with the market tanking and showing no signs of stopping with massive foreclosure activity still to come.

Don't even get me started on the cookie cutter cheap stucco shacks either!