This from my Arizona Republic real estate column (permanent link):
If you live in New York or Boston or Chicago, there will come a day in the Spring when the cold will seem to be in full retreat. The sun will be shining. The icicles on the trees will be melting, and the tickle of the cold drops of water on your hair and neck will make you want to throw your arms out wide and rejoice in your release from the awful prison of Winter.
That happens in Phoenix, too, but it happens six months earlier, on September 15th. Mid-March has its own charms, when the citrus trees open their blossoms and the air is thick with the nectar of heaven perfected. But it’s when the Summer breaks in Phoenix that people come outdoors, knowing that the next ten months will be simply perfect.
Consider: On August 15th, the late-afternoon temperature could be 115 blistering degrees. The sun will be relentless, seeming to hang for hours above the horizon, seeming never to set. The relative humidity will be 40% or more — which doesn’t sound too bad until you remember the temperature. Late in the day, huge storms could come thundering into the Valley of the Sun, flooding the low-lands and even tearing the roofs off of older houses.
That season — we call it “the Monsoon” — lasts from July 15th to September 15th. But when September 15th rolls around… paradise ensues. Daytime high temperatures drop to below 100 and the relative humidity tops off at below 10% — so dry you can smell the dry leaves and pine needles baking in the sunlight.
That might still sound too hot to you, but it’s not. It’s just perfect, an ideal time to be outdoors — all day and all night. There is simply no place like Phoenix, no place on Earth. We suffer, slightly, during the Monsoon, but we are repaid with ten months of the kind of weather that other cities are lucky to see for ten days in any given year.
And Winter — which you are just now beginning to dread — is our most perfect season of them all…
Doug Quance says:
We’re having a monsoon right now in Atlanta.
I woke up to water pouring into the basement at 5AM. I think I saw an ark floating down the street – can’t be sure.
No dry heat here, I’m afraid.
September 21, 2009 — 4:51 am
Glenn Kelman says:
Almost a little poetry in there Greg. I’m as close to moving to Phoenix as I’ll ever be…
September 21, 2009 — 6:17 am
Matt says:
Greg, I’ve always said we have two seasons here in the Phoenix area, summer and Real Summer.
September 21, 2009 — 6:30 am
Joe Strummer says:
No lie. Phoenix from September to early May is fantastic. I’m in a pretty nice place weather-wise now – North Carolina – where snow might come once a winter.
Here’s another thing about Arizona that makes it fantastic. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, or how old you are when you move to Arizona: you can reinvent yourself there. It was rare to find someone my age – mid 30s – who was born and raised in Arizona. Everyone was from somewhere else. Maybe you encountered a little good natured ribbing for coming from California, but no one truly holds it against you.
While there’s a lot to admire about the southeast, one difficulty is that you will always be regarded as an outsider in certain circles if you aren’t from the south.
Phoenix is truly a place where you can build a new life, and in short order be considered an Arizonan.
September 21, 2009 — 10:56 am
Sean Purcell says:
we are repaid with ten months of the kind of weather that other cities are lucky to see for ten days in any given year
While here in San Diego, we count ourselves lucky if we see less than ten days of that kind of heat. I guess even 82 and sunny almost year round has its detractors… 🙂
September 21, 2009 — 1:15 pm
Jessica Horton says:
Just got back from Phoenix and exploring the Canyon and Montezuma Castle–It was glorious! I could see myself living there.
I envy you, Greg! 🙂
September 21, 2009 — 2:22 pm
Greg Dallaire says:
Greg,
You got me thinking about visiting my grand parents again in Sun City West Arizona I spent three days there last year and would love to come back. Playing golf mostly year round sounds like a dream to me 🙂
September 21, 2009 — 8:47 pm