People who live in Arizona but hate hot weather, how do you deal?

43 comments

  5. The mountains are actually quite cool. I go to school there and it snows every year without fail, which is more than can be said of back home.

  6. Does not compute. Better a Phoenix summer than an uninhabitable Great Lakes/Ontario winter, anyway.

  10. Stay inside where there’s air conditioning.

    If you’re an outdoorsy type you can take a weekend trip to the mountains up north or even go down south to somewhere like Bisbee where it’ll still be warm, but much cooler in the summer than the valley around Phoenix.

  11. Air conditioning, light clothes, and, I cannot stress this enough, *cloth seats/seat covers, a steering wheel cover, and a windshield cover*

  12. I remember that late October to… pretty much right about now, it’s super pleasant outside like all the time.

    For a solid third of every year I turn the AC off and open the windows all day and night, never have to turn the heat on.

    The price for that is those summer days in the 1’teens, but last month my electric bill was literally 5 dollars (although I do have solar too).

  13. In late January I went mountain biking in shorts. I spend the four or five months of “holly shit I feel like I’m sitting on the surface of the sun” thinking of the winters here. I’m a Pennsylvania transplant.

  14. Lots of air conditioning and solar panels to pay for the air conditioning. I think it’s going to be 97F on Friday in Phoenix. We also go in our pool daily, until the water gets into the mid 90s and isn’t refreshing anymore.

    Psychologically, I’ve found it really helps how you frame the heat. You’re essentially staying inside for 3-4 months, which is very similar to what northerners do in the winter. I think of the summer as Arizona’s shitty “winter” months and it helps a lot.

  15. A someone who lives in a cooler but significantly more humid area I can safely say that I’d rather spend a summer in Arizona than at my own town.

  17. I love the warm weather but 115+ is Too Damn Hot by any measure. I dealt with it by drinking my weight in Gatorade and trying to minimize the amount of time I was outside between 12 and 6 — walking home at midnight is safer than walking home at 3pm in the summer. You’re statistically unlikely to be mugged, but heat exhaustion and especially heat stroke are very dangerous.

  19. Honestly it sucks, always, but especially at the start of the hot season. You’ve had all winter of nice weather and suddenly you’re damn wet all the time with sweat. You shower multiple times a day and burn your feet on the pavement letting the dog out.

    I’m not sure when exactly but you just get used to being super sweaty at some point and it doesn’t bother you anymore. There’s a couple weeks, maybe longer where you hate it but then it’s just the norm.

  20. I lived in Florida, but mostly avoid direct sunlight. If it’s 100 in the sun, it’s like 80 in the shade, even if you provide that shade with a big hat or an umbrella.

    I slept in a Van, so finding the angles I could safely nap during the day while waiting for my shift at night was an important skill

  22. Step one- don’t live south of Prescott.

    Step two- light breathable clothes that *cover* most of your extremities especially your arms. Sunburn will fuck you up but being uncomfortable and dehydrated is usually fixable.

    Step three- bring water with you or drop into places of business with water and ask them for some. They *HAVE* to give it to you if they have a tap.

    Step four- sunscreen or skin cancer denial

    Step five- Complain when it’s hot and then later in the year complain that it’s cold.

  23. I don’t hate the heat but also don’t love it. I definitely hate snow after living in it for 30 years so it’s a good trade off for me.

  24. It’s simple. We just spend 5 months a year in a deep existential crisis questioning every decision we’ve made that led us to that miserable hot moment.

  25. You just don’t leave your nice AC house during the day. Then you leave during the night because the nights are the best thing about AZ summers.

  26. In general, if you have AC you’re okay. But where I live in Tucson there are a lot of older houses that only have evaporated cooling. It works great until the temperature reaches 105 but after that, the system can only cool your house about 15 to 20 degrees. So you can see where I’m going with this. Plus, if it’s humid it doesn’t work at all. And we have a summer monsoon.

    The amazing thing about central and southern Arizona is that there are really tall mountains outside of the valley cities.

    The taller mountains around Tucson are over 9000 feet, and there is easy access to get to them. Within an hour you can go from the Sonoran desert to an environment more akin to the northern US or Southern Canada with a 20 to 30 degree temperature drop depending on the weather.

    Staying up there or camping on the mountains is wonderful in summer. And as other people have said driving up to northern AZ is also an option too. I remember a couple of years ago I was on the ski lift up the San Francisco peaks and it was 50 degrees and then drove back to Tucson and it was 108 degrees! Lol.

  29. I live in New Mexico and I , dress in light gray shirts and shorts with flip flops when I go out in the heat , it’s not to bad , I’m originally from Washington state. So it’s a drastic change but not to bad if you acclimate for a little while.

  30. Born and raised in the valley. I was born in it, molded by it. *Bane voice*

    Jokes aside, just stay inside. If you work outside, take breaks and drink tons of water. Check your fellow Arizonans for heat exhaustion and signs of heat stroke.

    Story-time: My aunt from Alaska visited Arizona during the summer. She was mowing the lawn for my grandpa. She nearly passed out. Thankfully, my grandparents noticed and made sure she was okay. Moral of the story: Safety is important. Choose safety.

  33. In my mom’s family’s experience, the answer was “move to the coast”

  37. As my mom once said “it’s not so bad when you go from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car to get to your air conditioned work.”

  39. The only thing better than having a swimming pool in Arizona is having a good friend with one. Enjoy cooling off without the hassle and cost of maintenance.

  40. In much of Arizona, you also adjust your schedule, as much as possible. November through April, go for a walk anytime during the day. Once it’s summer, however, get your dog walking, jogging, whatever, done before 8:30 or 9:00am or forget it until well after dark. You certainly can’t let pets walk on the sidewalk after early morning.

  41. I don’t live in PHX, but I have very close friends/family who do so I visit quite often. The way they approach summer is how Northerners approach winter, which is to say they mildly hibernate. They get up early to beat the sun, stay inside to avoid the heat and go to bed early. The only thing that I just can’t deal with (and I understand bc AC is expensive) is the high temps they keep the thermostat – like 78-80? It’s unbearable to me, but they’re so used to it. I live in a mild climate so visiting Phoenix is always a bit like opening the oven and being grateful you sleep on the top rack as opposed to the bottom haha!

  42. I live in Florida not AZ, but I’m here to tell you they have it waaaaay better in AZ because they don’t have humidity. Humidity is what makes heat unbearable.

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