Phoenix….Valley of the Sun! That’s what it’s known for with at least 300 days of sunshine in a year. With temperatures averaging around 19 Celsius or 67 Fahrenheit in December & January it’s no wonder so many people from colder climates have flocked here for generations in the winter months. And those are the coldest months….pretty easy to take! Later in the evening, because there is no humidity to keep the mild temperatures at the surface level, it can cool down some so that you might have to wear a sweater or a light jacket….I call mine my parka! There is absolutely no necessity for a large front entry closet in the Greater Phoenix area and you generally won’t see them in any of the houses here.
February is mild, March & April are gorgeous as well as October & November with daily highs in the mid 20s-upper 20s Celsius or 70s & 80s Fahrenheit……this is the life. You can wear a golf shirt almost every day! We hardly get wind to speak of. In Alberta it’s windy almost every day and it drives people crazy some years……….here windy days are not the norm and we really enjoy the majority of days being so calm.
Does Phoenix get stormy weather? Yes, but by most other geographic location standards, even our stormy weather pales in severity. Sure we can get some dust storms in July & August such as the unprecedented 5 that we got this year in 2011 but the photos make it look much more menacing than it actually was. It was actually like being in a fog but with dust instead of moisture. I had to clean off my patio furniture and for those that have pools you may have had to clean the debris out of them especially in the areas that had some wind that accompanied it. There were some downed trees and a small amount of electrical outages in the east valley on one occasion. From approximately June 15-September 30 our stormy season is called Monsoon season or ‘shifting of the winds’. There’s more of an easterly or southeasterly flow during the summer and with hot days there is potential for inclement weather with thunder & lightening, isolated showers and some wind which can get strong in certain parts of the valley. It varies where but most often they strike in the east and northeast valley. I find it peculiar that we call rain storms Monsoons here when I think about parts of the world that actually get catastrophic Monsoon weather. We don’t get any kind of catastrophic events here….no earthquakes, no mudslides, no hurricanes.
I love the heat…I wouldn’t if I had to work in it like road crews or gardeners. Everywhere has air conditioning…the car, your house, all commercial buildings and if you want to do outdoor activities in the summer you get out early in the morning. It’s nice to wear shorts all the time and to be able to sit out at night on the patio and not have any mosquitos swarming around you is great. Also, riding a motorcycle at night is very refreshing!
Last year Scottsdale had a hail storm which happens so rarely it made news around the continent. Same thing with tornadoes……almost never anywhere around here. In Alberta, as an example, this is another matter. Hail is frequent and tornadoes definitely do happen! If you live between Carstairs and Red Deer you know what I’m talking about as this is a snow belt in the winter and a hail belt in the summer with the threat of tornadoes being very real. What we get in Phoenix by Phoenician standards is some stormy weather but by Canadian standards it’s not very. I was born and raised in Winnipeg and then Calgary…the summer weather that we get there is dramatically more violent in nature with hail, high winds, torrential downpours, flooding in streets and under overpasses and it happens several times throughout the season. There is usually more rain in June than what Phoenix gets in nearly a year!
In the winter time we can get some rain for a few days that are far and few between but it is very welcome as Phoenix only gets about 7 1/2 inches of rainfall maximum in a year so when it rains people rejoice. In Canada we get too much rain and can never keep our vehicle clean for more than a few days so we don’t like the constant rain threat there. But down here we can keep our vehicle clean for 2 weeks so we don’t mind that aspect and our landscaping soaks up whatever we can get.
It never fails that we get phone calls from back home after a rainfall in January or February or any other month for that matter with the comment…..”I heard you guys had a storm!”. Well that’s how the news stations report rainfall down here as it doesn’t happen very often. I watch Channel 3 news here daily (bless their hearts…they’re our favourites) and I get the biggest kick out of the weather forecasters following rainfall when April, Royal or Brittney will say ” yesterday’s storm brought 1/4 inch to Goodyear & Surprise, 1/3 of an inch to Mesa & Chandler and 3/8 of an inch to Scottsdale & Cave Creek”. I grew up in Canada……a little wind, maybe some lightening and a 1/3 of an inch of rain is not a storm! But the word gets out around the continent that we had one and the phone is ringing….too funny!
The Phoenix lifestyle…………we love the weather here and are so very appreciative that we get to experience it. I have access here to watch CFL football, a better selection of hockey, curling and news from back home. When I watch the Canadian weather in the winter months I am so thankful that I am here. I got US citizenship as my Father is a born and raised Bostonian so I get to work and live here. Our clients that have vacation homes here can’t wait to come back down and do just that every chance that they can get to enjoy the weather, the multitude of sporting, entertainment & cultural venues, beautiful scenery throughout the state, golfing galore, shopping, dining and the list goes on………..
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