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This thread is for those who live or have lived in Sacramento and dislike the summer weather. I would like to hear from you in terms of how you've dealt with it? How long have you lived there? Do you go out much in the heat of the day? How about recreation during the summer? Did you know it would be like this when moving to the area?
Please don't post to argue how wonderful it really is. That's for another (long) thread. I know some love it and very accustomed to the heat. This is for those who do not relish the 90-100+ dog days of summer. The reason I ask is that I do not like hot (90s+), rainless, cloudless summer days. Dry or humid doesn't matter. I've lived in and experienced both. Yet I know the other seasons are more tolerable in Sacramento. We're planning to move outside the Goldilocks climate of coastal CA and weighing tradeoffs knowing we'll be giving something up no matter where we go.
When I was younger I hated it. It really prevented me from enjoying daytime activities.
Its not bad if you are older and work a 9-5 type gig. It only really starts to get boiling hot after highnoon until dusk. You do acclimate and shade makes the dry heat doable.
What sucks are the heatwave stetches that last for several days, or in some cases weeks on end. Those 95+ degree days, that just make it miserable. Days where its already 80+ at 1030am.
The worst hit will be your pocketbook. Little tricks like ranch homes, 1st floor living, shading, and other things can literally save you hundreds of dollars in the summer for electric bulls.
You'll probably take a few weekend trips to the coast or bay to cool off. Other than that you just make do, summer is truly the only miserable season. The other 3 are doable.
When I was younger I hated it. It really prevented me from enjoying daytime activities.
Its not bad if you are older and work a 9-5 type gig. It only really starts to get boiling hot after highnoon until dusk. You do acclimate and shade makes the dry heat doable.
What sucks are the heatwave stetches that last for several days, or in some cases weeks on end. Those 95+ degree days, that just make it miserable. Days where its already 80+ at 1030am.
The worst hit will be your pocketbook. Little tricks like ranch homes, 1st floor living, shading, and other things can literally save you hundreds of dollars in the summer for electric bulls.
You'll probably take a few weekend trips to the coast or bay to cool off. Other than that you just make do, summer is truly the only miserable season. The other 3 are doable.
Thanks, Wizard. I appreciate your honesty and ways you've learned to deal it. I do like the ability to drive to the coast to get a cool down for a weekend trip. I read about someone who installed solar to help pay for the electric bills. That would another way to compensate in part for the heat.
I actually have a college friend who grew up there. She enjoys outdoor activities (runs, swims) but does all outdoor activities in the earlier morning hours.
This thread is for those who live or have lived in Sacramento and dislike the summer weather. I would like to hear from you in terms of how you've dealt with it? How long have you lived there? Do you go out much in the heat of the day? How about recreation during the summer? Did you know it would be like this when moving to the area?
Please don't post to argue how wonderful it really is. That's for another (long) thread. I know some love it and very accustomed to the heat. This is for those who do not relish the 90-100+ dog days of summer. The reason I ask is that I do not like hot (90s+), rainless, cloudless summer days. Dry or humid doesn't matter. I've lived in and experienced both. Yet I know the other seasons are more tolerable in Sacramento. We're planning to move outside the Goldilocks climate of coastal CA and weighing tradeoffs knowing we'll be giving something up no matter where we go.
Thanks,
Derek
I dislike Sacramento summer weather when a heat wave lasts over 3 days and/or if it is 100+ for more than two. And I dislike Sacramento summer weather when it does not cool below 65F overnight.
This summer Sacramento has had only 1 day, maybe 2 days when the temp stayed above 65F overnight, I didn't like it that night. There has been only one 3 day period when the temp hovered at 100+. By the third day I was thinking of going to Tahoe for a cool down.
I have a brother-in-law who grew up in Sac and hated anything above 79F. So he moved for good, first to the Central Coast then to Alameda. He's been in Alameda for well over a decade. He only comes back maybe 5 times a year for "unplanned" visits. He has the worst Luck of always coming when it's 95+, and leaving before it cools. We all laugh about it because it's always 10 degrees cooler the day after he leaves, lol. And the ironic thing, despite his disdain for anything above 79F, 4 out of 5 of his visits are in the Summer!
The only folks I know that truely "dislike" Sacramento summers are from the Coast. I have never know anyone from the rest of the country that disliked Sacramento summers. Of those coastal folks that I know, they just complain, thats how they deal with it. And they either truly become accustomed to summer heat after a few summers or they simply don't, and they find a way back to the coast.
Having said that, Sacramento weather is near identical to Bay Area weather Sept to June. It's just has "doable" and "tolerable" as Bay Area weather is during those months.
Mtnsurfer,
I have female friend who deals with Sacramento summers by literally driving every single weekend to see her boyfriend in Santa Cruz. She leaves on Friday and comes back Sunday, that's crazy, She grew up in Sac, never seemed to complain about Sacramento summers before, but now that she spends 2 days out of the week on the coast she complains. He's moving up here now. :-)
Mtnsurfer,
I have female friend who deals with Sacramento summers by literally driving every single weekend to see her boyfriend in Santa Cruz. She leaves on Friday and comes back Sunday, that's crazy, She grew up in Sac, never seemed to complain about Sacramento summers before, but now that she spends 2 days out of the week on the coast she complains. He's moving up here now. :-)
Haha, yeah. If we moved to Sacramento, we would definitely be taking some trips to the coast. I think read in one of your other posts that you take those trips as well. And honestly, I almost started another thread on that topic - Best Coastal Access from Sacramento. I recall you had some good tips about leaving by a certain time to avoid crazy Bay Area traffic with some of the beaches you've hit around SF.
I dislike Sacramento summer weather when a heat wave lasts over 3 days and/or if it is 100+ for more than two. And I dislike Sacramento summer weather when it does not cool below 65F overnight.
This summer Sacramento has had only 1 day, maybe 2 days when the temp stayed above 65F overnight, I didn't like it that night. There has been only one 3 day period when the temp hovered at 100+. By the third day I was thinking of going to Tahoe for a cool down.
I have a brother-in-law who grew up in Sac and hated anything above 79F. So he moved for good, first to the Central Coast then to Alameda. He's been in Alameda for well over a decade. He only comes back maybe 5 times a year for "unplanned" visits. He has the worst Luck of always coming when it's 95+, and leaving before it cools. We all laugh about it because it's always 10 degrees cooler the day after he leaves, lol. And the ironic thing, despite his disdain for anything above 79F, 4 out of 5 of his visits are in the Summer!
The only folks I know that truely "dislike" Sacramento summers are from the Coast. I have never know anyone from the rest of the country that disliked Sacramento summers. Of those coastal folks that I know, they just complain, thats how they deal with it. And they either truly become accustomed to summer heat after a few summers or they simply don't, and they find a way back to the coast.
Having said that, Sacramento weather is near identical to Bay Area weather Sept to June. It's just has "doable" and "tolerable" as Bay Area weather is during those months.
Funny story about your BIL. I can relate to what you've described about the folks who have not liked the warmer weather. I've grown up on along coastal CA and lived here most of my life. We enjoy cool, damp, foggy summers in the 60s with occasional sun breaks like today. When we took our trip to the Big Island this summer and it got up into the 90s we couldn't wait to get back to Monterey dreaming of 60s and fog! lol
We've also lived in CO with summers that were more typical of the rest of the country in the 90s+. Given the choice, we prefer the cooler coast. That said, we've decided to move away from coastal CA for lower COL and to be able to afford a home among other things. So we know that means giving up some of the 'perfect' weather for us to do so.
I'm kind of a research nut and after searching the entire west coast (CA, OR, WA) we've narrowed it down to Sacramento or Vancouver, WA. Although weather is one factor, its not the only one we're considering. That being said, the differences weather wise would be the cooler climate of the PNW including more rain/drizzle and clouds vs. the warmer, sunnier Sacramento climate. Both of them have their trade-offs for us based upon our preferences. We're ok with a cooler climate and actually like it. But we also enjoy 'some' sun intermixed. It seems like we'll be getting one extreme or the other. Weeks and months of constant sun vs. the same of clouds and rain. So, yeah, its a real trade off for us. But its better to go in knowing what those are and then planning accordingly. If Sacramento, we'll need to learn how to deal with the summer heat which none of us really like. We have visiting a number of times and done things like whitewater rafting. So the water does help some.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 08-26-2018 at 12:42 PM..
My opinion has always been, the more active you are, the easier it becomes for your body to deal with the heat here. My theory is that by working out at high intensities, your body becomes accustomed to dealing with the same stress that heat puts on it. Staying active has helped me enjoy the weather here in Sac (for the most part). I came from the Bay Area as well, and I hated the heat and constant sun at first. 85 in December? That’s just not suppose to happen. But, the longer I stayed and got to know the city, the more I began to love it. People are out doing all sorts of activities year round here; walking, jogging, riding bikes, playing tennis, etc. It’s one of the more active cities that I’ve been to. And that’s a testament to the fact that you can and will adapt to the weather here if you do not allow it to alter your lifestyle. Once fall rolls around it is absolutely beautiful as well. We are approaching that state right now.
My opinion has always been, the more active you are, the easier it becomes for your body to deal with the heat here. My theory is that by working out at high intensities, your body becomes accustomed to dealing with the same stress that heat puts on it. Staying active has helped me enjoy the weather here in Sac (for the most part). I came from the Bay Area as well, and I hated the heat and constant sun at first. 85 in December? That’s just not suppose to happen. But, the longer I stayed and got to know the city, the more I began to love it. People are out doing all sorts of activities year round here; walking, jogging, riding bikes, playing tennis, etc. It’s one of the more active cities that I’ve been to. And that’s a testament to the fact that you can and will adapt to the weather here if you do not allow it to alter your lifestyle. Once fall rolls around it is absolutely beautiful as well. We are approaching that state right now.
Its funny that you mention the Bay Area, sacite. I was just reading that Sacramento is the #1 area people are moving to from the Bay Area. I'm not sure what metric they are using, but it's an interesting phenomenon none the less. Bay Area residents seek the California dream — in Sacramento
Sacramento summers admittedly do have breezes from the Delta that keep temps below 90s a good number of days, but there's also a good number of days where it dies down and it becomes brutally hot. The rest of the Central Valley, though, is more consistently hotter because of the lack of a Delta breeze.
Like I've said, I spent ten weeks during the summer in New Orleans and found that to be much more tolerable than Sacramento summers (at least the half of the time that the Delta Breeze weakens). Several reasons:
1. Sacramento is bone dry in the summer, often with no cloud cover. It rains very frequently in New Orleans during the summer. A 95 degree day in New Orleans will often cool off to 80 or even 75 degrees because of an afternoon thunderstorm. On top of that, you've got a good breeze blowing the thunderstorm in, with alot of cloud cover; it feels very refreshing and maybe a little chilly, even.
Some days in New Orleans, it's raining the entire day, and the temps don't even rise above 80 degrees.
2. Sacramento cools off too much at night. A 100 degree day can drop to 60 or even 55 degrees just before sunrise. In New Orleans, even an 80 degree day will cool off to a pre-dawn low temp of no less than 75 degrees. On days where it rises above 90, the temps at 10pm are 85 degrees--perfect for watching fireworks or a concert outdoors without a blanket, jacket, or anything besides a T-shirt, shorts, and sandals.
Sacramento can cool off to 70 degrees by 10pm, which is quite too chilly for enjoying outdoor activities, when you combine it with the delta breeze that blows in at night.
3. With no rain in Sacramento, smog is at its worse in the summer. Not so in New Orleans, or Miami or Orlando, for that matter--abundant summer rain cleans the air.
4.Sure, Sacramento may be the city of trees, but once you get outside to rural areas just outside of Roseville, or Elk Grove, it's barren, brown, and ugly due to the bone dry summers. New Orleans is beautifully lush and green all year round; pine forests, swamps, bayous, etc. surround the entire city and basically the entire Gulf Coast.
5. Nasal congestion, nosebleeds, dandruff, and cracked skin happen more in Sacramento's bone dry summers. None of those are a problem in the Gulf Coast humidity.
6. The Pacific Ocean off of San Francisco is below 60 degrees, even in the summer. The Gulf of Mexico in Biloxi, Mississippi is 85 degrees in the summer. Much warmer, comfortable waters to swim in.
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He's moving up here now. :-)
