It is a tad hot here
June 23, 2009
Taken in the car on our way to my oldest son’s baseball game.
I have given up wearing make-up or doing anything with my hair. And I am learning to get used to sweating.
On the other hand, we swim every day. I have fully embraced the flip-flop as my shoe of choice. My children are usually barefoot and often shirtless. Popsicles are considered a food group all their own.
Honestly, it doesn’t even compare to dealing with subzero weather, blizzards, and black ice. I don’t miss my snowblower and I can honestly say if I never again have to climb on the roof and chip off an ice dam I will not miss it.
Posted by Chris @ 11:54 pm
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My first mountain bike group ride my first summer in Dallas it was 104 degrees at 8 at night when we started riding. I puked four times on that ride that night.
I sometimes miss Texas. I do not miss the heat. Give me my snow shovel any damn day over that insanity. I’m pretty sure Central Oregon doesn’t get anywhere near the snow that Connecticut did. P.S. It was 80 here today. Ahhhhh.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:37 amI’m so happy to hear that! I feel like a nut because I worry about total strangers.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:08 amYou can’t say you weren’t warned. It’s only June. It still gets hotter. Seriously. I have had flip flops melt to the ground, because I have stood in one place just a little too long.
Oh, and what’s an ice damn and what in the world is it doing on your roof?
Chris says: How much hotter can it really get? Just like freezing temperatures, after a certian point it doesn’t really matter anymore.
Ice Damn
June 24th, 2009 at 1:27 amYet another reason I never wish to move to Texas. Too hot.
Funny how we each have our own perspective…me? I’d take the cold over the 100+ degree heat any day. But you see, my theory is you can always add layers, start a fire, grab a blanket or climb under the covers to get warm.
In the heat, you are limited to getting wet and getting naked…after that, you’re pretty much hosed.
And if you have to work in the heat? You are REALLY hosed. If you have to go to work in the cold, well you can always wear lots of clothes.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:52 amStay hydrated!
June 24th, 2009 at 6:50 amI am so glad I have no idea what a ice dam is. I am definitely a southern girl.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:52 amYou may not miss chipping an ice dam off the roof, but I know you will miss the beauty of one of those soft, quiet snowfalls that dust everything in a light coating of snow, muffling all the surrounding noise.
Sure, it always turns into nasty grey slop the next day, but at some point in time, you WILL miss it.
Glad to hear you are embracing the heat. Happy to know that popsicles are a food group unto themselves!!
June 24th, 2009 at 7:11 amWhen I moved from Texas to Ohio after college, I said I’d never move back because of the heat. Well, here I am,
June 24th, 2009 at 7:30 amshoot - somehow that comment got submitted before I was finished…
June 24th, 2009 at 7:32 amAnyway, I’m with you. Though it is hot in the summer, I now fully appreciate being able to send kiddos out to play for much of the year rather than being stuck inside once winter comes. I can take a little (okay a LOT) of heat.
Yea! You’re officially a Texan…as you’ve been christened with your own sweat rolling down your body….and just went with it….because there’s certainly nothing you can do about it.
Warning: mascara really burns when your sweat drips into your eye and makes the mascara run into your eye with it.
I’m glad your here…..Julia
June 24th, 2009 at 8:09 amYou read my mind with this post. I have not been watching the weather of late becasue it has rained and been cool for the whole month. i was watching the today show and al is in Tx and was talking about the heat. Holly cow i was shocked. how is baseball in the heat. Stay close to the pool and the popsicles and when you can not stand it any longer just think of the black ice and ice dams to keep you cool.
Chris says: I did complain to my son, half jokingly, about how hot I was watching him in the stands.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:14 amI was wondering when we’re going to hear about the Texas weather..! Yes. Summer is a little nicer to handle, isn’t it.
Cheers from “HOT” Toronto!
June 24th, 2009 at 8:43 amHi Chris –
June 24th, 2009 at 8:44 amI’ve been following your blog for some time now. I was wondering, have you thought about writing a book? I think it’d be wonderful. I’d buy it and I’m sure many others would too.
Is Texas a dry heat or full of humidity? I’m currently in Florida and we’re getting killed here with the heat and humidity. It’s in the 100s as well and it’s disgusting. We walk outside and there’s no air, no breeze; we can’t breathe. I’m originally from Montreal, Quebec… so this is a HUGE change in weather for me as well. But I agree with you on one thing - NO SNOW is AWESOME!
June 24th, 2009 at 8:47 amWow! Now I know why my husband who grew up in upstate NY & loves the winter didn’t want to move to Texas last year! Enjoy the pool, popiscles and flip-flops!
June 24th, 2009 at 8:52 amI just moved away from Phoenix after living there all my life (42 years). I’m in Littleton, Colorado now and I LOVE it. It dropped down to 65 degrees yesterday when a storm moved through. I opened up all my windows and it was so beautiful! If I never saw the sun another day in my life, I would not care. And 107 does feel different than say, 115. It’s all just gross though. I can’t wait for the first snow.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:01 amWelcome to Texas. Honestly, this is a little unusual for June, but not out of the question. It happens this early. The sad part is by August you want to kill anyone that dares touch you or wants to crawl in your lap.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:04 amWelcome to Texas…just wait until August!
June 24th, 2009 at 9:06 amEnjoy it! Might as well, it’s not going anywhere.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:26 amWe moved to PHX from New England about 5 years ago. Everything you wrote is so true. As much as being hot all the time stinks, at least you don’t have to take time out of your day to deal with the heat. I think about all the time we spent shoveling, scraping cars, warming up cars and getting dressed. How did we have time to get anything else done in the winter? At least with heat you can just walk out the door.
June 24th, 2009 at 9:38 amHottest temp I saw there was 117
June 24th, 2009 at 9:39 amHaha! How much hotter? Welll I live in Phoenix and it WILL get hotter. Try 115 or maybe higher. And trust me, it does make a difference. One August we hit 123 degrees. I wish I was kidding. Give me snow any day! This heat is for the birds!
June 24th, 2009 at 9:58 amI would not mind it so much if we could at least enjoy dawn and dusk without the mosquitos. Off to the pool with flip-flops and popsicles in tow.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:07 amI was watching a friend’s two kids last evening and was amazing at the amount of sweat involved. Just just say I encouraged a bit of sprinkler playing so that I could pretend the “glowing” was from an outside source! Just trying to hang on until September. ish.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:16 amWelcome to Texas…….the state where you can wear flip-flops 12 months a year!!!!!
And they’re right….if you think it’s hot now, just wait until August!!!:(
June 24th, 2009 at 10:29 amWe moved from Tennessee to Kansas a couple of years ago, and I have had to adjust to always having the “wind blown look,” more snow and colder weather, AND it still gets hot as *&^%$# here in the summer time. (Don’t even mention tornadoes, etc…)
I think that every geographical area has something to complain about and something to love. (Except maybe Kansas!)
June 24th, 2009 at 10:31 amIt’s usually this hot in July/August, and it does get a little hotter, but if you’re used to it now, you’re not going to be stunned in a month or so. It’s just more of the same. What’s really shocking is how long the heat hangs on. You’ll still be in flip-flops come October.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:39 amIt’s not so much that it gets hotter, though it will get a bit hotter. It’s that it lasts so stinkin’ long! It can get up to 100 anywhere from April to October.
It’s just not right.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve inadvertently taken up residence on the surface of the sun.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:45 amI second what Liz said, stay hydrated. Try coconut water. It’s really tasty and way more hydrating than just water. Usually when it gets this hot this early in the summer, August isn’t soooo bad. I predict we will not get above 110 after August 1st. When that first cold front rolls in, you will love it.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:50 amIt’s 70 and raining in CT. Not sure which is worse.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:51 amEgads, that IS hot. I can’t imagine playing baseball in that weather. Glad you guys are enjoying it! (Popsicles should be a food group anyway, don’t you think?)
June 24th, 2009 at 11:22 amIt hasn’t been that hot here (St. Louis area), but it’s been so humid that the heat index is about that high. I too have given up make-up and hair-styling (other than a clip to keep it out of my face). I’ve also been taking a cooler of our water bottles everywhere we go so my minions quit drinking all of MINE. Don’t impede my hydration, kids, I’ll toss you right outta here.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:33 amThat is precisely why I wouldn’t let my son play All Stars after baseball season ended — the HEAT. Yes, I realize I am selfish, but really, I don’t even particularly like him out in it, either. We’re in the Mojave Desert, and dry heat or not, it’s hotter than hell in July & August. 110-115 isn’t unheard of (one year, we had something like 40 days over 110, and 20 over 115), and I believe in 1990, we reached 124. I’m not even kidding. Like Death Valley-type temperatures. (We’re not that far away from there, actually.) My only saving grace is there’s low humidity.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:00 pmP.S.
Shelley (commenter above from Phoenix) knows that desert heat, too.
I think I’m moving with her to Colorado.
That, or Seattle. If I never see sun again, it’ll be too soon.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:02 pmI’m in the Austin area as well. We usually don’t have these triple digit temperatures until July/August. People keep saying it’s going to get hotter, but like you said, how much hotter can it get? I don’t think it will get much worse, just more of the same. Unfortunately it started much earlier this year. A couple of years ago we actually had a summer when it never reached 100 degrees (it’s rare though!). Yes, flip-flops are definitely the shoe of choice. Hang in there! (And maybe break out the margaritas!)
June 24th, 2009 at 12:04 pmIs there humidity to match the heat, too?
June 24th, 2009 at 12:13 pmUg, I think I’d die. As it is, it gets up to 80 around here and we all think we’re going to melt into puddles and the news goes crazy with talks of heat waves.
Today it is cloudy, rainy, and 58 degrees outside. I love the Pacific Northwest.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:15 pmI’ve been in Houston in August…so yea it does gets worse. And of course it’s the humidity that is the kicker.
But come on, I’ve been in AZ in 115 degree weather and it’s just as damn hot. OH…BUT “it’s a dry heat so it’s not as bad”. An actual fire is dry heat too…you trying to tell me it’s not as hot without the humidity? hahahaha
It’s been well over 100 over the last few days here in Iowa with the heat index (plus 83% humidity). Either way it’s hot.
But I would take the heat ANY day over the cold. I’m coming to live with you.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:19 pmIt’s not that it gets much hotter, it’s just that it’s over a hundred for more consecutive days. But I’d take swimming to snowblowing any day of the week! Welcome to Austin, we’re glad you’re here!
June 24th, 2009 at 12:31 pmReally it depends on what part of Texas you are in… but Most of the big cities in Texas are hot and HUMID… further out west it’s a drier heat, but it still sucks…
I used to live in Colorado, and other than winter 6 months of the year, the summer is pretty sweet!
In Dallas now, and we’re dying in the heat, I’m 8 months pregnant, and will only go out in the heat if it’s absolutely necessary… Thank goodness we don’t have extracurricular activities for the kid yet…
June 24th, 2009 at 12:54 pmNo way! 107? It gets hotter?!? Seriously? Wow. I can’t even imagine.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:57 pmNortheren California! Temps ranging from 60-85 year round. Sunny from March to December. But then again, we are just about on the US governments “failed states” list. High taxes AND no services.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:25 pmGood lord that’s hot. But I’m with you on rather be hot than cold.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:39 pmYou are totally going native.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:06 pmYou may take back what you said about the snow blower, ice dams, etc. when you get your summer electric bills.
Chris says: I don’t think that they will compare to heating bills
June 24th, 2009 at 2:47 pmYee Haw!! Don’t you just love it? I moved to Houston from Dallas about 10 Iears ago from Dallas. It was hot but not AS humid. I have never disliked summers as much as i do now, living here. The humidity is the killer.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:50 pmIt’s 90 here today in Michigan and I feel like I’m going to die. I cannot imagine 107.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:56 pmYes, put up your feet, this will stick around until October. Blech. But like you, I do NOT miss shoveling snow and driving on ice (I cannot IMAGINE doing all that plus bundling kids) so I stay here and sweat my tookus off for 4 months of the year…I can deal with that MUCH more happily!
June 24th, 2009 at 3:36 pmAfter four years in Phoenix and six years away, I almost forget how it feels to be soaked in sweat all the time And then go into an over-AC’ed building and freeze in the resulted damp clothes. I don’t think people understood that hotter outside didn’t mean you had to crank down the temperature inside.
What usually got me was not the heat over the short term, but how long it took for the heat to end. June wasn’t so bad, it was August…then September…then October…
June 24th, 2009 at 3:49 pmIt was 107 at my house on Monday too! I’m in Boston today and it is COLD. I thought my husband was kidding when he told me to check the weather to see if i should bring a jacket. What??? It’s summer. Silly me. But yup, we are all actually wearing jeans and coats. In June! I could never survive winter here.
June 24th, 2009 at 4:28 pmI am in Boston, where I wish I could take my temp and yours and give us both the average….we’ve been in the 60’s for days, no sun all rain….it would be nice to have 80 degrees for the both of us…….
June 24th, 2009 at 5:20 pmand that is why I live in Oregon. I will take the drizzle rain anytime for snow, ice, etc…today is a perfect 80 with a light breeze. Summers in Oregon are the best! (unfortunately I get off the plane in one week in Dallas)
June 24th, 2009 at 5:30 pmStaci mentioned Houston in August and she’s right, though this heat is really odd for June. Usually it rains each afternoon in June and that cools things off a bit.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:57 pm97 and super humid here in Chicagoland…I still prefer this to -32 wind chill any day!
June 24th, 2009 at 5:59 pmWe live in San Diego and vacation in Scottsdale every August. My husband loves the cheap golf and I love the heat and sitting by the pool. It’s never cold at night. However I probably wouldn’t love it if I had to work there.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:01 pmI’m glad you’re glad your here.
However, it’s still only June. The hottest temperatures I remember were in September 2000, when I was pregnant with my second son….That was the day our AC died. Just be prepared with pleny of popscicles and water.
Texas heat is not so bad in little spurts, it’s just that it goes on and on and on. All these beautiful sunny days with high water bills and water rationing and finally crispy grass as everyone finally just gives up. I’ll bet if you polled folks here most of them would say that fall is their favorite season!
That said, I hate cold weather. It makes me turn purple no makes how many layers I put on, so I rather be here than than anywhere else.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:21 pmGlad the heat is not getting to you! My friend moved to Dallas about the same time as you and is loving it. Beats the hell out of Michigan! Illinois is grossly hot now, too. But, I do love the extreme casualness of summer. Just my speed!
June 24th, 2009 at 7:13 pmYour neighbor to the East was only 104 degrees today. The kids and I are constantly getting burned when getting into the car. It just ain’t summer until you leave a little of yourself on your car seat.
June 24th, 2009 at 7:54 pmThis is a bad week, it doesn’t get worse than this. And it is early to be this hot. Temps in July and Aug can be over 100 but it’s usually drier then; May and June (when it is typically less than 100) actually feel worse to me because it’s more humid now.
I am a northerner transplanted in Austin and I could never go back to winter. I much prefer to be hot in the summer (when I can stay in the AC) than be cold in winter (and have to shovel the driveway and chip ice off the car). A tip is to get that garage of yours cleared out so you can park in there. And buy a sunscreen for your windshield to keep the sun out when you must park in lots. It really helps, especially if you can park directly facing the sun with the shield up.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:53 pmHot or Cold we all have an opinion on this. I am thinking how it would suck to be your son playing baseball at the end of June in 107 degree heat. I swear sports just go on forever now a days. Forget baseball time to go swimming!
June 24th, 2009 at 9:42 pmAmen. I never complain about the heat. I do miss looking nice, as my makeup sweats off and my hair looks like crap. But I’ll take it. It’s been very hot here in Alabama and we were in FL last week. Baseball in Florida? HOT!
June 24th, 2009 at 10:02 pmAny of you folks ever heard of global warming or is denial still the modus operandi in your part of the world? It’s only going to get worse. I heartily recommend that you read Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas and stop listening to your average politician. Oh yeah, and stay cool.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:36 pmHi Chris! I’m usually a lurker, but I have to tell you this. We live in Michigain. It got HOT today (for us), which is 90 degrees. And wouldn’t this be the week that our air doesn’t work?? And my husband is on a golf trip?? Really??
June 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pmWas it not Usher or some such dude, who suggested that when it “gets on in herrrrre, lets take our clothes off”?
June 24th, 2009 at 11:05 pmSeriously, I wore a turtleneck to the rec.league softball championship game tonight 20 miles NW of Boston.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:06 pm109 in Phoenix today. And we have at least 3 more months of it. The kids have been swimming since spring break in March!
June 25th, 2009 at 4:09 amWhile I hate winter, I start dripping sweat and going barefoot when it hits 60 degrees, so I think I had better stay up here!
June 25th, 2009 at 9:51 amIt is 930 in chicago and my attic fan just turned on for the day. It will run all day because it is hotter than Hades here too. I hate chicago humidity and would trade anything for some dry heat.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:27 amYou are a trouper! I was totally whining about the 93 we hit yesterday.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:47 amI am a Southerner (Georgia) and I have to say I will gladly take the hot weather over the cold ANY day. So yes, I wear shorts, flip flops and a ponytail every day during the summer but it beats dealing with coats, hats and gloves.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:35 pmI am leaving Florida in October for a suburb of Cincinnatti so I am doing the opposite of you. I LOVE flip flops & shorts. I don’t know how I am going to do the cold weather up there.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:43 pmI moved to Houston from Philadelphia 14 years ago. My car also reads 107 today. Everything you just said I could have said myself, the only things you left out that I tend to repeat to all my northern friends and family are: “When you wake up in the morning you know that you will get to where you planned to go that day. You are never held up due to snow, ice, or sleet, you don’t ever have to bundle your kids into all that winter gear, you don’t have to wake up an hour early to run/warm up your car and no more scrapers/blankets/chains/bags of sand to carry around in your trunk”. I too, would not trade the hot summer for those winters, don’t miss them one bit although I do sort of miss having some good hair days now and then!
June 25th, 2009 at 6:22 pmI really don’t believe it is going to get any hotter than it is now. It is freaking hot!!! No one here is telling me it will get hotter and I am not that far away. THis is my first summer in central TX.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:30 pmChris, I love your blog to pieces! But! I hate the BlogHer ads! They won’t let me back-button my way back to my own blog (caught in a loop! can’t get out!) when I’m using IE.
Can you tell them to fix it? It happens on your site and Lindsay’s and anyone else with BlogHer ads.
Thanks!!
Mwah!
June 26th, 2009 at 11:46 amHa! I just took a very similar photo from our trip to Orlando. HOT doesn’t begin to describe it!
June 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pmMy favorite second-oldest nephew spent 13 months at the AFB in DelRio, TX a couple of years ago. Believe it or not the base was closed and there was no flying TWICE because of snow and ice.
You may be able to raise the AC a couple or five degrees if you place fans around the house.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:43 pmI love anyone who says they’ll take hot weather over STUPID WINTER. My husband and I are considering a similar move…this is encouraging. THANK YOU.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:39 pmOk, I have to respond to the wait until August comments. It doesn’t get much hotter in Austin than 107…. at least not in the 12 years we have been here. August isn’t any worse…. but by September you are very very tired of the heat and wishing for some of the north winds to blow your way. By August you are spending more time indoors in the a/c. I liken it to January in the north. Stay inside and you are fine!
June 28th, 2009 at 9:20 pmFunny how much discussion you’ve gotten from a simple photo of a temp gauge! For those asking, Austin isn’t crazy humid-like Houston or Louisiana, but it’s moderately humid. And, yes, it’s the longevity of the heat that gets you more than the actualy heat.
Should you have a day without much to do, take a short drive north to Georgetown and walk around Southwestern University. It’s a fantastic, small liberal arts college. They don’t have a football team, so they really rally behind the baseball team (NCAA Div III). The old buildings alone are worth the drive.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:53 ammakes 98 feel good doesn’t it?!!!!!
June 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pmI want to know what the temp on the field was. Back in my ASA girls fast pitch days I remember a Sunday afternoon championship game delayed to the point that we were still playing the first game of a potential double header at 1am on Monday morning because the chat on the field (a ground rock, great for playing on, terrible on clothing and knees) took a resonable 110ish and turned it into a blistering 137. Somewhere I still have the pictures of the thermomenter outside the dugout to prove it.
And when I get nostalgic enough to look for my gear to play catch I remember those awful hot afternoons trying to come back from the loser’s bracket by playing far too many games back to back to make it back to the championship bracket.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:32 amO MY GOD
(ps- dont tell the mormon family)
but
O MY GOD!!!!!!
well. if the kids get bored this summer - send ‘em out with a doz eggs. to make breakfast. on the sidewalk. they can have them with BYOC lemonade…..
June 30th, 2009 at 10:30 pmTry changing the thermometer to Celsius - maybe it won’t seem so hot!
July 1st, 2009 at 6:30 am