by Ashley
Living in Tucson, we have it pretty good during the winter. We get a nice crisp chill in the air and can drive to the mountains to play in snow (yes, there are little mountains in Tucson), but we only have a handful of below-freezing nights and rarely encounter snow in the city.
So I like to playfully tease my friends in the North during winter time – mocking them with pictures of our sunny outside fun.
That being said, I pay for it when the summer months roll around. Here’s a snap shot I took of our weather last week:
Yeah. That’s accurate. Temps ranging from 106-115* daily. No relief in sight. It is H-O-T, y’all! So I’m just going to prepare myself now for the higher electric bill that’s bound to be showing up sometime soon. I’ve got our thermostat set on 78* during the day, but its so hot outside that maintaining a 78* temperature inside means the A/C is literally running all.the.time. No fun for our pocketbook!
Luckily, we have a friend with a pool so we’ve been doing lots of swimming at her house (we have a community pool, too, but its not nearly as nice and can be kind of crazy during summer). Otherwise, we’re cooped up indoors and its driving me nuts! I love summer, but I already can’t wait for the temps to drop again. Anything over 100* is really brutal!
How’s the weather where you live? What temperature do you set your thermostat at? Any fun summertime plans (bonus points for cheap/free fun!)?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
My local library allows you to “check out” passes to local museums and attractions where you can go for free or at a discounted price. All are family friendly. I love to do this when I have people in town too who was to see some of the attractions in the area.
This sounds awesome! I’ll have to check this out! Also, after I officially start my job I know the university offers discounted (or free) admission to several museums and attractions on campus. Our go-to had been the zoo, but it’s just so hot now! Even if we go right when they open, it’s still already in the 90s with the temp continuing to rise from there!
I’m totally with you on the over 100 thing. I HATE it. I’m in the central valley of California and last week was brutal. 102-107. This week it’s only going to be in the high ’90’s. 😉
I have a pool so I almost never run the A/C. I get in the pool, get wet, and find some shade to sit in until I get too hot again. I run ceiling fans in every room though and my electric bill is generally about $200/month for the summer months.
I can only say that my next move is going to be back to a temperate climate. Stay cool!
I’m in Phoenix, so my weather looks just like yours. When my kids were little, I would take them to malls that had the indoor play areas. It was a great way to get out of the house. Splash pads are always nice too. We would also find libraries that had summer kids programs, over the years we saw magicians, exotic animals, story times, all kinds of things. Now that my kids are older we have water park season passes, but I’m not sure if I would recommend that for younger kids.
Yeah, our only water park in Tucson is pretty lackluster anyway (and, like you mentioned, probably not a worthwhile season purchase for young toddlers). I don’t envy you! In the past I’ve wished we lived in Phoenix (more to do, larger airport with more direct flights, larger city), but Tucson tends to be 2-3 degrees cooler than Phoenix and during the summer months it makes a big difference! Stay cool!!!
78 inside?!? I would die!! I absolutely hate being hot and sweating. I sweat like a man even though I’m a woman…couldn’t live in Arizona!! In TN where I live it gets up to 100, 105 in the summer sometimes and the humidity is awwwwful but I love the other seasons. I’m in London at the moment and the weather here is highs of 68 with a very breezy wind in the summer! Crazy that it is like no summer at all, although I don’t mind it since I’m hot-natured!
Oh I sweat like a man, too. I’m basically sweating all the time. This is one of the reasons why I wear workout clothes/yoga pants all the time (plus the whole comfort thing…) ; )
I hear ya!!! We are in Northern California and when you think “northern” you think cool, right???? NOT!!!! We are between 99 – 106 this week 🙁 Thankfully we have a pool but quite frankly, we don’t use it as much as we could/should.
I keep our a/c set at 79* and it too is running quite often….the only saving grace lately is we have been able to open the windows at night and with the whole house fan on, get a cool breeze which normally doesn’t happen but I’m enjoying it while I can!
San Antonio here. Normally it’d be sunny and mid to high 90s/low 100s. But since we’ve entered into a freak (yet needed) monsoon season, it’s been mostly cloudy and 85-92. And huuuumid. I keep my house set to 81 during the time I’m not there, and 76 when I am.
My family in Austin has been complaining about the incessant humidity, too! It’s funny because I grew up in humid places so when we first moved to the desert I actually MISSED the humidity (can you believe it?!) Now, of course, whenever I visit somewhere humid I feel like I’m roasting in a steamer!
Ok I’ll never complain about heat again. We usually get into the 90’s but have tons of lakes and rivers around to go in. It’s very common to drive over small bridges and see people jumping off them to go swimming. We’re lucky now the highest we’ve been getting is 80. Our mobile home we have now have lots of windows on each side so we get a nice cross breeze. Last year we didn’t even need the AC.
Melting here in Alabama too. Temps in upper 90’s, with humidity that puts the heat index over 100. We keep the thermostat set at 71 and ours is running almost all day and it still creeps up to 75 or 76 during the day, even with all the blinds closed. I could not handle it set at 78!
I live in KS and it gets that hot here routinely in the summer too. Ugh! My friends and family make fun of me for keeping the AC set at 78 when I’m home and 82 when I’m not, but it helps keep my bill lower, so I’ll take it!