It WAS a Dry Heat...

A few weeks ago all of our out of town friends and family were aghast at the high temps we were experiencing. They oohed and aahed over the 120 high we had and wondered how we could survive it.

Yes, it was hot (in Phoenix the word "hot" does not appear in the forecast until it's over 110 degrees), but when we say it's a dry heat it really is a dry heat. During the hottest week in June when temps climb to the 115+ range, the dew point is often in the negative digits. So although you're hot, you're not dripping with sweat.

Then the wind shifts and the Monsoon begins and everything changes. The dew points shoot up to the 50s and 60s, the temps drop to the low to mid 100s and it is miserable. You sweat. Every drink you drink sweats. The air feels thick and very hot. It is no longer a dry heat.

Even so, I live for Monsoon season. The clouds build up in the mountains to the North, East and South of us. They are beautiful. The chance of rain is in the forecast and I hope that some rain will fall before we go to bed. (When I first moved to Phoenix, monsoon storms typically hit at 5 - 7 pm. Now that there is so much more concrete, they rarely hit until after 10 pm.) If we're lucky enough to receive a rain shower, we run outside and stand in it. At least until the lightning gets too scary.

The rest of the country is used to being outside in the Summer months, but here we hibernate in the summer, unless you're lucky enough to have access to a swimming pool. The trade off is that we're outside for the Fall, Winter, and Spring months. And we rarely have to have a Plan B for outside activities because it rarely rains during those months.

We were on vacation in Colorado last week and someone asked us how long does the rain last in a Monsoon storm? About 10-20 minutes we replied. From the look on their face, I know they couldn't comprehend that kind of weather. But it's what we're used to and what I anticipate very summer.

A dust storm blowing into Phoenix from the South during Monsoon.