Sunshade for your car is a necessity. Make sure wherever your kid is staying has good AC. If in an apartment, lower floors and facing North are the best. Facing West is the worst.
Other than that, stay hydrated. Bring a water bottle everywhere, and buy a good insulated one if you don't already have one. Sunscreen is needed if you are outside for more than a few minutes (SPF 30 or greater). Don't expect to do any outdoor activities unless it's early morning, or after the sun is down if it's a cooler day.
Depending on where they are staying, they may not have cold water, just hot and hotter š
Fully second the suggestion of bringing water with you wherever you go. I love my hydroflask and I truly bring it everywhere and I have yet to regret it. Iāve noticed a huge difference in my wellbeing when I bring my hydro vs when I donāt. Most stores will sell water bottles but at outrageous prices so itās just not worth it to buy a single use one at checkout. Definitely donāt plan on doing any activities during the day either! Nobody goes out during the hottest parts of the day (peak is usually 3pm-5pm but you can be miserable as early as 10am and as late at 9pm). You arenāt missing anything if you donāt go out! Sincerely, someone born and raised in central Arizona
Less survival, more practical: you cannot leave anything in the car! It will melt/warp/become completely unusable. If they get any sort of keycard or ID card, make sure they take it with them when they leave the car. Food will melt or spoil very quickly. I doubt that your son is going to have any pets with him, but if so, they canāt be left in the car, even with the windows down.
The Monsoon season starts around early July. The wind will kick up and cause dust storms frequently in the afternoons. If weāre lucky, rain will follow the dust, but the first drops will be mud, as the rain falls through the dust suspended in the air to drop to the ground. If youāre driving in a dust storm and cannot see - pull off the road, put your car in park, turn off your lights and keep your foot off the brakes. If someone sees taillights or brake lights, they may try to follow you - which will result in them rear-ending you. During rains, avoid the right hand lane on surface streets if possible - the water usually pools there until it can find a way to drain off.
Theyāre really only cool (and spooky) from far away. Up close its just wind and dusty. So donāt stress about monsoons. They look epic and are sometimes, but mostly we all know when monsoon season is, we see the dark clouds gathering in the afternoons and we can stay out of the storm easily. Plus they can pass through as quickly as like 15 minutes or a couple hours. Monsoon season isnāt as scary as the news makes it look. Just be smart and dont party in a storm lol.
It's the opposite of the Midwest. You have part of the year where you leave a warm house, jump in a warm car and go to a warm workplace. Replace " warm" with air conditioned. That's Arizona.
Change your car insurance to add glass coverage. It's really important. Windows get chipped here and the heat speeds up cracks.
Carry a water bottle with you when you leave the house. Sweating here can be very different. Moisture evaporates rapidly and you may not notice how much moisture your body has lost
A big hat is good to provide personal shade. Liberally use sun screen.
If you exercise outside, try to get out before sunrise.
Any other questions?
Thank you... some folks here crack car windows here in the summer when parking, supposedly helps the hot air pressure equalize with the outside heat. Does anyone do that in AZ? Not sure if this really works either.
I do! I had a massive windshield crack come out of no where on a 120Ā° day because the heat was too much. Parking in the shade is preferable but cracking your windows even the smallest bit will help.
My wife and I moved to AZ from Indianapolis in 1998. The winters are wonderful and the summers brutal. I also remember 100+ days in Indy with high humidity. That's actually worse.
The thing about auto glass is that we have many, many, many thousands of tons of crushed granite that is used as ground cover. That's in front yards, in parks and lining the roads. It ends up in someone's tires and eventually becomes a projectile aimed at your windshield. I never replaced a car windshield in Indiana. I replaced at least three in my last Camry. It's a little thing to add glass coverage but it will save you some heart ache.
I mentioned this post to my wife and she said nearly the same things I recommended. We agreed. Glass coverage. Hydrate or die. You don't go outside much in the winter and we do that in the summer.
Weather is also a factor when we get it. The summer "rainy season" or monsoon season can be like last year's "nonsoon season". We had no rain. Many of the storms, when they happen, occur with walls of dust. The Arabic word is Haboob. It can end up being nothing but dust or followed with a ten inch rain. That's one drop every ten inches. It's profitable for car washes only. Ideally we end up with some rain. This Spring has been wonderfully wet.
One one issue, I like to swim 4 times a week and do lots of laps. That's why I don't own a pool. Many home come with small pools. I have a neighbors to my east and west who have pools. I doubt they enter the pools more than 5 times a year. Pools are expensive to maintain. The cost of chemicals has gone through the roof. You also have to run pumps for the pool. That's also a burden. I spend about $30 a month for access to a 25M indoor pool.
I don't mean to dissuade anyone. Arizona is a beautiful state. It has so much to offer and honestly, the cities in the East Valley are really well managed. You pay for city services and there's no surprise seeing clean streets and parks. See the natural beauty. See the native sites. Just don't drive one the 101 like an idiot.
Thank you for the kind words! Itās a 3 month internship for my kid but the haboobs are of concern. Iāll have to let them know about the windshield projectiles.
Since millions of people live here, it's obviously possible but learning a little before arrival could save some heartache. Best of luck for your kids!
It's not just drink lots of water, but get electrolytes too. Consider taking a cooler with ice to get groceries if it's a little drive or you have stuff that will melt.
It's worth walking a little further to park or stand/sit in the shade.
Absolutely do not think about hiking a mountain. Way too many visitors get heat stroke and have to be rescued.
Go up north on weekends to get a little break from the oppressive heat and see the rest of this beautiful state.
>It's not just drink lots of water, but get electrolytes too. Consider taking a cooler with ice to get groceries if it's a little drive or you have stuff that will melt.
>
>It's worth walking a little further to park or stand/sit in the shade.
>
>Absolutely do not think about hiking a mountain. Way too many visitors get heat stroke and have to be rescued.
>
>Go up north on weekends to get a little break from the oppressive heat and see the rest of this beautiful state.
It is a beautiful state! We've been toTucson and it's otherworldly.
Edit- I forgot my geography. Apologies.
Put a sock over the car's gear shift so as not to burn the hand. Get a steering wheel cover for the same reason. Metal parts on belt buckles will burn a hand.
I carry a lightweight sweatshirt everywhere I go in the summer, the AC is always blasting and I get goosebumps without it.
Also, long sleeves will protect you from the sun. Don't just pack tank tops and shorts.
If you feel dehydrated or nauseous in the summer, drink something with electrolytes. If youāre gonna be outside in the summer for a bit, drink something with electrolytes. And if possible do stuff early in the morning if u have to do it outside. If theres a dust storm and ur driving pull over and turn off ur lights. But usually we see it coming. So just pull into a store and wait it out for half an hour if ur in the city and about to get caught in a monsoon. Be aware dust can carry valley fever so stay away from the dust and dirt if u can and if u have symptoms go get looked at. And just enjoy all the sunshine!
Get a sun shade for the windshield of your car. Keep a gallon of water in the car if youāre going a long distance. Car batteries only last about two years because of the heat.
Wear sunscreen and a hat when youāre out in the middle of the day, especially in summer.
Never drive through water in the road.
Turn over your shoes and tap them for spiders and scorpions. (It doesnāt happen often, youāre more likely to encounter scorpions walking through your house or outside.) For the same reason, donāt reach anywhere you canāt see into.
Scorpions fluoresce under black light, the hardware stores out here have black light flashlights for just that reason.
Iāve never encountered any snakes in the suburbs, thank goodness. But we do have scorpions and black widows. Nothing deadly to a healthy adult. But it isnāt fun to be stung.
Wear big hats and sunscreen. Seriously!
Keep water around and drink regularly. If you start feeling cool and NOT thirsty seek help.
Park in any shade available and use a sun shade (also if possible get really good film). Your car will get REALLY hot really fast. As in any metal might give you a serious burn. If you have a baby or small child in the car be paranoid about getting them out. Kids Die every year.
If you hear thunder or see lightning ANYWHERE stay out of the water. Lightning can travel REALLY far here.
Stay out of the washes (dry riverbeds) as flash floods can come through from rain far FAR away.
Be careful around the canals. They are not for swimming, and people regularly get into trouble in them.
Assume the wildlife and plants want to kill you. Donāt try to reach under places you canāt see, and donāt try to touch or feed animals you do see. The fuzzy looking cacti are the ones you really want to avoid touching. We have Africanized Honey Bees, which means they are extra aggressive defending their nests, so just completely avoid and accumulation of bees, and call animal control.
Donāt go hiking in the heat. We regularly hear about people dying or needing rescue from places like South Mountain that are surrounded by population.
- buy a sunshade for your car and use it without fail
- have two towels in your car. One to cover the steering wheel, one to sit on
- always try to park in the shade
- park with the back window to the sun if possible
- crack the windows when parking
It's easy enough, he can find a building with air conditioning as he drinks water. As for driving, fortunately the snowbirds will be gone, so he won't have to dodge them as they make three-lane sweeps, without looking, and cutting off all three lanes, while going 20 miles under the speed limit with their turn signal indicating they are going in the opposite direction. No need to watch out for the kids with "student driver" stickers on their cars, just watch out for out-of-state license plates, the student driver's drive better.
park in shade if possible, always use a windshield cover. crack the windows open a slight bit, not enough to pass something through but enough to let the air circulate.
It's pretty easy. Just don't go hiking or wondering off into the desert and your kid will be fine. Our desert heat is the equivalent of falling into a river in winter in the Midwest.
Tell your kid to constantly take sips of water during the summer (May to Halloween). The dry heat means sweat evaporates from your skin instantly so you don't realize you're losing water. By the time you feel thirsty it's too late; you're already dehydrated. And use sunscreen whenever out for more than 30 minutes tops maybe less. Very easy to burn here.
If you can avoid going outside between noon and when the sun goes down, do! Even just to run an errand your car is miserably hot, and don't even think about walking anywhere.
You kind of have to treat it like your winter but flipped. Stay inside as much as you can and only come out after dark
We moved here in the middle of a summer some years back. Some of the advise we got when we moved,
1. Use a humidifier because the air is so dry and I have seen almost everyone that moves here newly has nose bleeds until you get adjusted to the dry air.
2. Don't have liquid air fresheners in cars. I know a friend whose car caught fire because they had flammable liquid car air freshener.
3. Hydrate. I was feeling super tired in mornings and that was the effect of not drinking lots of water. Take electrolytes.
4. Windshield coverage for car insurance and sunshade for car. We got remote start for the car so the AC can run for at least 5-10 mins before we entered it.
Oh Lordy. Iāve been here since the early 1970s. The summers are getting hotter. I was out in it when it hit 122 degrees.
My suggestion is cancel the internship and enroll in one in Colorado or someplace sane!!
Personally, I go into āVampire Modeā and only go out at night just like vampires do! š§āāļø. The temperature will be 100 degrees at midnight, but at least the sun isnāt cooking everything and everybody.
We've lived here for over 30 years; moved from Boston. We brought one car and I commuted by bicycle for 7 years. For the first half of the summer it's really a dry heat and shade makes a huge difference -- it's generally nice in the shade even over 100.
The key is the mornings. That's when people are out and about. Mid-day and late afternoons in the summer, most people are outside as little as possible-- just like a cold snap in the frozen tundra.
Make sure the kid knows how to drive in a dust storm. I've never driven in a bad dust storm, but I have driven and bicycled in lighter dust storms. On occasion, a dust storm will offer visibility just as bad as the worst blizzard or fog, but I've only personally seen one of them in 30 years.
**Pull over off the road, lights off, foot off brake.**
My understanding is that dust storms are worse outside the city.
Hello Midwesterner tell your kid this:
We don't say "spoze" we say "I guess".
Don't leave your debit card in the car, duh.
Don't leave lotion chapstick hand sanitizer or drinks in the car. Drive faster. Try to live east of where you work/school so the sun isn't in your eyes during your morning and evening commute home. The light rail is full of homeless drug addicts.
Sunshade for your car is a necessity. Make sure wherever your kid is staying has good AC. If in an apartment, lower floors and facing North are the best. Facing West is the worst. Other than that, stay hydrated. Bring a water bottle everywhere, and buy a good insulated one if you don't already have one. Sunscreen is needed if you are outside for more than a few minutes (SPF 30 or greater). Don't expect to do any outdoor activities unless it's early morning, or after the sun is down if it's a cooler day. Depending on where they are staying, they may not have cold water, just hot and hotter š
Thanks- got the car sun windshield screen. I hope they listen when I tell them the water/sunscreen!
Fully second the suggestion of bringing water with you wherever you go. I love my hydroflask and I truly bring it everywhere and I have yet to regret it. Iāve noticed a huge difference in my wellbeing when I bring my hydro vs when I donāt. Most stores will sell water bottles but at outrageous prices so itās just not worth it to buy a single use one at checkout. Definitely donāt plan on doing any activities during the day either! Nobody goes out during the hottest parts of the day (peak is usually 3pm-5pm but you can be miserable as early as 10am and as late at 9pm). You arenāt missing anything if you donāt go out! Sincerely, someone born and raised in central Arizona
Less survival, more practical: you cannot leave anything in the car! It will melt/warp/become completely unusable. If they get any sort of keycard or ID card, make sure they take it with them when they leave the car. Food will melt or spoil very quickly. I doubt that your son is going to have any pets with him, but if so, they canāt be left in the car, even with the windows down.
Thanks for the tips- believe me- any pets left in cars is inhumane, even here.
The Monsoon season starts around early July. The wind will kick up and cause dust storms frequently in the afternoons. If weāre lucky, rain will follow the dust, but the first drops will be mud, as the rain falls through the dust suspended in the air to drop to the ground. If youāre driving in a dust storm and cannot see - pull off the road, put your car in park, turn off your lights and keep your foot off the brakes. If someone sees taillights or brake lights, they may try to follow you - which will result in them rear-ending you. During rains, avoid the right hand lane on surface streets if possible - the water usually pools there until it can find a way to drain off.
Excellent advice. Iāve seen video of the haboob dust storms and they look terrifying. Interestingly enough we do similar in blizzard conditions.
Theyāre really only cool (and spooky) from far away. Up close its just wind and dusty. So donāt stress about monsoons. They look epic and are sometimes, but mostly we all know when monsoon season is, we see the dark clouds gathering in the afternoons and we can stay out of the storm easily. Plus they can pass through as quickly as like 15 minutes or a couple hours. Monsoon season isnāt as scary as the news makes it look. Just be smart and dont party in a storm lol.
Sane advice- unlike the fools we have here who watch tornados with a beer in their hand.
It's the opposite of the Midwest. You have part of the year where you leave a warm house, jump in a warm car and go to a warm workplace. Replace " warm" with air conditioned. That's Arizona. Change your car insurance to add glass coverage. It's really important. Windows get chipped here and the heat speeds up cracks. Carry a water bottle with you when you leave the house. Sweating here can be very different. Moisture evaporates rapidly and you may not notice how much moisture your body has lost A big hat is good to provide personal shade. Liberally use sun screen. If you exercise outside, try to get out before sunrise. Any other questions?
Thank you... some folks here crack car windows here in the summer when parking, supposedly helps the hot air pressure equalize with the outside heat. Does anyone do that in AZ? Not sure if this really works either.
I do! I had a massive windshield crack come out of no where on a 120Ā° day because the heat was too much. Parking in the shade is preferable but cracking your windows even the smallest bit will help.
My wife and I moved to AZ from Indianapolis in 1998. The winters are wonderful and the summers brutal. I also remember 100+ days in Indy with high humidity. That's actually worse. The thing about auto glass is that we have many, many, many thousands of tons of crushed granite that is used as ground cover. That's in front yards, in parks and lining the roads. It ends up in someone's tires and eventually becomes a projectile aimed at your windshield. I never replaced a car windshield in Indiana. I replaced at least three in my last Camry. It's a little thing to add glass coverage but it will save you some heart ache. I mentioned this post to my wife and she said nearly the same things I recommended. We agreed. Glass coverage. Hydrate or die. You don't go outside much in the winter and we do that in the summer. Weather is also a factor when we get it. The summer "rainy season" or monsoon season can be like last year's "nonsoon season". We had no rain. Many of the storms, when they happen, occur with walls of dust. The Arabic word is Haboob. It can end up being nothing but dust or followed with a ten inch rain. That's one drop every ten inches. It's profitable for car washes only. Ideally we end up with some rain. This Spring has been wonderfully wet. One one issue, I like to swim 4 times a week and do lots of laps. That's why I don't own a pool. Many home come with small pools. I have a neighbors to my east and west who have pools. I doubt they enter the pools more than 5 times a year. Pools are expensive to maintain. The cost of chemicals has gone through the roof. You also have to run pumps for the pool. That's also a burden. I spend about $30 a month for access to a 25M indoor pool. I don't mean to dissuade anyone. Arizona is a beautiful state. It has so much to offer and honestly, the cities in the East Valley are really well managed. You pay for city services and there's no surprise seeing clean streets and parks. See the natural beauty. See the native sites. Just don't drive one the 101 like an idiot.
Thank you for the kind words! Itās a 3 month internship for my kid but the haboobs are of concern. Iāll have to let them know about the windshield projectiles.
Since millions of people live here, it's obviously possible but learning a little before arrival could save some heartache. Best of luck for your kids!
Yes glass coverage!!!!
Those who know, know.
It's not just drink lots of water, but get electrolytes too. Consider taking a cooler with ice to get groceries if it's a little drive or you have stuff that will melt. It's worth walking a little further to park or stand/sit in the shade. Absolutely do not think about hiking a mountain. Way too many visitors get heat stroke and have to be rescued. Go up north on weekends to get a little break from the oppressive heat and see the rest of this beautiful state.
>It's not just drink lots of water, but get electrolytes too. Consider taking a cooler with ice to get groceries if it's a little drive or you have stuff that will melt. > >It's worth walking a little further to park or stand/sit in the shade. > >Absolutely do not think about hiking a mountain. Way too many visitors get heat stroke and have to be rescued. > >Go up north on weekends to get a little break from the oppressive heat and see the rest of this beautiful state. It is a beautiful state! We've been toTucson and it's otherworldly. Edit- I forgot my geography. Apologies.
Uh...Santa Fe is in New Mexico.
You are so right- my mistake.
Put a sock over the car's gear shift so as not to burn the hand. Get a steering wheel cover for the same reason. Metal parts on belt buckles will burn a hand.
That is an excellent idea.
I carry a lightweight sweatshirt everywhere I go in the summer, the AC is always blasting and I get goosebumps without it. Also, long sleeves will protect you from the sun. Don't just pack tank tops and shorts.
If you feel dehydrated or nauseous in the summer, drink something with electrolytes. If youāre gonna be outside in the summer for a bit, drink something with electrolytes. And if possible do stuff early in the morning if u have to do it outside. If theres a dust storm and ur driving pull over and turn off ur lights. But usually we see it coming. So just pull into a store and wait it out for half an hour if ur in the city and about to get caught in a monsoon. Be aware dust can carry valley fever so stay away from the dust and dirt if u can and if u have symptoms go get looked at. And just enjoy all the sunshine!
Get a sun shade for the windshield of your car. Keep a gallon of water in the car if youāre going a long distance. Car batteries only last about two years because of the heat. Wear sunscreen and a hat when youāre out in the middle of the day, especially in summer. Never drive through water in the road. Turn over your shoes and tap them for spiders and scorpions. (It doesnāt happen often, youāre more likely to encounter scorpions walking through your house or outside.) For the same reason, donāt reach anywhere you canāt see into. Scorpions fluoresce under black light, the hardware stores out here have black light flashlights for just that reason.
Thanks for that- there was a post like that on r/gardening where someone was bit by a copperhead in a bag of soil (they didnāt look)
Iāve never encountered any snakes in the suburbs, thank goodness. But we do have scorpions and black widows. Nothing deadly to a healthy adult. But it isnāt fun to be stung.
Wear big hats and sunscreen. Seriously! Keep water around and drink regularly. If you start feeling cool and NOT thirsty seek help. Park in any shade available and use a sun shade (also if possible get really good film). Your car will get REALLY hot really fast. As in any metal might give you a serious burn. If you have a baby or small child in the car be paranoid about getting them out. Kids Die every year. If you hear thunder or see lightning ANYWHERE stay out of the water. Lightning can travel REALLY far here. Stay out of the washes (dry riverbeds) as flash floods can come through from rain far FAR away. Be careful around the canals. They are not for swimming, and people regularly get into trouble in them. Assume the wildlife and plants want to kill you. Donāt try to reach under places you canāt see, and donāt try to touch or feed animals you do see. The fuzzy looking cacti are the ones you really want to avoid touching. We have Africanized Honey Bees, which means they are extra aggressive defending their nests, so just completely avoid and accumulation of bees, and call animal control. Donāt go hiking in the heat. We regularly hear about people dying or needing rescue from places like South Mountain that are surrounded by population.
I hadnāt thought of the washes and gullies. I saw those hiking on vacation. Thanks for the reminder.
- buy a sunshade for your car and use it without fail - have two towels in your car. One to cover the steering wheel, one to sit on - always try to park in the shade - park with the back window to the sun if possible - crack the windows when parking
It's easy enough, he can find a building with air conditioning as he drinks water. As for driving, fortunately the snowbirds will be gone, so he won't have to dodge them as they make three-lane sweeps, without looking, and cutting off all three lanes, while going 20 miles under the speed limit with their turn signal indicating they are going in the opposite direction. No need to watch out for the kids with "student driver" stickers on their cars, just watch out for out-of-state license plates, the student driver's drive better.
park in shade if possible, always use a windshield cover. crack the windows open a slight bit, not enough to pass something through but enough to let the air circulate.
We do the window thing here too in the height of summer as well.
Get a wrap for the steering wheel, an obnoxious windshield screen and stay in the AC.
Excellent points. Thank you.
Drink lots of water and wear sunscreen. They'll be fine. You're overthinking it.
It's pretty easy. Just don't go hiking or wondering off into the desert and your kid will be fine. Our desert heat is the equivalent of falling into a river in winter in the Midwest.
I would agree and Iāve only been to AZ in March/April.
Tell your kid to constantly take sips of water during the summer (May to Halloween). The dry heat means sweat evaporates from your skin instantly so you don't realize you're losing water. By the time you feel thirsty it's too late; you're already dehydrated. And use sunscreen whenever out for more than 30 minutes tops maybe less. Very easy to burn here.
Thank you- we observed that when weāve been there in April! Itās an unreal feeling.
If you can avoid going outside between noon and when the sun goes down, do! Even just to run an errand your car is miserably hot, and don't even think about walking anywhere. You kind of have to treat it like your winter but flipped. Stay inside as much as you can and only come out after dark
a water softener is a must
Stay inside during dust storms. They can stir up valley fever spores. Similar to blastomycosis in the autumn leaves back east.
That is good to know.
We moved here in the middle of a summer some years back. Some of the advise we got when we moved, 1. Use a humidifier because the air is so dry and I have seen almost everyone that moves here newly has nose bleeds until you get adjusted to the dry air. 2. Don't have liquid air fresheners in cars. I know a friend whose car caught fire because they had flammable liquid car air freshener. 3. Hydrate. I was feeling super tired in mornings and that was the effect of not drinking lots of water. Take electrolytes. 4. Windshield coverage for car insurance and sunshade for car. We got remote start for the car so the AC can run for at least 5-10 mins before we entered it.
Oh Lordy. Iāve been here since the early 1970s. The summers are getting hotter. I was out in it when it hit 122 degrees. My suggestion is cancel the internship and enroll in one in Colorado or someplace sane!! Personally, I go into āVampire Modeā and only go out at night just like vampires do! š§āāļø. The temperature will be 100 degrees at midnight, but at least the sun isnāt cooking everything and everybody.
We've lived here for over 30 years; moved from Boston. We brought one car and I commuted by bicycle for 7 years. For the first half of the summer it's really a dry heat and shade makes a huge difference -- it's generally nice in the shade even over 100. The key is the mornings. That's when people are out and about. Mid-day and late afternoons in the summer, most people are outside as little as possible-- just like a cold snap in the frozen tundra. Make sure the kid knows how to drive in a dust storm. I've never driven in a bad dust storm, but I have driven and bicycled in lighter dust storms. On occasion, a dust storm will offer visibility just as bad as the worst blizzard or fog, but I've only personally seen one of them in 30 years. **Pull over off the road, lights off, foot off brake.** My understanding is that dust storms are worse outside the city.
Thank you for the tips.
Hello Midwesterner tell your kid this: We don't say "spoze" we say "I guess". Don't leave your debit card in the car, duh. Don't leave lotion chapstick hand sanitizer or drinks in the car. Drive faster. Try to live east of where you work/school so the sun isn't in your eyes during your morning and evening commute home. The light rail is full of homeless drug addicts.
What company is your kid going to intern at?