Nasty Air! O-T

[Deleted]

I drove to the greater Phoenix Area yesterday and was greeted last night with the giant dust storm. Can't use the pool and am unsure of being able to hike tomorrow . What are your low cost strategies for surviving summer heat when visiting an area?

[cronewitch]

Don't go to hot places. Today hit 84 and I was too warm after work so took a cold shower and got my hair wet so now comfortable. We don't get bad air because it rains often. They said the air was bad for the 4th because of the fireworks but we like the smell and ours made a huge cloud but didn't hurt anything.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Phoenix in July? AAAAUUGGGH! I refuse to vacation anyplace hotter than we are in the summertime! (We average 40-50 days over 100 every summer, and have been 104-106 for days!)

If I were you, I'd check out cooler, indoor places ... local museums, art galleries, things of that nature, and leave outdoor exploration to very early mornings.

[phil5185]

I was standing in our pasture south and east of Phoenix - when it was about 10 minutes away, I could see that we were exactly centered, I could see both the right & left edge. It rolled right in, the sky darkened, headlights could be seen for only about 50 feet.
Went inside, closed the windows, shut off the AC, and waited it out - kinda neat, the temp went from 105 to about 85 in 15 minutes. We sat outside in lawn chairs (on the downwind side of house) and watched it move thru.

[Deleted]

I'm not on vacation. I'm doing the annual visit/inspection of my AZ house. I coordinate around the handover between the tenants at my other property. I've been in the States for 5 weeks and I head back to Germany in 6 days.

Thanks for the video. You don't want to be out in that storm. Most of today's sky was still brown with fine dust particles still suspended in the air. Toward the late afternoon I was seeing some blue sky so hiking at 6 am looks like a go. My asthma rarely bothers me but this kind of stuff can be a problem. Plus it got up to 110 today. There's a reason I hate being here in July!

[Deleted]

And everything in it! My hotel room had a fine layer of dust over everything (and the doors and windows were closed tight). And the smoke alarm kept going off because of the dust!

[Deleted]

Every few years the area experiences a really big one. The last one I remember was 4 or 5 years ago. We were eating at a restaurant about a 100 yards from Black Mountain over in the Cave Creek area. Minutes later the dust was so thick you couldn't see the mountain!

[Deleted]

When we move back to AZ (in about 10 years) I plan to spend July at the beach in San Diego. I'm a wimp, LOL! ;D

[Deleted]

I'd say the worst of it lasts about an hour. But like I said in the earlier post the fine particles remain suspended in the air for a day or so. Then there's the clean up when everyone tries to get rid of that fine dust and winds up just spreading it around for another day or two.

[Deleted]

How about 5 short blocks to La Jolla Shores Beach?

[Deleted]

They sweep it; thus create a whole 'nother set of mini dust clouds!

If you wet it it's as fine as slip (for ceramics).

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Would a good rainstorm clean off the dust, or just make mud?

[robbase]

hiking in the arizona heat??!!!?? really???!!!

even if there was no dust storms this sounds like crazy talk to me

[phil5185]

The Carwash places loved it, one was interviewed on the News last nite, said that Weds was his biggest day ever - he had a line of 20 waiting cars when he opened and it never let up all day.

[thyme4change]

Did it coat everything around your house in dirt?

Yup!

Bonnap - we vacuumed our pool and was able to swim last night. I would think the hotel would do the same. The pool really wasn't bad - once you got most of the dirt out. It wasn't like when we get the green.

[Deleted]

"hiking in the arizona heat??!!!?? really???!!!

even if there was no dust storms this sounds like crazy talk to me"

It was 83 degrees when we started at 6:15. It was 90 when we finished at 8 ish (6 mile hike). This is how we do our exercise. The point is to be done before it hits 100. I've often thought how funny it is that most people slim up in the summer but we in the Phoenix area get fatter hiding in the A/C! ;D

[Deleted]

"Dustbowl Pneumonia."

Pneumonia isn't common but Valley Fever is.

[Deleted]

"...we vacuumed our pool and was able to swim last night. I would think the hotel would do the same. The pool really wasn't bad - once you got most of the dirt out. It wasn't like when we get the green."

The hotel pool was blue when I got here on Tuesday and green yesterday. Today they drained the pool and vacuumed it out. No water for an evening swim. Bummer!

BTW It looked much worse up here yesterday than in Scottsdale by Shea. We have very little grass up here other than golf courses and while it's great water-wise it's problematic with the Haboobs!

Anyway I'm blowing this pop stand tomorrow and spending the night in Palm Desert tomorrow night. I just LOVE hellish weather!