Is Summer in Tucson really that unbearable? (Phoenix, Lake Havasu City: live, restaurants)

[bgrn198]

Having visited in Phoenix every summer I always thought that the misters that the restaurants had out on their patios helped some.

Besides making patio livable, misters have other cool uses

http://www.azmistsystems.com/

[tasneem5655]

I have been living in Tucson for over 13 years, a transplant from NY suburbs. The heat in the Tucson summers could easily be described as almost intolerable. For the last 8 years, I have not had a car, that means taking the bus around and standing out in the sun to wait for it. I dread summer in Tucson but somehow or other get by. There is at least a couple of months of monsoon season and it can be very humid and over 100 degrees. Air conditioner, air conditioner, air conditioner. That's all I have to say.

[DangerousBill]

In Tucson, gotta get out to walk or exercise at 5:30 am and be back in the house for 7 am. It's hard to sunburn in summer because the sun 'bites'. You can feel it burn before it causes damage.

Carry water everywhere. Everyone else does. Drink it even when you're not thirsty. Dehydration and thirst are not necessarily connected. Put away 3-4 quarts a day, more if you work outdoors. Your kidneys will thank you.

This past year, I started working out at the YMCA from June to September, instead of outdoors. All I need is my Indian or construction worker costume.

Watch when fueling your car. Every so often someone blows up their car while gassing up. There are more fumes in the hot weather, and you'll strike static sparks from your upholstery and even from the flow of gas in the hose. Read the precautions posted on every gas pump.

When you really need to escape, drive up Mt. Lemmon for a 40 F cooler respite, or drive south to Sonoita or Sierra Vista for 10 F cooler temps, or farther to the White Mts in the north.

Dangerous Bill

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by DangerousBill

In Tucson, gotta get out to walk or exercise at 5:30 am and be back in the house for 7 am. It's hard to sunburn in summer because the sun 'bites'. You can feel it burn before it causes damage.

Carry water everywhere. Everyone else does. Drink it even when you're not thirsty. Dehydration and thirst are not necessarily connected. Put away 3-4 quarts a day, more if you work outdoors. Your kidneys will thank you.

This past year, I started working out at the YMCA from June to September, instead of outdoors. All I need is my Indian or construction worker costume.

Watch when fueling your car. Every so often someone blows up their car while gassing up. There are more fumes in the hot weather, and you'll strike static sparks from your upholstery and even from the flow of gas in the hose. Read the precautions posted on every gas pump.

When you really need to escape, drive up Mt. Lemmon for a 40 F cooler respite, or drive south to Sonoita or Sierra Vista for 10 F cooler temps, or farther to the White Mts in the north.

Dangerous Bill

To that bolded...touch the outside of the car and release static before doing the pump...no cellphone while pumping gas

[cacto]

What are talking about with the cars blowing up in summer? I've never heard anything like that before in my life and I've lived in the Sonoran Desert since I was born.

Second point, summers are just a lifestyle change, like winters by the Great Lakes. Summertime in AZ, T-shirt, shorts, no underwear, comfy breathable shoes, sunglasses. Drink water till you're peeing all the time and you'll be fine. If possible, sleep all day.do your thing at night.

[shiphead]

Tucson is bearable in the summer compared to Phoenix.

[cacto]

Some parts of east Tucson are 2000 feet higher than where I live in Tempe. It's a difference of like six degrees generally, but it's a decent difference between say 100 and 94 degrees. more rain too.

[sickofIL]

Watch when fueling your car. Every so often someone blows up their car while gassing up. There are more fumes in the hot weather, and you'll strike static sparks from your upholstery and even from the flow of gas in the hose. Read the precautions posted on every gas pump.

Yes, this is a possibility. It has been demonstrated but what they have said is that it is more prevalent in very cold weather because the air is more dense. Just make sure you touch any metal part of the car before you begin pumping and you will be safe.

As far as the cell phone, this has never been proven. And there is no record with insurance companies of any explosions in gas stations from cell phone use. You need a spark and you cell phone will not spark.

If you look at when you get a shock from static electricity you can sometimes see a very visable spark. This is what can ignite gas fumes.

[ExNooYawk]

What about the summer evenings? Does it cool off enough to sit outside or do the temps remain in the 90's?

[goozer]

Summers are rough there. Dry heat or no, it is very very hot. But while the summer is pretty unbearable, the other nine months of the year are so nice that it makes up for it. When you think about it, most cities have at LEAST three months of bad weather, and many have a lot more. Much of the east coast is freezing in the winter and crazy humid in the summer. The Pacific Northwest has several months of seemingly unrelenting gray weather in the winter months. I swear, the gulf coast probably gets three months of torrential rain when you add it all up in the course of a year. Perhaps coastal California is near-perfect weather-wise. But you could also do a lot worse than southern Arizona.