It’s a dry heat

So, they say, but not today. It’s a scorcher; it was 90 degrees at 8:00 this morning. 110 is forecasted. Humidity had been extremely low the last two weeks. Currently, we’re at 20% so it was feeling pretty muggy out there - Welcome to monsoon season.

When you live in a dry climate you get used to low humidity…

Cold drinks don’t sweat.
Bathrooms don’t get steamy from a hot shower.
You dry immediately after showering.
Blow dryers aren’t necessary, 20-30 mins and you’re good.
Good hair days happen often.
You barely sweat, there’s never that icky sticky feeling.
No biggie if you leave clothes in the washer overnight.
Mildew in general isn’t much of a problem.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Therefore, when the humidity climbs you notice the difference in an instant. Cold drinks, my hair and the stickiness are my main gauges for humidity. It feels odd to feel droplets when taking a drink, my hair increases in size and my skin no longer feels smooth.

But not all is great with low humidity…

You need to moisturize, often!
You get static electric shocks regularly.
Dry throats and eyes, and bloody noses can occur.
Wood, rubber and plastic dry out.
I can’t tell you how many tires have dry-rotted since living here. It’s one of our top auto repair expenses.

The one that never fails to surprise me is how it affects you after swimming.

It can be 100+ outside, 86 in the water, and when you get out of the pool your teeth chatter and you’ll be covered in goose bumps. What? How is that possible? I remember first encountering it days after we moved. We were staying with Frank’s grandparents; they lived in Sun City Summerlin. They went for an afternoon swim everyday. It became part of our routine, too. Vegas was experiencing a June heat wave, it was 115, I hopped out and I froze. My body shook like it would on a chilly winter morning (in Chicago), while waiting for the engine to warm up. I couldn’t understand it. It happened again and again.

It still happens today. I don’t remember when I learned lack of humidity was the culprit, but that’s definitely key. The last two weeks have been brutal. Max humidity has been ten percent with most days hovering around three or five percent. Yep, you read right, it’s almost inconceivable to those of you back east or in the south, huh? It’s bizarre how it’ll feel hotter than hades one minute and as cold as ice the next, then you’re left to ponder how could 100+ feel so damn cold? Nicky has encountered this each time we’ve swam lately. I tell him to stay in the water to keep warm, but he likes to go in and out to jump. Eventually, the chills don’t go away and I bribe him with ice cream so we can go inside to warm up.

Weird, I say. Just like yesterday, I left work to grab lunch. When I got in my car I had to roll down the window to let some cool air in. Not sure when 108 became cool, but it felt significantly cooler after rolling down the windows. Okay, so maybe I let the hot air out? Either way, it messes with your idea of cool and hot.

Monsoon season will stay put for the next month or so. So, I ought to get used to the mugginess. It's likely here to stay. At least, we'll get a break from freezing after a swim.