Share your intemperate temps and bitch all you want. The floor is yours.
For those of you who regularly experience hot weather, even if it’s not normally this hot, please share some tips with the folks from Oregon and elsewhere who aren’t used to living with temperatures that could pass for being in hell.
Ok friends, it’s gonna be HOT in the PNW… and everywhere. So I’m going to share a few tricks to cool down that I learned growing up broke with no AC in California. Please add more if you’ve got them, every trick is worth sharing!
— Nyssa Oru (@NyssaOru) June 23, 2021
If you have any good links, please share them in the comments and I’ll add the best ones to the post itself.
Fine print: No gloating by the folks who have good weather.
*I was going to put this up yesterday, but it was a very bad day, and didn’t feel right. May today be a better day, even for everyone living with loss.
cain
The past two days were pretty bad here in Portland. I’ve put out water for the critters so that they have a chance to cool off.
The winds were so hot – it was crazy. Being one of the hottest place on planet in a place where normally it would be in the 70s for most of summer with only a few days of 90s shows how quickly the climate is changing here.
Parmenides
Kiddy pools with ice water, swamp coolers, cooling the house at night and then putting up thick, heavy black out curtains on the windows will keep the heat out for a bit. But I’ll admit my favorite is the kiddy pool with ice. Sit in it with a tasty drink and a book, make sure to put on sunscreen. So much blood runs through your legs making them cold will keep you cool. The other is to create a vest with lots of pockets that you can put cold packs in.
UncleEbeneezer
Keep your shades/curtains drawn all day. If you wait until 10am it’s too late and your AC will most likely never be able to cool the space off.
From SoCal (where we get several weeks of brutal heat every year, and last year was HELL) If you have a bath tub, filling it with cool water to dunk in a couple times throughout the day helps. It will warm up, but still feels good.
Make icepacks and put them on back of your neck/head to cool off.
In 100+ heat, there’s no silver bullet solution, but little things help.
Nelle
I follow my mother’s practice of closing all the east side curtains and blinds in the morning, the west side in the afternoon, even with ac. Drop all ambition. Get lost in a mystery. Hot Kansas summers without ac were reading times. Lots of water, too.
Argiope
I once tried to sleep in a 4th floor non- airconditioned apartment in Florence, Italy in late June. High 90s inside. Managed to drift off naked, covered by a bath towel soaked in cold water. Other tips: make your hat and/or neck gaiter (hand towel) wet with cold water. Keep your head and neck cool and your hair wet. Eat cold watermelon and other cold fruits. Stay in the shade if you must go outside. Plan to do a *lot* less and rest more. Add moving air to the cold/wet head and neck whenever you can. And, stay hydrated! (h/t Adam)
UncleEbeneezer
@Argiope: The head/neck thing is crucial. There’s a reason you always see tennis, football players with wet towels on their necks during the heat. It makes such a difference. I’ll put an ice pack on my pillow for my neck just to help me fall asleep on hot nights.
Hoodie
Here in eastern NC it’s usually hot (90’s) and very humid from about mid-June until mid-September. Because of that, most everywhere is air conditioned. Thinking back to when I lived in Georgia and worked construction in the summers, the best things to do were to keep hydrated, stay out of the sun and move slowly. No alcohol. One summer I worked the night shift in the boiler room of an Atlanta hospital. That place was like a steam room. I did get used to it after a while, but I was in my early 20’s; it probably would be hell for me now. A guy I worked with there insisted that alternating cool (not cold) water and hot coffee kept him cooler. It seemed to help, but it could also have just been psychological.
oldster
This weather has me gloating about the solar panels we installed a year ago. Even when we run the AC pretty much nonstop, our solar panels generate more during the day than the AC consumes in 24 hours.
If everybody did this, brown-outs would cease, and the climate would start cooling again.
For various logistical reasons, solar alone cannot get us out of the hole we’ve dug. But it’s a big part of the solution.
lurkypants
Lessons learned from 14 years in NYC (without AC), 7 years in Sacramento (with AC), and 4 years in Virginia (with AC): If you have AC, use it. Keep your shades down, your curtains drawn, and your windows closed.
If you don’t, keep your shades down (and even cover the windows with tinfoil, shiny side out) and open the windows to create a cross-breeze. Use fans. If you have a box fan that can be pointed out a window, great. Otherwise, use a vacillating fan to move air around the room.
If you need to go outside, use an umbrella or big hat and cover your arms and legs. You’ve got dry heat; you won’t swelter to death. Don’t wear sandals, because the sun is your enemy right now and your toes will burn easily because you forgot to put sunscreen on them (ask me how I know). Also, it’s really uncomfortable. Hit your ears, the bridge of your nose, and the back of your neck with sunscreen.
Drink water with a pinch of salt and/or gatorade. Lots of it; because of the dry heat, you’re not going to be as aware that you’re sweating as you would be in a more humid climate, and you can dehydrate easily (ask me how I know). If you want to get fancy, try a salty lime soda: soda water with salt and lime juice. I had them on a trip to India, and they’re not only delicious, they’re *genius* for dealing with heat and replacing lost fluids.
Benw
Like a dumbass I signed up for a virtual 5k this month and put it off until now. So I have about 24 hours to do it. At least it’s not as bad here as the west coast, but it’ll probably be around 88 F when I head out. Probably with a sack of ice
Another Scott
I have recollections of being in a top-floor apartment in a ~ 100 year old 3-story brick building in Cincinnati during a heat wave in the ’80s. No AC. My memory says it was 100F at midnight, but I can’t find any weather records to back that up. Regardless, it was miserable. The bricks grabbed the heat during the hottest part of the day and slowly re-radiated it into the living spaces.
Shade is your friend. Cold water is your friend. Otherwise, minimize activity and hope for a front to move through.
Hang in there, everyone!
Cheers,
Scott.
Percysowner
If you have any kind of basement i.e. partially below ground, find a way to camp out there, get comfy chair or a futon, find some kind of outlet to recharge your laptop or run a large extension cord. Even if it is dirty and hasn’t been used, except for laundry, it is usually much cooler down there than in your living area and you can do a quick sweep to get the dust down.
I’m in central Ohio where it can get warm in summer, although not as warm as the Northwest is now, and until I did laundry, I would always forget that how much cooler it is down there.
randy khan
We’re now in standard high-temp DC-area summer weather – 90s all week, with nighttime temps in the 80s, and a good bit of humidity. It’s bad, but tolerable if you’re used to it.
I saw the advice about drapes and shades above, and agree with it – our house is much cooler than it would be because we are amidst trees and have long eaves that tend to block direct sun, and the principle is the same.
Otherwise, I’d say that if you have to be out, hydrate like crazy and don’t do any more than you need to do.
randy khan
@Benw:
Is there any rule against doing it in your house?
Roger Moore
@Nelle:
This is the single most important point. It’s not too difficult to survive extreme heat as long as you stay shaded and don’t do anything. It’s when you decide that you just have to do X regardless of the heat that you get in trouble. Unless X is a matter of life and death, you can put it off until things cool down.
RandomMonster
Wet down bandanas and keep them in the fridge. Rotate them out and wrap them around your neck.
MazeDancer
If you have to go outside, carry your own shade with an umbrella.
Little ice packs really help, in your hands, in pockets as Parmenides mentioned. Used to do this when I had to go in the NYC Subway in the Summer. Huge difference.
Damp towel around the neck is essential.
Learned in Greece & NM the hard way: Open windows at night – if it is going to be under 72 – close them when you wake up. Keep fan on. You can survive much heat that way. Seriously, do not leave your windows open during the day.
Wet a top sheet, wring it out, put it over you in extreme heat sleep.
Do not ignore these suggestions in this thread, they really help.
Big batch of good ideas in replies to this tweet
schrodingers_cat
Do the stuff you have to do outdoors before the sun is overhead. In Mumbai, that would mean your morning exercise, run before 8 am latest.
Avoid afternoon sun. Stay hydrated and indoors if you can.
If you want to go out, do that in the evening.
Hoodie
@Roger Moore: This is really important. Growing up in the deep south, you have to learn to embrace the suck that is a typical southern summer. Avoid doing anything outside from about 11am until dusk. The period from about 1-5 pm can be deadly. Save outside activities for the early mornings and evenings.
TomatoQueen
Dad’s method from his Navy days (San Diego): running cold tap water over your wrists and forearms, cooling effect lasts a long time. I persuaded my fellow Johnnies to use this method at the end of the academic year, in un-airconditioned dorms, when Annapolis is disgustingly funky, and it worked then. Keeping my Young Man comfortable, when adult wheelchair upholstery is all black (no more cute red chairs , means staying indoors. with the AC cranked.
azlib
We have lived in AZ for the past 21 years with temperatures at times approaching 120F. What we do to avoid the heat and keep our electric bills from being ridiculous is set the AC at 82F during the day and keep all the window blinds closed. We also use a ceiling fan to keep the air circulating in rooms where we are.
What makes the heat worse is that it does not cool off at night in our urban heat island. When it is still over 100F at 10PM, you know it is going to be a long hot summer. We do get summer rains as the humid air from the Gulf of California piles up against the relatively cooler air above the mountains east of Phoenix and generates intense thunderstorms with sometimes torrential rains and often a lot of dust. They do relieve the heat for a while, but the relief is pretty transitory.
Sure Lurkalot
https://www.amazon.com/Amgico-Cooling-Microfiber-Instant-Athletes/dp/B08T74WFCB/ref=sr_1_5?crid=32JE31DEB4VB2&dchild=1&keywords=microfiber+cooling+towels+for+neck+and+face&qid=1624977868&sprefix=Microfiber+coo%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-5
Bought 6 of these microfiber towels for outdoor activities. I put ice in the pouches. They really do stay cool.
NotMax
Little thing; every bit helps. Eschew the antiperspirants and stick with plain deodorant. Perspiration is nature’s air conditioning.
If you don’t have or are not running A/C, opening doors and/or windows to create a cross draft can help. Straight run through a central hall between a front and back door was a fixture in colonial era homes for a reason.
RoonieRoo
Bowl of ice in front of a fan. Really. Might not last long but it can help cool down an enclosed space that has no windows or well curtained. This is helpful if you have gotten overheated and need time in lower air temperature. Otherwise, keep all your curtains pulled, fans running (air movement really helps) and take the opportunity to read and not be physically active.
cckids
@lurkypants: Some good ideas, but what makes you believe that the PNW area has dry heat? It’s not Georgia-level humidity, but being right on the coast, yeah, it is humid.
MazeDancer
Obvious point I foolishly ignored yesterday: DO NOT USE YOUR OVEN. It will eat all your hard won AC.
In Greece, they would cook for the day before dawn.
Spanky
I remember an episode of Hill Street Blues, of all places, telling one of the elderly neighbors to fill the tub with cold water and get in it.
Is that too simple an idea? When you have no other recourse it sounds like a good idea.
cckids
We’re in Everett (N.Seattle), in our 2nd floor, no-AC apartment. Thank FSM, today is supposed to be cooler, but the last 2 days have been brutal. Our windows are all on the same side (east), so no cross-breezes going here. We went out yesterday & just wandered around Costco for 2 hours, then went to see In the Heights in a deliciously cool movie theater.
I’m working from home for job #1, and my computer just stops working by 2 pm, when the temp in the apartment has been 95 degrees for an hour or more. So I’m working vampire hours – from about 4:30 a.m. till 10, then sign in again after 8 p.m. for another few hours. I’ll be very glad tomorrow when my end-of-month rush is over.
MazeDancer
Obvious point #2 – Do not use your laptop on your lap.
If you can’t put it on a table, put a magazine or book or something between its heat and you.
NotMax
@schrodingers_cat
Obligatory.
;)
Hoodie
@MazeDancer: Some old houses in Georgia would have summer kitchens for this very reason. The old houses also had high ceilings to keep the warmer air above the living space. My wife’s family in Louisiana would take afternoon naps on the floor.
prostratedragon
@Roger Moore: It really is, followed quickly by the advice to shade windows from the sun. Even on just moderately warm days I make sure east-facing blinds are drawn by sunrise, since a couple of hours of that will heat a bedroom noticeably even with a/c. Eat cooling snacks, to give all that hydrating some company. Best are fresh fruits and vegs, the best thing about the season imo. I like to make a salad of watermelon and tomato with a bit of of basil and red onion, and some vinaigrette. I can eat gallons of that this time of year, or of gazpacho. The occasional kosher dill slice or spear is cooling as well.
Watch something cooling after a long bath, at a theater if you know one where you feel comfortable. Hot weather helped me learn to appreciate slow cinema. Definitely the time to give Barry Lyndon a try. I’ve also been helped by The Big Blue and The Abyss, because, you know, blu-u-u-u-ue!.
Foamy, frosty piano and splash cymbals, lots of splash cymbals:
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
No where near as hot as the PNW, but it’s been in the lower 90s for the past few days here. I recommend staying inside and keeping hydrated
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore:
We are all going to have much more respect for the siesta, and siesta calm.
Those cultures were not indolent. They were adapting to and surviving their environment.
I wonder if we will see home and building architecture adapt a bit, to when introducing airflow and shade was important. Lessons from the pre-air conditioning world. The old houses were built differently, and in many ways so much better.
I worry so much for people when it’s hot as blazes and the power goes out. Suspect that all of us will experience that in the coming years, at least in spells.
Benw
@randy khan: it’s a good point. I could figure something out indoors
Spanky
If you’ve got them, spend time under shade trees. They actually provide cooling, and seem to even cool the breeze, which can otherwise feel like a hair dryer once it gets over 100.
schrodingers_cat
@NotMax: Midday sun is not the same at all latitudes makes sense in the British Isles not in the tropics!
WaterGirl
@Benw: Be smart – I can write you a note.
(fixed)
Spanky
@MazeDancer: Laptops need cooling too. Prop it up so air can flow underneath.
MarkPainter
If you don’t have AC, or it’s inadequate, try to get someplace that has good, cool AC and spend ~2 hrs/day there.
Movie theaters were ideal for this purpose, pre-COVID, though things are different now. If not a theater, a museum or mall or any public venue. There is good medical evidence that your body copes much better with the heat the rest of the day if you give it a short “vacation” from the heat every day or two.
FridayNext
@Spanky:
They did this once on M*A*S*H, too. Ordered a canvas bathtub from Abercrombie and Fitch (which used to be a outdoor supply company before they went for the mall tweener market) Originally they got it to cool off in, but then Radar got tonsillitis so they used it to bring his temperature down. While he was in there naked the whole camp learned about it and hilarity ensued…
cain
@cckids:
One thing I learned as a kid while reading books – create a system of air flow by having a series of fans. In one window have a fan blowing out (exhaust fan) and then have one or two blowing air in – that way – you keep the air moving – always bringing cool air in and hot air out.
NotMax
@cckids
PC? Turning it off, unplugging it from the outlet, opening the case/tower and blowing out accumulated dust, grit and whatever could well help. It’s astounding what builds up inside over time. Do not rub the electronic innards with a cloth or a Swiffer or anything like that (could generate static electricity, a definite no-no).
FridayNext
@MarkPainter:
Back when I lived in Baltimore without AC I saw a lot of movies and museums, and read a lot of books in the library, you know the big one way downtown. Museums might be dicy since so many are using timed tickets. Libraries seemed to be opening back up, though.
WhatsMyNym
I never had AC in California, LA and the Bay area, no problems. The town I live in now on the Olympic Peninsula is on its own mini-peninsula. It’s humid. We were still in the low 60’s and went to 97 in three days.
Thankfully the heatwave broke last night. Back to the 60’s right now.
cckids
@NotMax: No, it’s a laptop, about 2 months old, but is connected to two large monitors. The cursor just stops , and there are pixilated spots all over the screen. I’ve got a cooling fan on it, but after several hours of use in this heat, it gives up.
WaterGirl
I can’t help but notice that the comments are somewhat different than I would have predicted. Far less (well deserved) complaining, more suggesting.
You guys are clearly better people than me, I HATE the heat and I can get kind of crabby when it gets too hot.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@UncleEbeneezer:
I second Uncle Ebeneezer on everything.
cckids
@WaterGirl: lol. Here, there’s at least a bit of a break in it, at least so far; and it doesn’t seem like it will hit triple digits today. The past 3 days? I have been swearing and sweating in equal measure. I moved here from S. Nevada to get away from the goddamn sun and heat. I want to speak to the manager.
My spouse is much, much crankier than I am. He’s also dealing with long Covid issues, though, and is pretty miserable.
burnspbesq
Bizarre. PNW is scorching, and It may not make it to 85 in Austin today. It’s almost July and we haven’t seen 100 yet.
Benw
@WaterGirl: haha, you have to sign it Dr. Watergirl, MD!
WhatsMyNym
@cckids: Running those 2 monitors might what’s pushing it over the edge. Even if it has a separate graphics chip, that’s a lot of heat being produced
ETA: if it has integrated graphics you’re just asking for trouble trying to run 2 monitors all day.
piratedan
others have touched upon it, but living in Tucson it makes sense to reiterate it… if you’re cooking something, put it in a crock pot and slow cook it. Stay away from heavy meals, believe it or not, salads and sandwiches work really good here and strangely enough, include potato chips, when you sweat, you lose moisture and salt, a handful of chips helps with that. treat yourself to cool foods, jellos, puddings, ice-pops, pasta salads, and the like… it sounds like you’re being a kid again, but hey whatever works.
No exertion outdoors in the sun, in AZ, we combat it with a big influx of fluids because there is not as much humidity (dry-heat) but when it’s humid and extreme heat, the body has a more difficult time finding that equillibrium.
If you have the means to, nap… when it’s this warm, finding an optimal temp to sleep can be more difficult, chances are you’ll be more restless, which leads to being more tired. So if you can take a nap, go for it.
if you do have to out and about during the day, crack your windows after you park, gives the heat a chance to escape and coving your steering wheel is recommended (although the majority of folks here have an internal windshield screen to reflect the sun).
Hope that this helps someone who needs it
BeautifulPlumage
Seattlite, no AC, apt got up to 90 yesterday evening…at 9 pm Miss Pearl (17 yr kitty) got overheated & started panting. I tried a cold wet towel, then hit upon an ice mattress: crushed ice in a large Ziploc with a couple of layers of cotton sheet over it. Once I got her to lay on it I put a smaller one on her neck. She actually laid there for ~ 30 mins.
It is now 66 deg out and she seems good. I tried selling her on the benefits of misting but she wouldn’t buy it.
cckids
@WhatsMyNym: Sure. Unfortunately, it’s essential to what I’m doing.
Jerzy Russian
@Spanky: I remember that scene also.
Then there was an episode of MASH where someone got a tub. Radar said something like “I don’t want to take a hot bath now” and Hawkeye said something like “fill it with cool water”.
WaterGirl
@cckids: Ugh on long Covid, also ugh on the heat. I can’t recall where you moved to, are you in Portland?
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: We only complain about politics otherwise Jackals are even keeled folk.
cckids
@BeautifulPlumage: My 19-year old tortie, the empress Hermione, won’t lay on an ice bath, but we put some freezer packs in pillowcases, then just laid them on the bed where she always lays, so she was surrounded by cool; with the fan blowing over them. Went in & she had all four paws on on one of them, so I guess she approves.
Sunday she kept coming out to us & complaining about the heat, pissy that we weren’t making it go away.
schrodingers_cat
@BeautifulPlumage: I would put ice-cubes in kitteh water bowls when I lived in DC.
cckids
@WaterGirl: In Everett, WA – basically North Seattle. Home of Boeing and Funko.
WaterGirl
@Benw: That has been remedied. :-)
But seriously, either don’t do it or find a way to do it inside where it’s coolish. Dr. WaterGirl does not want to have to worry about you.
RSA
This was sent out from my work’s operations center, for what it’s worth:
I went for a run a couple of days ago, wearing sunscreen and a hat, but it was just too hot. I managed 5K and that was enough. Maybe I’ll see what I can do indoors.
WaterGirl
@BeautifulPlumage: That must have been distressing for both of you until you found a way to cool her down. I laughed out loud at your last sentence.
way2blue
@MazeDancer: Or BBQ outside. In the evening…
WaterGirl
@cckids:
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.No one expects this kind of heat in the pacific northwest.
sab
Soak a dishtowell in 25%rubbing alchohol 75%water, double bag it in big ziplock bags, and then put it in the freezer. The alchohol keeps it from freezimg rock hard. We first made these when my hisband had his back surgery, and we have kept them around ever since for heat relief.
trollhattan
@Spanky:
They replaced our water mains last year. New main runs down the middle of the street while the retired one ran through the easement between lots, mostly shaded and set deeper. Our “cold” tap water is noticeably warmer this summer, at least ten degrees and maybe more. It’s a weird quirk I notice from matching water temp when adding it to the aquarium. Suppose the water heater runs less.
Anyhoo, we can have “cool” showers now but not cold ones. Even so, if working outdoors, gardening and such, a cold shower can really help and it’s always instructive when I’ve taken one but resume sweating before I can even dress. A good indicator your body is still responding to the heat.
Acclimation is the key to heat tolerance, which is why the PNW heat is so insidious. By July I’m able to function in 100+, far from it in April (when hints of summer begin to arrive in recent years). Stay inside by day, get out in the evening and as much as possible, try to get the hot air out of the house and attic if you have one. Of course it’s not just the hot stale air but the house’s thermal mass you’re dealing with.
I have lots to say about making a nearly hundred-year old house better manage heat and cold (as if) but that’s a topic for another day. You can’t just dial up somebody for a whole house fan and get it installed same day.
And stay hydrated!
CaseyL
If you have pickles, drinking the pickle juice out of the jar is a great way to hydrate, since it’s full of briny good stuff. I read this somewhere ages ago, and it seems to work. I notice that if I’m even a little dehydrated, the stuff tastes great – and then tastes a little less great when I’ve had enough of it. (Disclaimer: I don’t mind the taste anyway.)
I also discovered – while trying to stay cool during the Great PNW Bake-Out – that soaking a towel in water and wearing it over my head and neck helped a lot. I now have a whole pile of damp towels in the laundry basket.
Soprano2
When I had to work outside during the summer, I would freeze water or Gatorade in a bottle and then put it in my lunchbox. It would keep the lunchbox colder, and as it melted I would drink the cold fluid. Other than that, lots of people here have lots of good ideas for keeping cool. I wonder what’s happening with jobs like public works. I know that in Arizona a lot of that stuff is now being done at night, at least during the summer.
Don’t blow really hot air on yourself with a fan – that can make you overheat faster. I’ve read about people dying from doing that.
cckids
@WaterGirl: Nope. I worry about the people without the resources we have to deal – multiple fans, we can run around finding ice, we can get the hell out of our house – especially for dinner – it is just too hot to eat at home, much less cook. The architecture here isn’t set up for this, and people are definitely suffering. And, of course, homeless people have it the worst.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@oldster:
“What do you mean, my new dream home of 7000 square feet for 2 that is is a 40 mile commute to downtown Houston for my husband in his four wheel GMC SUV is impractical and wasteful? You sound like a communist! My kids finally left and I wanted the house that I deserve!”
– some 58 Year Old Texas Housewife
joel hanes
Your head is one of the best heat dumps your body has
Take an ordinary cotton baseball cap. Run it full of cold water. Dump out the excess water. Put it on your head wet.
Rinse/repeat frequently.
If you’re working out of doors, don’t bother to empty out the water before you put the cap back on: the water will soak your shirt, which is all good.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@cain: Running fans at night to move cooler air though the house really helps.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: When Nikki was a puppy, we’d put ice cubes in her water when it was hot. She started eating the cubes. She loved ice cubes and when I’d get something to drink, I’d bring her an ice cube. The only time she wouldn’t eat them if she wasn’t feeling well.
WhatsMyNym
@cckids: The 7 Best External Graphics Cards
Kelly
We’ve lived on salads thru the recent record breaking PNW heat wave. On ordinary hot days we cook in our Instant Pot outside on the north porch.
Yesterday Salem OR tied Las Vegas NV all time record at 117 F. Lytton BC may have reached 118.
via weather blogger Bob Henson https://twitter.com/bhensonweather
Yesterday Portland set an all time high hotter than the all time highs of Oklahoma City OK, Dallas/Ft Worth Tx, and Austin TX
The Pale Scot
Down here in the swamp my office faces the south. What I did is get those car windshield shaders and velcro tape, put the tape on the sides of the window and shaders. Definitely makes a difference, and I can take off and on easy peazi. The cheaper route is aluminum foil and painters tape, and cardboard to back the foil if you want to take them on and off. The thing about blackout curtains is that they will absorb the light and reradiate the heat as infrared. If you have fish tanks the hosing can be pricked and crimped and attached to fan. Hook up a tank pump and it’s one off those gizmos the NFL uses. And beer, definitely cold, cold beer. Alcohol dilates the blood vessels which helps in shedding internal heat. At least that’s my rational and I’m sticking to it.
Of course, if you leave the foil up all the time the 5g nutters will be knocking on your door fer sure
way2blue
I can’t conceive of 115°F. We once passed through Phoenix in the summer. In our hotel, the water from the cold water tap was warm. The pool water was too warm. Too hot to eat outside even in the shade.
My son, who has been working outside up near Chico, where it’s been in the low 100s, wears a ‘lightweight’ (Patagonia) UV shirt that he keeps wet, and a (Buff) neck gaiter that he also keeps wet. And hydrates.
We follow the same practices as others w/o A/C. Open windows & skylights in the evening. Turn on the bathroom & laundry room fans. This will drop the inside temperature about 8° by morning. Then close everything up. Some of our (single paned) windows have baffled ‘thermal’ blinds, so that helps too…
Miss Bianca
@CaseyL: The pickle juice tactic is one that I use for quick and dirty hydration. A friend of mine who used to plant trees for the Forest Service turned me on to that trick! Full of electrolytes, PLANTS CRAVE IT!
Oops, sorry, that’s Brawndo, not pickle juice. Neb’ mind.
Kelly
I’ve worn a wet cotton bucket hat to get by on hot days backpacking and rafting. Hottest was the first week of July 2006 rowing the Colorado thru Grand Canyon with 120 degree highs.
jnfr
@RoonieRoo:
You can also turn the fan into an evaporative cooler by putting a damp towel over it as it runs. Not real wet of course, you don’t want water dripping into the thing. And a light towel like flour sacks work best.
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
I would recommend vacuuming rather than blowing, just because it will cause fewer problems with flying dust.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Hats with brims all the way around are your friend, light straw being best at keeping you cool.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@The Pale Scot:
Ah…NO. Alcohol will cause you to dehydrate.
NotMax
First day I arrived in Minneapolis (in 1975) temperature was 110°F.
Three months later it was minus 20.
LeftCoastYankee
Last night right after sunset the SW winds (i.e. Pacific) came roaring in. It was probably 80 degree wind, but it felt like beautiful icy relief.
In Portland it gets over 100 a few times a year, typically when the East winds blow off the desert (yeah Eastern Oregon is a desert), and funnel down the gorge. The winds are normally pretty nice, but if they stop and the Pacific winds don’t return… hot.
But not 115 hot like yesterday. Spent the whole day rotating 3 ice packs over my body. Today will be a nice pleasant 96.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
I tote it out to the front porch and use the blow out method there.
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
Now that you asked for it, I will complain about the weather in Phoenix when I visited. It got up to 118 while I was there. Surprisingly, I found that going outside was not the worst part for me. I could usually limit my time outside, wear temperature appropriate clothing, and use all the other tricks to keep from overheating. The worst was the lab I was visiting. Because I was working in a lab, I had to wear long pants, closed-toe shoes, a lab coat, and gloves. Because I was around other people, I had to wear a face mask. Because it was so hot outside and we had west-facing windows, the inside temperature got to about 80. Because of the experiments I was doing, I couldn’t leave whenever I wanted. Soaking in that heat wearing too much was actually worse than being outside.
WhatsMyNym
A quick reminder for you southerners – we’re getting 16 hours of daylight up here at the 48 parallel. Not including dawn and dusk.
SeattleDem
When it hit 105 yesterday, we left our non-AC house with a great view but no shades or curtains for an afternoon showing of “In The Heights.” The fire alarm came on halfway through the movie, apparently set off by the heat, and we had to evacuate back into the furnace. Found out the AC in the car still works; we haven’t used it for years. Grabbed some floaties, went to the beach, and actually waded out into the cold water. At the beach were lots of big family groups from hot countries having barbecue picnics, so maybe they knew what they were doing.
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
Not to mention making you more beckoning to skeeters.
;)
Aziz, light!
After 8 days last September of being holed up in my SE Portland house unable to open the door because the smoky forest fire air outside was unbreathable (worst air on the planet), the last three days (115 yesterday) were not as bad. My AC did fine till we passed 110. I live a block from a very large swimming pool called the Willamette River, so took a few refreshing dips.
In 10 or 20 years we will be talking about the good old days when the record high was in the teens.
Kelly
@LeftCoastYankee: Salem’s new all time record high of 117 is !!12 degrees!! over the old record of 105. We were 80 yesterday at 6 am. That would count as a warm June day at 6 pm.
trollhattan
@Roger Moore:
Have been in “official” 118 twice, Phoenix and Redding. Redding was extra fun because motorcycle.
Phoenix was diabolical because it was August and “monsoon season,” which raised humidity to make that heat MUCH worse. IDK whether it goes from 8 to 20% or what, but let me just say only crazy people tolerate that and if you were to move there sane, you will not be sane after awhile. Midnight in Tempe where my hotel was saw 99 degrees, and that’s when the locals came out of their caves.
NB While 100 is the psychological threshold for “too hot to tolerate” anybody who believes once you hit a hundred being even hotter makes no difference, has a big surprise in store when it happens. Also interesting is how less hot 105 feels after enduring 110.
joel hanes
@Roger Moore:
Vacuum cleaners are superb static charge generators.
If you’re vacuuming out the inside of a PC:
– wrap bare copper wire several times around hose just behind nozzle, or better yet around the attachment itself.
– attach wire to PC case ground
– wear an antistatic wrist strap yourself, and attach that also to case ground
before turning on the vacuum.
Even then, it’s not the best idea ever.
LeftCoastYankee
@Kelly:
The high morning low temperatures were bad. Hard to get that typical NW overnight cooling effect. Plus short nights after an unusually dry spring…
Quite an alignment! Glad it’s over for now.
The Pale Scot
@cckids:
It’s the graphics card mostly likely. I use to put my Genesis Sega on top of ice in a tub when I was playing a game that didn’t save, the only way to complete it was to play 12 hours straight. It had a tendency to shut down right before I was finished. Get a keyboard so you don’t have touch it.
Old (2012) Mac Mini’s are cheap and you can install Windoze if that’s you preference. There are modern MM like PC’s I found that in the long run using a laptop as a primary work PC wears them out, they just aren’t made for continuous graphic intensive apps, except those high end gamer laptops
Unhooking one, or both monitors will help
The Pale Scot
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Gatorade chaser, I implied I was jesting, it’s all good
JanieM
Haven’t had time to read the whole thread but here are some tips i was given years ago that seem to work for me:
— don’t take a hot shower (i’ve seen this recommended) — it makes you hot
— don’t take a cold shower, it triggers an adrenaline rush, which makes you hot
— i.e. take a lukewarm shower
— don’t rub off with a towel, rubbing heats your skin
— dab off with a towel, that leaves moisture that can cool you a little as it evaporates
i wet my t-shirt and hair and sit in front of a fan on low — no AC, but i’m in Maine, it hasn’t gotten above 90 yet
Dan B
@burnspbesq: It’s global warming messing with the Jet Stream. This is likely the new normal. The Jet Stream has been twisted into crazy loops for months as the difference in temperature between the Arctic and Subtropics decreases the Jet Stream slows and allows weather systems to cross what used to be a robust barrier, like an air curtain at the entrance to a mall. Many of our plants have sun scorched here in Seattle despite watering three times per day. The impacts on agriculture and forests may not be reported for many months.
We have a big attic fan and a foot of insulation in the ceiling. Sucking 108° air into the attic did little to cool it. Our ceiling was 100° until 9PM. Thank Dog for ductless heat pumps!
TerryC
@Spanky: I nearly killed myself in cool tub once. Very hot day, spent time with friends throwing discs into my swinging disc golf basket. Got hot. Went into tub of cool water and turned a trickle of cold going.
Fell asleep, woke up with hypothermia. Barely got out of the tub and called out to my wife “dizzy” just before I planted my face in the living room carpet.
I might have died had I not woken up!
Dan B
@piratedan: I bought a couple induction burners this spring and some very affordable induction pans. They produce one quarter of the heat of our gas range burners, maybe less.
Dan B
@way2blue: It was 100° on our front porch at 9PM. The BBQ was not used since the brick was radiating 104° at least. Yesterday was as bad as the hottest day I ever experienced in Arkansas – 104° at noon with heavy dew at 90°. We had fans. The tap water was 95°.
Roger Moore
@Dan B:
Probably less. Induction ranges are about 80% efficient, meaning 80% of the energy heats up the pot and only 20% goes into the room. Gas burners are something like 30% efficient*, meaning 30% of the heat goes into the pot and 70% goes into the room. So to get 100 BTU into a pot, an induction burner puts 25 BTU into the room, while a gas burner puts something like 230 BTU into the room. It’s a much bigger difference than you’d think just comparing 80% to 30%.
*The efficiency is much more variable for gas burners, depending on the settings and the pot.
J R in WV
@Hoodie:
Our elderly neighbors, the Lawson brothers, had a summer kitchen, they called it their “canning kitchen” but really it was just a little shed beside the house with a stove in it, and a shower.
They taught me how to farm, I already knew how to can from my grandma. I miss those old boys — they grew tobacco for their tiny cash crop, and I helped with most all of that complicated process.
They got by on $2,500 cash income each growing season, give or take a little. They grew almost everything they ate… Afternoons we would sit in their living room after lunch with the Reds Baseball on the TV and nearly nap until someone hit a baseball with a bat — we would all startle and watch the play. No AC ever. Just a fan to move the hot still air.
WaterGirl
@Roger Moore: Ugh! That sounds distinctly unpleasant!
lurkypants
@cckids:
I mean, current humidity in Portland is 59%, and in Sacramento is 53%. Seattle is 72%, but it’s about to rain. Call me when it gets up to 98-100% humidity.
WaterGirl
@Kelly: Yikes!
WaterGirl
@TerryC: Holy shit. Cautionary tale.
Betsy
@Hoodie: Hey from pirate country (eye roll). Where are you?
Betsy
@The Pale Scot: Hey, thank you for posting the link to that site. Would you be able to help me choose a computer? I’m not *completely* clueless, yet I just don’t have time to educate myself properly about my options. I’d be very happy to pay you a reasonable consulting fee.
Kineslaw
One thing I used in Australia was a homemade Air Conditioner. Take a styrofoam cooler and cut two holes in the lid, one big enough for a small fan and one big enough for an elbow piece of PVC pipe. Put ice and rock salt in the cooler, turn on the fan and cooler air comes out the elbow pipe.
Depending on the size of the cooler and the room, it can take 10+ degrees off the temp. You do have to choose a room, close the door and keep it running to get much benefit.
This is the sophisticated version.
gvg
I would recommend leaving a small water source outside for critters. the reason being they will try to get yours if they can’t find some water. During my first year of a Florida drought as a home owner, I lost hoses and had other damage by crazed thirsty critters. I got a small tub and made sure things could climb in and out of it, and they left my stuff alone after that. Maybe there is lots of nearby natural water, but maybe not, check. Change the water every few days to prevent mosquitoes.
In your situation, you may want to provide shade too. Otherwise critters will try to get in your house, to your surprise.
They chewed my hoses because they could smell the water sitting inside.
CCL
Late to the party.
Arizona born and bred. Grew up without AC. Swamp cooler in Maricopa country. In addition to aluminum foil on windows (especially south facing), I often slept on the floor growing up.
Grandmother had a sleeping porch on the roof of their house in Pima county. UofA still had dorms with sleeping porches back in the day. Also “way back in the day” the fourth way of Father’s bedroom – when he was growing up – was some sort of canvas so that it could be rolled up at night…
Iced tea (without sugar but sometimes lemon) and iced coffee.
As mentioned above – only madmen and English went out in the noonday sun.
Could always tell the midwesterners from the natives – natives wore loose cotton shirts, blouses etc.
Betsy
Late to the game I am as usual, but here are my suggestions from a lifetime in the hot humid southeastern coastal plain.
1. sitting with your feet/ankles in a kiddie pool is helpful (make sure you’re in the shade)
2. Move as little as possible
3. wet a lightweight cotton bandana and fold it the long way (diagonally) and drape it around your neck and clip or safety pin it so it stays. The evaporating moisture will cool your neck for more than an hour, and the veins in your neck will carry the coolth to the rest of your body. Likewise wrists with a smaller neckerchief.
Don’t fold it too many times, or it will insulate your body heat. Just lap it over once or twice.
4. put water in a basin or sink , and dip your hands in it up to the elbows every so often. If the tap water (as it comes in from outside) is too hot and feels warm, then stopper the sink, or pour into a basin or dish tub, and allow the water to sit at room temperature inside (presumably cooler , if you have AC) so that after an hour or so you will have a basin of water quite a bit cooler than your body temperature, at least.
5. Let yourself drip dry or damp-dry after showering
6. Keep iced drinks by your side and sip frequently; avoid sugary and alcoholic drinks. I make “homemade-orade” by cutting orange juice half with water. More electrolytes than any sports drink, and the modest amount of sugar helps your body absorb the water better than plain water.
7. put anything wet or damp on you and sit in the flow from a fan.
8. sleep with a damp lightweight towel on your bare abdomen (largish plain woven kitchen towel works better than terrycloth bath towel)
9. Eat cool and cold foods.
10. if you MUST cook, don’t use the oven; only the stovetop. (This is probably why southerners are infamous for so much fried food)
11. Say the old-fashioned word “coolth” as often as possible.
It will make you feel cooler, and make you be more conscious of seeking out the coolth wherever you can, and it will keep an old and highly deserving English word in current circulation.
Steeplejack
Pretty much a “normal” summer day here in NoVA: 93°, sunny, 48% humidity (that’s a little low!), but it “feels like” 101°. Best to stay inside. Supposed to peak a few degrees hotter tomorrow and then cool off with rain the rest of the week.
My RWNJ brother has been on a motorcycle expedition in the PNW interior and has been getting the heat. Currently 105° in Bend, OR, and it was 109° when he passed through eastern Washington and Oregon two days ago. He’s heading for home (Las Vegas) tomorrow. Almost equally hot there, but that’s normal.
CCL
@CCL:
ugh, get the cliche right!
mad dogs and englishmen.
JaneE
At least where I am is is still dry by back East standards, but when you are used to 30-40 % humidity 50-60 is terribly muggy. I was dripping sweat off my face just from sorting a load of clothes. Definitely not normal heat. It has been getting more and more like this for at least the last quarter century.
russell
hi 90’s today on the north shore of Boston. ai caramba!
Mai Naem mobile
I know this thread is about living without A/C but there are the small a/c’s on wheels. They usually cover around 150 sq ft. The cheaper ones are around $300. They do a pretty good job of cooling a room down. Obviously this isn’t a permanent solution but if you’re desperate and its a health issue and you can afford, its worth it. There are also the relatively inexpensive evap cooling box fans where you add water to the box.
Also getting just your head wet cools down your whole body. Putting ice packs in a pillow keeps your head cool at night. If you buy bottles of water they make convenient ice packs.
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@BeautifulPlumage: Once, in desperation, I dunked my cats in a tub of tepid water—I found them a bit later, belly up under the attic fan, where the air currents would do them the most good.
The ice “mattress” is genius.
bucachon
Ice cube on the inside bend of the elbows!
Bonnie
This morning it was a cool 67 degrees in Tacoma, Washington. On Sunday at 106 degrees, I melted into a puddle primordial goo. As I oozed around the house, I found another puddle of primordial goo; and, it meowed. So, I assumed it was my cat, Belle. Three days of my life gone. I had lived in Maryland for 20 years; but, we Pacific Northwesters are never ready for such obscene weather. I can breathe and think today. How, wonderful! My condolences to all who lost pets while life mostly came to a stop for three days of over 100 degrees.
mrmoshpotato
Got a swimmable lake nearby? Go jump in it – even if it’s not that Great.
neldob
Hammocks are the coolest way to sleep. Keeping your house cool by shading windows on the outside works well, better than indoor shades generally. Keeping sun off the windows, and any other part of the house that you can, is very efficient. I put white asphalt shingles on my house last time I re-roofed and that lowered the in home temperature amazingly. 6 inch walls and a whole house fan (aka swamp cooler) help too. This is how I lived in the arid savanah for decades without the bummer I just lived through here in the NW.
The Pale Scot
@Betsy:
Hey Betsy, I’d be happy to help, put your wallet away.
1st, I have to check if the email address that I use here is still active. I busy right now, later in the day I’ll check and if it’s OK with WaterGirl I’ll ask her to send you my email address
debbie
We used to put our bedsheets in the refrigerator and wait until the last moment to make the bed.
Kayla Rudbek
I saw this on social media: “the National Weather Service has just published instructions on how to bake a lasagna in your mailbox.”
Mikeindublin
Run cold water over your forearms for a min to cool down
Kirk Spencer
So many good ideas, so late to the thread. So a few not mentioned:
Eat cucumbers. Eat dill pickles. Eat frozen dill pickles. (no seriously)
If you have a yard, set up a canopy for shade and put a sheet on the ground. Then lay on that sheet for a while. Get a fan if you can, but the key is the ground. The earth is still cool enough to pull heat from your body.
If you have room inside, set up a mesh hammock to sleep in. Set up two or three fans so the resulting breeze goes around you, not across you. Point them slightly downward
Betsy
@The Pale Scot: Super!!! Thanks!!!
WaterGirl
@Betsy: @The Pale Scot:
I just sent you both email.
RJ
Water, water, water…drink it, splash it on you, go sit in it if that’s possible, freeze it and drape it around your neck. And then drink some more…if it’s hot and you’re not sweating and your pee is darker than light lemonade you are dehydrated and at risk. Water is life, no kidding. Drink some more…
CatHairEverywhere
I live in an area that is 90s-100s most of the summer, but usually pretty dry. We’ve had some humidity with our 100+ weather lately, which has been miserable. I’m so sorry for those who are having to deal with this kind of weather with no experience and no a/c. I second the suggestion above about putting fans in front of (or in windows) at night to draw in the cooler air, then close everything up tight and close the blinds by mid-morning. I also second the comment that given the choice between a very hot house and time outside under a shade tree, the shade tree is often surprisingly cooler. A kiddie pool under a shade tree is even better. The comment above about the hot breeze definitely hits home- we joke here that those breezes change our situation from living in a regular oven to living in a convection oven. I hope things cool off for the PNW soon. I love that lush, green area, and it’s been making me sad to imagine all of the plants shriveling in the heat.
Beth
We just moved up to the Seattle area to enjoy the family and the cooler climate (!), and have had folks and their pets and kids staying with us the last few days of this killing heat, because we actually have air conditioning!
Being a survivor of many hot places without AC, we stocked up and cooked ahead for quick and substantial dinner salads (tuna salad, hard boiled eggs, cold potatoes in vinaigrette, etc), tempting fruits, and plenty of salty snacks, as well as freezing and bagging ice as fast as our ice trays would make it. Brought out the fans and spray bottles, wore wet cloths on necks, and took it easy, just hanging together and surviving together with a grand-toddler in our midst. Good times!
Actually feels a bit lonely now without all the hubbub, Thank goodness for the vaccine, so we could manage this without worry or danger!