I don't know how you guys.....

[dragon813gt]

Live in the desert. I'm in Chandler Arizona at the moment. Arrived around 11am and I was ready to go home by noon. Topped out at 110 today. At 7pm it's still 106. I don't know how anyone can live here. I'm sure the winters are great. But this is ridiculous. Doesn't help that weather at home has turned for the better. Dropping down into the mid 50s at night w/ highs between 75-85.

I'm sure I won't be complaining later in the year. I will be here through the middle of December. Will be leaving freezing temps and snow. That sounds great. But I feel like I'm in an oven when I walk outside. You have to doing something really wrong to die of dehydration at home. Humidity has a way of keeping you alive.

I don't think I've been homesick this quick. Guess I like being surrounded by trees w/ plentiful water everywhere. Coming from Ireland where I've been wearing jeans all summer this is quite a shock

[OS OK]

Wear cotton and...not a lot of it!

[dragon813gt]

Wear cotton and...not a lot of it!

That's fine for when I'm not working. But I have to wear FR clothes at work. Of course the pants are dark blue and our shirts are a lighter shade of blue. Wish I could wear synthetics that wick moisture away. I ordered 100% cotton khaki colored pants. This is the last week I will be wearing dark blue pants here.

[Madoktor1]

FR clothing sucks in the summer. I wear it daily here in TN. I was in Scottsdale and Phoenix for a year. The winters are great but the rest of the year sucks.


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[Sweetpea]

Well, I'm living in the high desert in southern Utah, and we stay a little cooler than phoenix, about 10 degrees.

I went "home" to Michigan a few years back, and decided that I never want to live away from the mountains ever again!

[tunnug]

But it's a dry heat, LOL, been here since '68, we have two seasons, hot and damn hot, don't go anywhere without carrying water.

[starmac]

LOL, It isn't that you feel like you are in an oven, YOU ARE in an oven. lol

[mold maker]

I really feel for you guys that have to tolerate extremes in temps and humidity. While we do have a couple weeks of hot humid weather here, it isn't extreme. I'm an hour from the highest peak East of the Mississippi and 3 hr from the beach. Seldom see 100* and almost never down to the teens
If I'm ever forced to leave here, I'll be very careful to find the second best place in the USA.

[bedbugbilly]

tunnug - you beat me to it! I was also going to reply .. . "But it's a dry heat." LOL

Our place is south of Tucson but we're not there in the summer as we are back in Michigan. We've been there in the summer though and we just learned to walk the dogs early . . . VERY EARLY . . in the morning and if we had places to go, just sort of move from one air conditioned building to the next.

I remember when we first bought out there. They were building houses around us and the fellows would show up before daylight an try to beat the heat - knock off shortly after lunch. A couple of the neighbors were complaining about the hammering, sawing, etc. so early in the morning . . . you know . . . it was disturbing their "beauty sleep". My reply was that they ought to try working out in the hot sun and heat and see how they liked it. Neither of them had ever done any manual labor in their lives and just didn't have a clue.

Having grown up and lived in Michigan on a farm most of my life, when we first went out to AZ I didn't know how I would like it. This winter will be our 10th out there and I can't wait to get back. You learn to love it, it's a beautiful state andante you take the time to really watch and look at your surroundings, the desert is a beautiful place . . . it can be harsh for sure but it really is filled with a lot of interesting things from animals to vegetation. You can travel from the south of AZ to the north aZ and with the altitude changes, see such a variety of vegetation, trees, etc. and some very beautiful sights.

Yep, it's hot but I'll tell you, AZ grows on you.

[dragon813gt]

I finally realized why AZ doesn't use daylight savings time. It felt weird w/ it getting dark so early for this time of year. But w/ the heat it makes complete sense. No need for more daylight. Exact opposite of home where a lot of people want it pushed forward all the time.

Unfortunately I won't have time to do much sight seeing. Have two young children, 3yo and 4mo, at home. So I will catch a 5:30pm flight on Monday to get out here. And then take a red eye home on Thursday. Puts me at home right around noon on Friday. Kind of rough all around but it's less time away from the kids. After doing two weeks at a time in Ireland I won't stay over weekends anymore. To hard on the family. If it wasn't for the time change I could have flown home every weekend from Ireland. Flight cost is the same as to the west coast. And it's faster for me to get to Dublin then a lot of places out here

[Larry Gibson]

Get climatized to to the desert dry heat. Jumping into it from a "cooler" climate can make it seem worse than it is. Living here we get used to it gradually as it changes from hot to damn hot. We also adjust our life style to the temperature....up beffore daylight, get what you want done before noon or sooner, hit the pool, siesta, hit the pool, get some loading done in the ma cave, did I mention "hit the pool"..........enjoy the evening after the sun goes down. We dress light, mostly just shorts and a light fitting shirt. We keep the house at 80 - 82 in the summer and it actually gets cool in the evening at that temp. Hottest time is last couple weeks of June and first coule of July. Had 125 + with 5 - 7 % humidity for about a week this year at my house.............LOLs beside, the dry heat does make a difference as 125 with a higher humidity would be really miserable.

[popper]

Siesta time. If you can find a shade tree.

[Lloyd Smale]

id rather be up to my neck in snow and -20 then a 110!! You can put more clothes on to keep warm but at 110 you cant hardly breath!

[dagger dog]

Take your shade with you, a nice straw sombrero !

[dragon813gt]

id rather be up to my neck in snow and -20 then a 110!! You can put more clothes on to keep warm but at 110 you cant hardly breath!

You can breathe just fine. And your eyes don't freeze shut like they do at -20. But I get your point. It's a lot easier to layer up to keep warm. Dress properly and you can pretty much do anything regardless of the cold. Just may be slow going. You can't do anything but find a cool spot when it's 110 out.

I can't dress light because I'm on an industrial site. Long pants, FR is a requirement from my employer. Hard hat, hiviz vest over my tshirt. It all makes for a miserable day. It's still oppressive at night as far as I'm concerned. Sure, the sun is down. But when it's 100 at 9pm it's still hot out.

I'm sure if I lived here I would adapt. And not shoveling snow has an awful lot of appeal the older I get. Especially w/ a wife and two young kids at home while I'm away for work. A southern swamp seems like a better place if I was to move. Humidity doesn't bother me since I've grown up w/ it.

[OS OK]

Think of the Cops...dark clothing with a vest on top!

[ShooterAZ]

One thing that's amazing about living in Arizona is that you can drive 100 +/- miles north of Phoenix and the temperature cools off 30 degrees or more. The forecast high for Flagstaff today is 81 degrees, while Phoenix is forecast at 108. I'll take 81 all day long...I don't care for the heat either.

[308Jeff]

I've always said we have two seasons: Summer and January.


Been living here most of my life. It doesn't bother me until it starts getting above 105, and then I definitely feel it. 100 degrees or less, literally "no sweat". LOL. To me it's not much different than living somewhere with brutally cold winters. You just stay indoors as much as possible. I've lived in Iowa and Wisconsin, and I'll take the AZ summer over those winters any day.

[EMC45]

I was at Grand Canyon in Feb of 16. It was nice. It was between 20-80 depending on day and location. Parts of the Bright Angel had snow on it, while on the downslope it was still kind of hot. Weird for sure. It was really nice though. Phoenix was a great deal hotter than the Canyon area.

[Echo]

I've lived in Tucson for 43 years - and haven't mowed a lawn yet! Dry heat, right, and 100 in the shade isn't too bad - it's when one wanders out into the sunshine that it really hits one. I try to do my casting and smelting in the AM during summer - winter, any time. Do my casting on the patio, under cover, w/ceiling fan if I think I need it...