It could get up to 119 F. degrees tomorrow. (48.3 C) Even for those of us who have spent decades in Arizona, that is considered hot. I know, I know, you have heard us say, “But it’s a dr-r-r-r-ry heat.” It is, and the only way I can describe it is like the blast from an oven. It is almost impossible to compare it with heat that includes humidity.
Remember when you have all the humidity you have the literal weight of the moisture in the air. That’s part of what makes a person so lethargic when it’s 98 degrees and the humidity is 98%.
Our problem comes when we get our awful heat and the humidity of the monsoon season. Monsoon is a misnomer, but the Arizona natives have called the rainy summer season “monsoon” and it has stuck.
Our rainy season does not include gentle cooling rain. Instead great mountainous cumulous clouds billow up over the mountains and then the storms come crashing in with noise and flash and shuddering thunder. They are like heat blizzards with punishing winds and more often than not the spectacular lightning that sets off desert wild fires. If we get rain in the spring we get a lot of desert vegetation which dries out in the heat and then is fuel for summer fires.
But after the rain there is the gorgeous, spicy, intoxicating smell of the desert, and nothing else in the world smells better.
Remember when you have all the humidity you have the literal weight of the moisture in the air. That’s part of what makes a person so lethargic when it’s 98 degrees and the humidity is 98%.
Our problem comes when we get our awful heat and the humidity of the monsoon season. Monsoon is a misnomer, but the Arizona natives have called the rainy summer season “monsoon” and it has stuck.
Our rainy season does not include gentle cooling rain. Instead great mountainous cumulous clouds billow up over the mountains and then the storms come crashing in with noise and flash and shuddering thunder. They are like heat blizzards with punishing winds and more often than not the spectacular lightning that sets off desert wild fires. If we get rain in the spring we get a lot of desert vegetation which dries out in the heat and then is fuel for summer fires.
But after the rain there is the gorgeous, spicy, intoxicating smell of the desert, and nothing else in the world smells better.
9 comments:
I just can not fathom that. We did a street fair in Fargo, ND last summer and it got to 107*. Plus the humidity was way over the top. We were set up on the blacktop street between 3 and 4 story buildings on Broadway. They had every available EMT’er out there to help with the people falling over. I had to be there but I thought the shoppers were crazy.
Evonne & S.G.,
107 in humidy, on blacktop is way,way, worse than 119. How in the world did you manage?
Holy crap, 119 is too hot!
Brett,
Remember that "cool" forth of July when we went to see the fireworks?
Ah, those were the days. It was in the low 90's and we thought it was very pleasant.
Wow - that's hot. Today I wore two tshirts and had goose bumps as I waited for my bus (plus jacket!). We've had thunder and constant rain too - but without any sort of heat preceding it.
Keep cool...
Mrs F x
Mrs. Fashion,
I'll be more than happy to send any amount of heat you want. No charge! A little gentle rain would be appreciated here.
Dry heat , hot heat...it's all HEAT!! I love the cooler days of the dogs of summer...Your air conditioner must get quite the work out! From air conditioned house to air conditioned car and back again...works for Me!
Neva,
Amen to that. We also ALWAYS have the car windows tinted. That makes a huge difference, and we use sun reflectors in out windshields, too.
In the last year lots of people, men included, are using umbrellas to keep off the sun. I guess it has become the "cool" thing todo.
wow....isn't is amazing what we do when we have to...a great idea BTW.
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