How do people live here?

[bluesfordan]

One thing that makes some people feel the heat in Phoenix more than they should: they turn their AC ridiculously cold. Like 68 degrees…then when they step outside they get blasted with a 45 degree temperature swing. Instead, run the AC about 80 or so, and it’s not so brutal stepping outside; then when you return inside it still feels refreshing.

this, this and so much this. My first trip to SC, in April, I'd go into stores and restaurants and see my breath. It was too damn cold, then you go back outside and your skin felt like it was going to peel and slide off like you were a blanched tomato. My glasses would fog up going outside

I've always felt a/c was just to dry the air out and reduce the differential, not set a immutable low temperature. I've talked to people in TX, who set their AC to 60 or 62 degrees, no matter what the temperature outside is. I'd be wearing sweaters, hats and gloves if I had to live that way. The Energy Council (or whatever it's called) told the Texas people last week "we're going to have rolling blackout if you don't put your thermostats on 78 degrees". It was not well received.

 

[wabashslim]

I was stationed in Tucson in '78/'79 while in the Air Force. I returned in 1989 and lived there for 13 more years. When I returned there in 1989 there was a 100 days of over 100 degrees temperatures during the late spring/summer.

Oh YEAH! 1989 was a killer year here, the first time reality struck us that we were entering the Last Days. I was up in Flagstaff (elev. 7000') on July 4th that year and it hit 100 degrees there - almost never ever happens. No AC in Flagstaff! I passed through Phoenix around 10:30 pm and it was still around 110...God only knows what it was in the afternoon. Too hot to stop to watch roadside fireworks. Back in Tucson I found out the specially-ordered ultra-costly fireworks display had been a total flop - all the state-of-the-art computer-controlled fireworks equipment had FUBAR'd in the heat. So yeah, you picked a bad time to return but no worries - it's like that all the time here now!

And oh yeah - that summer I was driving my just-overhauled '71 VW Bus...need I say no AC?

 

[wabashslim]

Not-that-usual Phoenix report...

 

[papa32203]

Not-that-usual Phoenix report...

I remember that day. It was a little toasty...

My wife and I know Corey and his wife. He is a funny guy, and handled this pretty well!

 

[Churchjack]

I lived I think a little higher than Vegas out in Mineral County. The heat was great; it was dry, and the mountains cast a shadow in the evenings and it really cooled down at night.
I’m in Kerrville, TX this weekend (anybody else here?) and it will be warm and swampy all night and all day tomorrow. But, Texas is my home.

 

[Jakedog]

The heat in the desert has never bothered me. I’d take that every day forever over even one day under 65F. That’s about as cold as I can stand it before I really start hating life. And yeah, I live in Cleveland.

I’m fine with heat as long as it’s dry. It’s the hot and humid together that sucks the life outta me.

I hear you on Vegas, though. Been there once. Don’t ever need to go again.

 

[bluesfordan]

not quite rooftop tarring in Phoenix but I worked on a parking lot sealer crew back in '88. We got off to a slow start because of all the showers in June but July-Aug was blazing sun and hot. We would bring a gallon of water each and make plenty of stops at stores and gas stations for supplemental fluids. Gatorade was a godsend. We'd start most days before 7 AM, doing what we could before we were allowed to use the noisy stuff (TAFA unit, a turbo flame wand 300 PSI 1,000+ degree torch that could be heard as far as 7 miles if the wind was right and no hills to block it), carrying a bucket of sealer in each hand 600, 700 feet across wide open parking lots in 100 degree heat, where it was probably 130 degrees on the surface. Plus you had to wear long sleeves and pants, and hats and face bandanas because the work was so filthy. I think my body fat was in the low single digits by that fall. I was 30 years old that summer.

And this was in NH. I can't imagine what it must be like in places that get really hot and humid.

 

[VonBonfire]

The heat in the desert has never bothered me. I’d take that every day forever over even one day under 65F. That’s about as cold as I can stand it before I really start hating life.

Anything below 85 is unacceptable. Gigging outside in 100 degree heat all weekend starting at noon tomorrow!

 

[KyAnne]

It's still not as bad as Houston or New Orleans.

You got that right!

 

[KyAnne]

Living in S. Louisiana is very much akin to living on a banana plantation I do believe. It's high high humidity and rain rain and hot hot hot.
We have approx. 2 seasons. Summer and 3-4 weeks of "Winter". There is no Fall to speak of and countless years of wearing shorts on Christmas Day. Spring is a huge crap-shoot, but you can count on rain though! My little area gets from 80-90 inches of rain per year. I hate it! Yards flooding and water table staying so high at times make grass cutting a nightmare. But it's home.
I shan't mention the insect problems outside.........................

 

[telestratosonic]

15C/59F with a light rain falling at 12:18 AM Mountain Time 2.5 hours southeast of Calgary and 1.5 hours north of the Montana border.
Bedroom window is open and there's a cool breeze coming in. No need for the air conditioner yet; maybe later in the summer. We keep the windows closed during the day to keep the house cool.
We need that rain. This is bone-dry cattle ranching country. I'm building a new fence and it was warm but not overbearing today. 25C/77F

 

[cyclopean]

But it's a dry heat....

Hey if it keeps you under the wet bulb point …

 

[oregomike]

I am in Las Vegas for InfoComm this week. Quite honestly, I do not particularly care for Vegas to begin with due to the over-the-top opulence and faux luxury, preferring to attend the show when it is held in Orlando. The daily high temperatures here are ranging from 105F-111F this week. The lows are higher than our July-August highs on the Oregon coast and I am dying from the heat. The commute between my hotel & the convention ctr. pretty much ruins me for the day. I honestly do not know how people live here. I will admit that I have had some pretty darn okay meals that didn't live up to the price I paid. Sheesh.
End rant.

Most of Las Vegas is an arm pit.

 

[cyclopean]

this, this and so much this. My first trip to SC, in April, I'd go into stores and restaurants and see my breath. It was too damn cold, then you go back outside and your skin felt like it was going to peel and slide off like you were a blanched tomato. My glasses would fog up going outside

I've always felt a/c was just to dry the air out and reduce the differential, not set a immutable low temperature. I've talked to people in TX, who set their AC to 60 or 62 degrees, no matter what the temperature outside is. I'd be wearing sweaters, hats and gloves if I had to live that way. The Energy Council (or whatever it's called) told the Texas people last week "we're going to have rolling blackout if you don't put your thermostats on 78 degrees". It was not well received.

I don’t think anyone i know in Texas can afford to set their acs that low and leave it like that.

 

[beagle]

We sometimes hit 45° at the height of summer, if it stops raining..

45°F

 

[loudboy]

I've always felt a/c was just to dry the air out and reduce the differential, not set a immutable low temperature. I've talked to people in TX, who set their AC to 60 or 62 degrees, no matter what the temperature outside is. I'd be wearing sweaters, hats and gloves if I had to live that way. The Energy Council (or whatever it's called) told the Texas people last week "we're going to have rolling blackout if you don't put your thermostats on 78 degrees". It was not well received.

We did the first five years here with a swamp cooler, but finally broke down last spring and got AC. We set it at 78, and only run it 4.5 hrs./day. Costs about an extra $15/mo and is well worth it.

Because of the temp swing it's cool at night, so we open the house up about 7:30pm, and leave it open until 9am. Then we shut it up, and the house stays cool until about 1:30, when the air kicks on until 6pm. Works fine in temps up to 105 or so, which is about as hot as it gets up here. Usually in the mid-90s during June, with the occasional hot spell, like this week.

 

[dlew919]

When it goes over 40o (about 100 Fahrenheit) it doesn’t matter if it’s dry or humid). Trust me. I’ve lived in both.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

One thing that makes some people feel the heat in Phoenix more than they should: they turn their AC ridiculously cold. Like 68 degrees…then when they step outside they get blasted with a 45 degree temperature swing. Instead, run the AC about 80 or so, and it’s not so brutal stepping outside; then when you return inside it still feels refreshing.

Yup. My stepdaughter grew up and lives in Minnesota. She came home one day in November and found that the heat was turned up to eighty and her new housemate was walking around in a bikini. Poor kid had never heard of sweaters. Or wool.

I lived in Las Vegas one summer. I don't remember having air conditioning.

In the winter here in sunny northern New Englad, we set the thermostat at 60 during the day and 50 at night. That warms up the livingroom, and some of it drifts upstairs to the bedroom.

After Memorial Day, we just leave it at 50 and don't think about it again until October.

 

[Spox]

We have so much cloud cover that it looks as if it's about five hundred feet above you, film crews come here because of the diffused light.
If there is a prolonged break we burn in the suns fiery rays and offer up sacrifices to it.

I used to go to the Med for a couple of weeks each winter and it is like the peak of our summer, we'd be walking around in tshirts in the early evening and the locals were in sheepskin jackets and looking at us as if we were nuts.

 

[Matt G]

And as my sister and brother-in-law (both electronic engineers) used to say when they lived in Phoenix for about 8 years, “Yes, it’s dry heat but so is your oven. Turn it up to 120 and hop in for a few hours”.

That's hilarious - I run my smoker at around 110, and in a few hours I reckon Long Pork would still be chewy but certainly edible.