Summer coming to AZ.

Actually, not that many people lived here before coolers and A/C. 1950 population of Phoenix was about 20,000.

I moved here in 1975 and there was about 1,000,000 people in the entire valley, suburbs included.

The booming population has caused a lot of concrete, asphalt and tile roofs to replace dirt, a few desert plants, and agriculture. All the non natural items retain heat, and it stays a lot hotter at night than it did 20+ years ago.

Many people lived all summer with nothing but an evaporative cooler. The few natives I used to meet remember that their families covered open windows with wet sheets, and got by just fine.

Now we have summer stretches where the overnight low is right around 100 degrees.

Progress, I guess

It isn't that we're getting older, it really is getting worse.

Jim
 
jgg85234 said:
Actually, not that many people lived here before coolers and A/C. 1950 population of Phoenix was about 20,000.

I moved here in 1975 and there was about 1,000,000 people in the entire valley, suburbs included.

The booming population has caused a lot of concrete, asphalt and tile roofs to replace dirt, a few desert plants, and agriculture. All the non natural items retain heat, and it stays a lot hotter at night than it did 20+ years ago.

Many people lived all summer with nothing but an evaporative cooler. The few natives I used to meet remember that their families covered open windows with wet sheets, and got by just fine.

Now we have summer stretches where the overnight low is right around 100 degrees.

Progress, I guess

It isn't that we're getting older, it really is getting worse.

Jim
Click to expand...

Been here since 1977. Told the wife then that we are good. Nobody would come here to live but it seems the normal high back then was 104-106 and nights in the 60-70 range. Now it's 115 and like you say 100 at night. It just is not right driving to work at 5:00am with the a/c on.

Dave
 
Do you have any white cars to point that temperature sensor at? I would do it, but I don't have one of those remote temperature gauges.

If you do, you'll probably want white or silver cars.

I've had mostly light colored cars, and everytime I got a darker one, I remembered why I was supposed to buy a white one.

Jim
 
jgg85234 said:
Do you have any white cars to point that temperature sensor at? I would do it, but I don't have one of those remote temperature gauges.

If you do, you'll probably want white or silver cars.

I've had mostly light colored cars, and everytime I got a darker one, I remembered why I was supposed to buy a white one.

Jim
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Post 13 White Hood 116 ambient 106. Lowest of readings. Nothing personal but I drive that white Van for work and I always feel like I am driving an appliance. Guess that is what happens when you were born before colored appliances came along.

Dave
 
You don't have to stay only white.
My wife's truck is Burgundy, and that doesn't seem to heat up all that much.
Over the years I've had several whites, a gold, a silver, a red, a dark green and a medium blue.

It's the dark blues and blacks that really heat up.

Even the greens and reds don't seem to absorb the same amount of rays, although I've never had a temperature sensor.

Jim
 
The Ford Twilight Metallic Blue (almost black) in post 1 164ish degrees. No wonder the a/c in that car does not seem to cool that well. The Toyota Desert Sand is a little on the warm side also. The neighbors Black shot at 150 on the lower door just above the rocker panel. The white and Desert Sand in that area read 108 and 112 respectively. Couldn't get a top shot on the black as he has a tarp covering it but I bet it is really HOT.

Dave
 
I see a lot of cars on the road with clear coat failure.
Usually, they are dark colors.

Not often that I see the light cars (especially white) with clear coat failures.

Back in the 70s and 80s, cars that were out in the sun just completely lost their single stage paints along the edges, and started to look like DeLoreans. Again, they were usually the dark colored cars.

Jim
 
Only had 1 white car that had A/C issues. It was my 1994 300ZX. A/C would blow hot air at anything over 115 degrees.

Only later did I find out that in 94 Nissan (and I guess, everyone else) switched from R12 to R134A. Guess they never tested it in Arizona before they did it. A year or two later, they seemed to have it sorted out.

I really liked that car, but I had bought my big telescope. Wife wouldn't let me take her Pathfinder out in the desert, and it just didn't fit in the 300ZX. So it got replaced with a silver X5.

300zx.jpg


Jim
 
There was a lot of flack when the change over happened. Sure miss the R12. It would definately freeze you out.

Dave
 
It got down to under 100 by 11:00 PM last night. It was 99 at 11:05.

Got up at 5:30 (just after sunrise) and it was 75 degrees. I don't think it got below 90 until about 4:00AM. It's already past the season of opening the windows overnight.

When we moved to Gilbert in 1986, there were just over 5,000 people. It cooled off dramatically within an hour of sunset. With all the man made stuff, we're retaining too much heat. There's about 210,000 people here now, so lots of roofs, concrete, asphalt, etc. to retain heat.

I guess it's time to move further out. Gilbert was surrounded by farmland in all directions when we arrived. Many roads were still dirt.

Jim
 
116 to 118 coming this weekend they say. Think I will camp out in the family freezer. Last time it hit 120 they shut down Sky Harbor airport because they were afraid jet aircraft could not build enough thrust to get off the ground.

Dave
 
June 26, 1990.

Wife has a T-Shirt that says "I was there the day the Firebird melted"

It reached 122. It wasn't about the thrust. The FAA information about how to set the flaps only went to 120 degrees. So, they shut down the airport.

New charts created after that event go to 135. I sure do hope we never reach that.

Jim
 
jgg85234 said:
June 26, 1990.

Wife has a T-Shirt that says "I was there the day the Firebird melted"

It reached 122. It wasn't about the thrust. The FAA information about how to set the flaps only went to 120 degrees. So, they shut down the airport.

New charts created after that event go to 135. I sure do hope we never reach that.

Jim
Click to expand...

Remember that day very well (almost). I was doing underground tennis court lighting at a hotel Fife Symington was part owner. Came home all cramped up and ate a whole jar of Costco olives craving whatever was in there. Went to bed cramped and exhausted. Was in my 40's then. Don't think I would survive now. It's gonna be miserable.

Dave
 
I was at U-Haul. In a cool office next to an air-conditioned computer room.

Came outside and said to myself "it doesn't feel that hot".

Got in my air-conditioned car (parked in a covered garage) and went home. That was my 1990 300ZX, with R12 and air conditioning that worked no matter how hot it was outside.

Went in the air-conditioned house.
Went outside into the pool.

What heat?:cool:

Jim
 
I'm in Mesa az. It's hot, my black truck doesn't help. I have a temp reader, when I get the time, I'll get a reading off the hood. Hood has already been painted because of the heat. Black sucks.
 
I wonder just how many of us AZ residents are on this forum.

I see quite a few posts that say AZ.

Jim
 
My white driveway registered 154 this afternoon.

The asphalt registered 163.

Car was only 107, but it was in the garage.

Jim
 
Jomax said:
I'm in Mesa az. It's hot, my black truck doesn't help. I have a temp reader, when I get the time, I'll get a reading off the hood. Hood has already been painted because of the heat. Black sucks.
Click to expand...

Yeah, wrong environment here for black. Sand, blowing dirt and hot. Keeping that thing clean can be a full time project. The Daughters car is Ford Twilight Blue, as close to black you can get without being black.

Dave
 
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