Phoenix heat is a killer

Oh, and one more thing, not all of Arizona is like Phoenix. Some people do have that misconception. I can hop in my car and take a 2 hour drive up north to Flagstaff. That city has an elevation of 7000 feet and is surrounded by forest and mountains. It's a very popular destination in the summer šŸ˜Š
 
fuzzybuddy said:
From May to October, I don't get more than ten feet from my airconditioner. And temps in PA can be 90+ degrees. Ain't no way I'd live with temps over 100+ even if it's "dry heat". I'm probably going to hell, that doesn't mean I have to test it out now.
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And you would laugh at me if I lived where you are because I would be wearing a weather coat once the temperature there dropped below 60.
 

MarkinPhx said:
It strange but a 100Ā° day in LA feels a lot hotter to me than a 100Ā° in Phoenix. I think a lot of it is because it is more humid in LA area. One of the worse sunburns I ever got was on a cloudy day at the beach in San Diego !
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Yes, LA has a relatively dry climate, but not as dry as Phoenix or Palm Springs.
 
MarkinPhx said:
Central A/C is in most homes, apartments, hotels,etc. A/C is the norm everywhere. The legislature passed a law last year stating that utility companies can't disconnect power for accounts that are delinquent between the months of June-October. This is because a senior woman died last summer after her power has been disconnected because she was behind her payments

The power grid holds up well here. We've had no brown out days or total breakdowns or the grid. Once in awhile neighborhoods power will go out because of the summer storms. Some of those storms can get intense when the hot air collides with the cool moist air coming from the mountains up north.

The biggest problem for those at home is with the AC unit goes out. Sometimes it can take a few days if it needs to be replaced. In those cases,I think most do go to a motel or crash at a friend's or relative's place. If the unit was under warranty then most companies will give vouchers to the family to stay at a motel or hotel.

In. my daily life, I relate it to as someone living in a place such as Toronto or Chicago in the winter time. I hunker up for a couple months out of the year and avoid the elements the best I can. That's what most of us do. Unfortunately, the homeless can't do the same. They often go to the city libraries to escape the heat during the day.

Utility bills can get expensive but most people use an equalizer plan. Utility cost are much cheaper outside of the summer. I rarely turn on the heat outside of maybe January. So the utility companies set up a plan to pay a set monthly amount each month based on the total cost of energy used for the past year.
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Itā€™s a good thing that the libraries let them in. I feel sorry for anyone who is homeless.
Were you raised in Phoenix or did you move there?
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Itā€™s a good thing that the libraries let them in. I feel sorry for anyone who is homeless.
Were you raised in Phoenix or did you move there?
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Born and raised in Phoenix. It's always fun to meet someone else my age or older who was born here because it is rare. When I was a kid the family did move to the DC area for a couple of years. And I did go to the University of San Diego for two years. Other than those times, I've lived here. I didn't finish my time in San Diego because I found it more fun to go to the beaches around San Diego instead of going to my classes so moved back here to finish..lol.
 
I saw blacktopped and painted green yards in Pheonix Area in the Mid 70's, mid-September.
Walked across a blacktop parking lot in a Mall, got in my Blazer after a bit.
She told a joke, I laughed and burnt scars on my cheeks from my metal pilots sunglasses.
Can still See em. Too many miles to drive!

They flooded to irrigate people's yards. Went out to eat in Scottsdale and was in a RR car
in the middle of the building. We followed her to a Lake north of Scottsdale, it was fun.

Brother-in-Law was F15 Maintenance. Iran was burning up the training jets at the time.

Later went to Wyoming to another Sis's Wedding. The West is meant to fly over. haha
Wave Runners can be lots of fun. AC & UTV's are great. It was cooler up the mountain
over Casper. Helped drive a herd of sheep that day.

Stopped at a Corn Palace one afternoon years later in the Dakotas. Whole town smelled like
the palace.

It was a different time back then!
 
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July and August is our hottest!!
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VintageBetter said:
Pavement, especially blacktop, is just the worst.

I wonder why in the Midwest they tend to pave their city roads in cement, not blacktop. I came to the conclusion that maybe it's because the snow and cold make blacktop get potholes more easily? Cement deals with the cold better? But I don't know for sure.

But either of them, pavement or blacktop, are just awful in the desert. There are a few trees, very few, that can survive in such heat. One if the African Fern Tree and once they grow tall, they are quite good shade providers. African Fern Pine - Plant Care and Growing Guide - Gardening Den

Palm trees are OK, but the huge mistake cities always make is that they plant them far apart, often as lone individuals meant to be more decorative than shade-producing. But in the wild, palm trees grow close together and that way they can actually provide shade. They are a pain in the rear to trim though. City has to figure that cost in.

But Phoenix, yeah, I'd put it on my list of Cities to Fix First for the heat of climate change.

That is the problem with Boom Towns. Everybody is busy counting money brought by the newcomers but they never sit down and actually PLAN for all the negative repercussions. The šŸ’²šŸ’² blinds them.

The Jacaranda is another great shade tree that can survive in Phoenix. Jacaranda Tree In Phoenix Arizona

These city & county leaders need to turn into tree-huggers STAT.
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Those are all wonderful suggestions and the city planners have started to do many of those things, especially planting more trees downtown . Eucalyptus trees were the tree of choice for a very long time but they do present problems , mainly their branches falling off easily during storms.

The city did start trying out the new "cool pavements" but studies are finding that they really don't help as much as first thought.

I do hope that Las Vegas is paying attention to what is happening here. It is at a point that Phoenix was a couple of decades ago as far as population goes and it will continue to grow , probably faster than Phoenix did. Of course Vegas is different from Phoenix in many ways, most notably being a world wide destination point so it does have a challenge in keeping the strip vibrant and exciting. But the city has done very well in taking steps to conserve water. Hopefully as it grows, the planners will not turn it into another unplanned urban sprawl like Phoenix or LA.
 
I still remember back in the early 1980s when in Phoenix the temp went over 116Ā° and we had a 3-hour delay before takeoff. The engines back then weren't as predictable as they are today. I thought we would be fine, but United wanted the temp to be below 110Ā°. So, we waited to the dismay of my passengers. Like any good Captain, I blamed it on the company. (lol)
 
MarkinPhx said:
Central A/C is in most homes, apartments, hotels,etc. A/C is the norm everywhere. The legislature passed a law last year stating that utility companies can't disconnect power for accounts that are delinquent between the months of June-October. This is because a senior woman died last summer after her power has been disconnected because she was behind her payments

The power grid holds up well here. We've had no brown out days or total breakdowns or the grid. Once in awhile neighborhoods power will go out because of the summer storms. Some of those storms can get intense when the hot air collides with the cool moist air coming from the mountains up north.

The biggest problem for those at home is with the AC unit goes out. Sometimes it can take a few days if it needs to be replaced. In those cases,I think most do go to a motel or crash at a friend's or relative's place. If the unit was under warranty then most companies will give vouchers to the family to stay at a motel or hotel.

In. my daily life, I relate it to as someone living in a place such as Toronto or Chicago in the winter time. I hunker up for a couple months out of the year and avoid the elements the best I can. That's what most of us do. Unfortunately, the homeless can't do the same. They often go to the city libraries to escape the heat during the day.

Utility bills can get expensive but most people use an equalizer plan. Utility cost are much cheaper outside of the summer. I rarely turn on the heat outside of maybe January. So the utility companies set up a plan to pay a set monthly amount each month based on the total cost of energy used for the past year.
Click to expand...

MarkinPhx said:
Those are all wonderful suggestions and the city planners have started to do many of those things, especially planting more trees downtown . Eucalyptus trees were the tree of choice for a very long time but they do present problems , mainly their branches falling off easily during storms.

The city did start trying out the new "cool pavements" but studies are finding that they really don't help as much as first thought.

I do hope that Las Vegas is paying attention to what is happening here. It is at a point that Phoenix was a couple of decades ago as far as population goes and it will continue to grow , probably faster than Phoenix did. Of course Vegas is different from Phoenix in many ways, most notably being a world wide destination point so it does have a challenge in keeping the strip vibrant and exciting. But the city has done very well in taking steps to conserve water. Hopefully as it grows, the planners will not turn it into another unplanned urban sprawl like Phoenix or LA.
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Las Vegas has a big tax base, which is a huge advantage over Phoenix. All that tourism. If they don't have enough revenue they need to do lots of audits.

I love eucalyptus trees in theory, but they can be big torches in wildfires and with all that wind in the desert, you don't want that.

There is new paint coming out that is the whitest paint man has ever made. It's supposed to be great for roofs. I think maybe city planners need to make a paint budget. Cool your home by painting your roof: World's whitest paint on track to be sold to public

I wish they'd hurry up and get that in production.
 
When we lived in the Detroit area for six years back in the 70's, there would always be a week-long stretch in the summer when the temps would get as high as 105. Yep, in Detroit.

Few people had air conditioning, and the old folks would die in alarming numbers.

They wouldn't open their windows because of the crime and wouldn't use their fans because of the cost of electricity. The city would open "cooling shelters" but they wouldn't go to those, either. They'd just stay home and die.
 
jujube said:
When we lived in the Detroit area for six years back in the 70's, there would always be a week-long stretch in the summer when the temps would get as high as 105. Yep, in Detroit.

Few people had air conditioning, and the old folks would die in alarming numbers.

They wouldn't open their windows because of the crime and wouldn't use their fans because of the cost of electricity. The city would open "cooling shelters" but they wouldn't go to those, either. They'd just stay home and die.
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I have had heat exhaustion before and the reason they stay home and died is because it SNEAKS up on a person.

First symptoms might be headache or nausea, so you might stay put and dismiss those as just a headache or a bad lunch.

The CDC says to get to a cool place or get cold cloths on you if you start throwing up, but I say at the first sign of any of those mild symptom, you have to get to a cool place as soon as possible.

When it last happened to me I also felt a tiny bit dizzy and kind of short of breath, but I knew the symptoms so I got myself some wet cloths, ice water, and moved to an air conditioned car in the shade. I just rested for about an hour and then went home.

But it creeps up on a person very fast, and since one of the symptoms can also be confusion, if you are with others and they ask you if you are OK, you might not always answer coherently.

Symptoms of Heat-Related Illnesses

Heat-Related Illnesses (Heat Cramps, Heat Exhaustion, Heat Stroke)

Cities in AZ and in the other Western desert towns should be posting signs around town with the symptoms of heat exhaustion for the homeless to know about. Should post them at every other bus stop too, and the parks and police stations. People need information.

But many heat-related deaths of the homeless are not drug ODs. They are heat deaths.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
How hot does it get where you live Starsong?
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August is generally hottest, with average high temperatures at about 90Ā°, but that's with low humidity and the blessing of overnight lows reliably being 30Ā° below the highs. "Feels like" temperatures here almost always match up exactly with actual temperatures.

We get some spells of 105-109Ā°, and rarely into the teens. Summer humidity is low, so heat is far less uncomfortable than, say, Florida at the same temp.

Long range forecasts for temps over 105Ā° will kick me into the gear of stocking up on perishables to minimize my outings. If errands have to be run, I try to do so in the early mornings - and then I bounce from an AC house to an AC car to an AC destination.

How warm does it get where you live, PP?
 
StarSong said:
August is generally hottest, with average high temperatures at about 90Ā°, but that's with low humidity and the blessing of overnight lows reliably being 30Ā° below the highs. "Feels like" temperatures here almost always match up exactly with actual temperatures.

We get some spells of 105-109Ā°, and rarely into the teens. Summer humidity is low, so heat is far less uncomfortable than, say, Florida at the same temp.

Long range forecasts for temps over 105Ā° will kick me into the gear of stocking up on perishables to minimize my outings. If errands have to be run, I try to do so in the early mornings - and then I bounce from an AC house to an AC car to an AC destination.

How warm does it get where you live, PP?
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Temperature get quite high where you are but you seem to have your managing it under control. Go early in the morning when itā€™s coolest.

In the 3 years weā€™ve been here. The hottest it gotten is 28 Celsius which is about 82 Fahrenheit. Luckily we have a heat pump which turns into an awesome air conditioner.
Today is only 13 so sweater weather or long sleeve at least. After walking some I usually take the sweater off. I think the ocean brings in breeezes to cool off what it might normally be. We live about 500 metres from the ocean or a salt water lake

Thanks Starsong
Have a nice day
 
I should add that our situation isn't terribly different from what is faced by people living in cold climates. When blizzards or Arctic temps are forecast, wise northerners stock their pantries, have backup generators, and ensure their heating (and back up heating) supplies are sufficient.

If my AC goes on the fritz or my area has a power outage, I can drive to one of my kids' AC-ed houses. Heat may be uncomfortable but since it doesn't need plowing or shoveling, traveling is always an option.
 
I think that the only major city in the US that has "perfect" weather year round is San Diego. Most cities have their plusses and minuses when it comes to weather.
 
When we lived out west of Phoenix we had friends that were snowbirds without leaving the state. They spent their summers up in the high country near Flagstaff which is quite pleasant. In the winter they came down to the valley. There is a ski resort near Flagstaff.

We stayed for some years and then came back to Florida.
 
They are predicting a particularly hot and humid summer for the Washington, DC region this year, even worse than usual. Just what we need.
 
MarkinPhx said:
It strange but a 100Ā° day in LA feels a lot hotter to me than a 100Ā° in Phoenix. I think a lot of it is because it is more humid in LA area. One of the worse sunburns I ever got was on a cloudy day at the beach in San Diego !
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Humidity is always key to the 'comfort' level in high temps.

Example, this week, Houston has been in the 90's, but lower humidity and strong breezes make it feel very tolerable.
 

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