Albuquerque Weather (Las Cruces: how much, landscaping, neighborhoods)
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This is really fascinating because our weather in Illinois and New York State always got really hot and steamy in August. June was still almost Spring like and July was upper 80s and low 90s. That being said, with the humidity always ever present, it felt excruciating. Believe me - we KNOW we are blessed here.
> ... our weather in Illinois and New York State always got
> really hot and steamy in August. June was still almost
> Spring like and July was upper 80s and low 90s. ... excruciating.
The weather East of the Rockies is driven to large extent by systems
coming in from Canada and the Gulf. In the summer, it is the Gulf that
brings the rain/warm air/humidity.
In San Francisco, the warmest months of the year are September
and October, but the range between winter lows and 'summer'
highs are small compared to Illinois/New York.
In the desert SW, the temperatures are much more solar driven.
If you plot out the average temperatures through the year, you'll
see the highest temps occur just at the point the days are the longest.
The reverse happens in winter. I'd post a plot, but I haven't learned
how to post pictures here yet.
We just moved out of Abq last week. We lived there for about 3 years, part of 4 summers.
Before we got there, everyone kept telling us that the weather was nice, a swamp cooler and a couple ceiling fans would be enough to keep you cool.
That might have been true 20 years ago, but it is/was not true for the years we lived there. We lived in Paradise Hills (NW side). On any given day, check the weather channel for the temp, then add 8-10 degrees, even in summer.
While the heat is not as intense as AZ and the humidity is nowhere near FL, you will need an A/C and some shade (if you plan on being outdoors at any point during daylight hours May through September).
Of course, I just moved to COS... record temps around here. Last week we hit 100. It must just be me!
That might have been true 20 years ago, but it is/was not true for the years we lived there. We lived in Paradise Hills (NW side). On any given day, check the weather channel for the temp, then add 8-10 degrees, even in summer.
This is 100% true. Albuquerque's official high (which you'll see on the Weather Channel) comes from the airport, which is one of the coolest places in the city (outside of the foothills or high west mesa) for high temperatures (although a warmer place in the city for low temps as well). Typically, if it is 96 degrees for a high in Albuquerque, it hit the low 100s in parts of the Northeast Heights, the West Side, etc., and even a few degrees warmer in the Valleys.
See this weather summary of official current weather station readings:
(for instance, here it is showing as I post this 95 degrees at the Sunport [the official temp] however 101 degrees at two stations and 99 at the Balloon Fiesta reading center).
Albuquerque is not as bad if you hate humidity to the Southeast's lower portions in terms of heat combined WITH humidity, or compared to the lower desert regions like PHX, Vegas, etc. However, I can't quite call ABQ's summer temperate either...it does get hot, and the monsoons are far from a "sure thing" although some years really do cool things off in July and August.
Albuquerque summers get hot...but once they peak at the end of June very early July. Then it goes down and cools off. Because of this we have perfect Falls and Springs. Though our summers get hot...they don't get that hot. Unlike other parts of the country, Albuquerque doesn't reach its max temperature until later in the day. I was in Boulder, Co this last weekend at it was already into the 90's by 9 am.
I tend not to differentiate between 95 and 105 or evern 115 since if
I go outside and do anything, I'll need a shower afterward. However,
the nice thing about Albuquerque and all of NM is that when the sun
comes up the next day, you have a couple hours of nice to tolerable
temperatures as long as you are not directly in the sun.
I couldn't say that about Phoenix.
Average daytime highs (official at ABQ) are below 90 by 08/16
and are below 85 by 09/09 and below 80 by 09/21, however,
the all-time records on those dates are 99, 95, 91 respectively.
Nightime lows are 63, 59, 53 with record high lows of 70,69,65
where Phoenix averages are 79, 77, 71 with records 89, 88, 82.
Your mileage may vary, but that gives an idea on the "Dog Days."
In Phoenix we all waited breathlessly for the 5-day forcast to all
be below 100 sometime in mid to late September. In ABQ we
wait for all below 90 which happens in August.
Before we got there, everyone kept telling us that the weather was nice, a swamp cooler and a couple ceiling fans would be enough to keep you cool.
That might have been true 20 years ago, but it is/was not true for the years we lived there. We lived in Paradise Hills (NW side). On any given day, check the weather channel for the temp, then add 8-10 degrees, even in summer.
I still thank it's true. I am nice and comfortable right now with my swamp cooler and it's pretty hot outside. The great part is my summer time elec bill will average about 60.00 per month. So I will even be comfortable during the few weeks of monsoon.
This is the time to seek cool areas indoors. In the BC era (before children) I would try to catch a matinee movie whenever possible. Now we head for the Aquarium or the Explora, who both have blessedly refrigerated air.
I guess if you haven't sprung for central A/C, you have to hang out at someplace that has.
> I am nice and comfortable right now with my
> swamp cooler and it's pretty hot outside.
If it's 102 out and the humidity is 8% then an
evaporative cooler will work no matter where you
live. It is when relative humidities get up
over 35% or so that a swamp cooler won't work
very well, but it *will* cool the air.
People who are used to refrigerated air often
can't adapt to using a swamp cooler. They want
their conditioned air to be cool (70 degrees) and dry.
Running a swamp cooler will drop your temperatures to the low eighties
during the day, but it will feel cooler since there is a lot more air flow
than with refrigerated air and it's flowing 100% of the time. You also
get the benefits of having a couple of windows cracked or even
leaving a door open to allow the bird noises inside.
We live in the foothills and thus once the sun
gets low in the sky, the winds come off the mountain
and the swamp cooler can be turned off. It generally
only runs from noon to 7 pm.
If you live only a mile W of Tramway, that mountain
cooling takes effect later. In the valley and in
Rio Rancho, a swamp cooler probably needs to run
till way past midnight.
I can easily see where it might be necessary to run
a backup window refrigerated air conditioner in order to
sleep at night in July and August because it might get
pretty sticky inside with added humidity from the cooler.
I've lived in places where the walls would 'sweat' in
the later part of the day due to this effect.
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seek cool areas indoors
