No-one excited about 4 days of 90-95 F? (Seattle: home, closing)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

90 degrees is well inside the temperature range that humans can live in. The weather hasn't gotten hotter, people have gotten wussier where they can't tolerate normal discomfort.


Air conditioning is a fairly recent invention and before air conditioning, for thousands of centuries, humans lived in 90 degree temperature and 100 degree temperature and 110 degree temperature and went about their business and didn't think anything of it, other than they probably liked it better than the snow and they were scurrying around trying to get enough food preserved for the winter while it was still growing and harvesting season.


The weather isn't getting hotter, people have just decided that they have less tolerance for any temperature variation.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

90 degrees is well inside the temperature range that humans can live in. The weather hasn't gotten hotter, people have gotten wussier where they can't tolerate normal discomfort.


Air conditioning is a fairly recent invention and before air conditioning, for thousands of centuries, humans lived in 90 degree temperature and 100 degree temperature and 110 degree temperature and went about their business and didn't think anything of it, other than they probably liked it better than the snow and they were scurrying around trying to get enough food preserved for the winter while it was still growing and harvesting season.


The weather isn't getting hotter, people have just decided that they have less tolerance for any temperature variation.

Yes, but also, people today are placing more importance on their comfort, even us. We lived in California for over 40 years, where it would be 80-105 as early as April, through October, and never had AC. Admittedly, I hated summers, there, but we managed. Here in Sammamish we now have window AC in three different rooms, and at about 76 inside we them on. It's still not worth central AC for us, though, because so many rooms are not occupied now, and the small 6,000 BTU units use very little electricity. The neighbors on both sides of us have installed central AC within the last two years, both younger families with 2 kids. The families before them bought new in the 1970s and never had it.

[fnh]

It is a fact that PNW temperatures are rising.

It is not just that we are seeing more days reach record high temps, it's also that nighttime temperatures are rising even faster than daytime temps. What used to be uncomfortably high but tolerable heat for few hours in the afternoon/evening is becoming a long-lasting oppressive heat without significant overnight relief.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by fnh

It is a fact that PNW temperatures are rising.

It is not just that we are seeing more days reach record high temps, it's also that nighttime temperatures are rising even faster than daytime temps. What used to be uncomfortably high but tolerable heat for few hours in the afternoon/evening is becoming a long-lasting oppressive heat without significant overnight relief.

When I got up this morning at 4:30 it was 57 outside, and even on the 93 days it's been in the 50s-60s at night. I really don't remember it being cooler than that at night in previous summers here.

[MechAndy]

That part about running through the sprinklers made me laugh Ruthie.

When we first came to America we lived in subsidized low income housing in the Bronx.
When it got really hot they would open up the fire hydrants so all of us poor little ghetto kids could play in the water.
Talk about diversity this place had it .

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

When I got up this morning at 4:30 it was 57 outside, and even on the 93 days it's been in the 50s-60s at night. I really don't remember it being cooler than that at night in previous summers here.

Same here. It cools down at night and takes a long time to warm up during the day. How hot it gets indoors can depend on how many trees shade the area and microclimates matter as well. Apartment buildings with no A/C or shade trees might not cool down at night, especially on the upper floors and with western exposure.

Outdoors in the shade was very comfortable throughout this heat wave, unlike the 110+ degree scorcher of last year. Then shade didn't help much.

[fnh]

Personal anecdotes notwithstanding...

Seattle summer nights are warming up, and yes, that's because of climate change
https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle...-change-or-nah

Nighttime heat waves quadruple in Pacific Northwest
https://www.washington.edu/news/2013...fic-northwest/

Why Record-Breaking Overnight Temperatures Are So Concerning
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/u...ht-deaths.html

Nights Are Warming Faster Than Days. Here’s Why That’s Dangerous.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...dangerous.html

[87112]

First time in years I am tired of summer, it feels like a Texas inferno half the time.

I will spring for the AC next spring.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 87112

First time in years I am tired of summer, it feels like a Texas inferno half the time.

I will spring for the AC next spring.

Where in WA do you live?

[MechAndy]

I normally travel back and forth to the Bay Area every few months.
I find it takes a little while to acclimate to the different areas.