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I've lived here nearly five months, and I've finally reached my rite of passage, my inititiation. Laugh if you want to, Las Vegans (what do we call ourselves?), but crossing the 100 degree mark is a big deal for me, physically and psychologically.
I moved here from the San Francisco Bay area, where people freak out and actually melt down if it goes much over 82 degrees (reportedly they hit 100 degrees last week). I'd rather break 100 here, where we have near-universal air conditioning and no humidity).
Since New Years Eve I've been fretting frequently about this very day, and many of you, the drugstore clerks and retail personnel of Las Vegas, have been kind and wry and indulgent as you listened to my fears. Now, at last, I stand among you.
Well, actually, I hide among you.
Yesterday, Saturday morning, I made the rounds of the strip malls (as one does in these here parts), stockpiling pasta salads, magazines -- and a mini-refrigerator for the second floor of my rented condo. This morning, I did laundry early, closed the shades and curtains, draped white sheets over the potentially-sweaty leather TV-watching chair and daybed, and adjusted the thermostat. I made sangria (with real fruit!). I turned on the ceiling fan, and made an iPod playlist of ultra-minimal ambient music -- the chilled sound of synth whispers, no pulse-raising beats, please.
I'm not denying thermal reality: Soon after the temperature rose four degrees (within a 30-minute period) to 102 degrees, I popped outside in my white t-shirt and boxers and stood on the pavement, "embracing the heat" (as my editor advised me to do yesterday). I stayed on that concrete for nearly 30 seconds (till my t-shirt started getting crispy) before retreating to my cool, dark condo-cave.
I look forward to embracing the heat again tomorrow (109 degrees! Yay!) when I dash from the car to the lobby of the Las Vegas Sun building. Depending on where I find parking, that may build my record up to 60 seconds or so.
I look forward to chuckling knowingly when newcomers to Las Vegas confide their worries about surviving a Las Vegas summer. That's about a year from now.
Till then, any advice, tips or brow-cooling perspective from you veterans of Las Vegas summer heat? Please feel free to share in the comments. (Yeah, you have to register first, but what else do you have to do today?) We're all in this together, right?
Hey Joe, great article. I lived in Seattle for 30 years. Because of huge problems with my back and left ankle (fused with a steel rod after 15 operations), my doctors ordered me to move to a place with less rain and more sun. So we moved to Vegas in 2001. Wow. But now I could never move back to Seattle to live. Just visit for a week in August for Seafair biggies that include the annual hydroplane races on Lake Washington and the Navy Blue Angels show during the afternoon.
We were lucky to have A/C when we owned a home in North Seattle from 1986 to 1990. Only used it a few weeks durning the summer, but with 2 new babies and a home business it was wonderful. In Vegas, we try to keep the temp around 84 to save power. I just don't get people who have the temp set a 70. Their air never shuts off.
I can't imagine what they pay in power costs. Having heat screans help or the reflective coating anyone can install on the glass. We have switched out the floodlights for the florescent bulbs and use max 40 watt regular bulbs everywhere else. Most of those are on dimmers controlled by my computer using X-10 software. X-10's are great for setting up an entire house. Plus they have a huge warehouse in North Las Vegas. Go to X-10.com for information. Best prices anywhere. Putting less heat into the house using this technology saves on the A/C costs also.
I lived here all my life and the summers arent as bad when you live here, because you get used to it real fast. I keep my a/c at 80 when im home, and 85 when im not. The hotels keep it at 82 (stratosphere keeps it at 85) so dont worry about it at all.