Entry #6: I vent about not liking Arizona weather

I recently got back from a trip from Oklahoma City. Was it the most exciting trip I've ever been on? No. I've been to Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and more. Those were definitely more exciting, but this most recent trip was more enjoyable. How was that case? 

Well, for one, I don't like Arizona all that much. I have grown up here and have always hated the heat. I like the outdoors, but the outdoors here are too unbearable to be in. There's an outdoor outlet mall near where I live, and I'd never step foot there during a good 3/4ths of the year. Just walking between stores would be enough to work up a sweat for the average person. Not because the walk is long, but because the temperatures are probably around 80 degrees or higher at a time when they'd be able to go. Take a look at the average temperatures by month for both Phoenix and Oklahoma city.

 

Sources: Arizona Weather Chart, Oklahoma Weather Chart

Oklahoma city has two more months in which the average high doesn't go above 80 compared to Arizona. Arizona is also the only one of the two to have THREE months that go above 100 degrees for the average high. I absolutely hate it! 

Spending time in a place where I didn't hate being outside felt very nice. California has decent weather, but the two cities I went to are very run down kind of trashy. San Antonio is also very humid. This is the first time I've been somewhere and didn't dislike the weather. 

Now, there is the aspect of tornadoes. There was a tornado warning in effect while I was out there, but nothing ended up happening. How do you get over the fear of something like that happening, let alone prefer it to hotter temperatures? Hot temperatures won't kill the way tornadoes do, so surely there is something else making it the preference. 

(Source)

Despite being a high risk for tornadoes, there's only an average of about two deaths per year. Now, 2 deaths to some people may still feel scary: what if I'm one of those deaths? Well, Arizona is scarier. In an article on Arizona Republic, it's stated that during 2023 "There have been 469 heat-associated deaths with 153 deaths" (Jackson) still under investigation at the time of the article being written. 469 confirmed deaths because of the weather is a lot higher than 2. What if one of those deaths were to be you?

In the end, it's all about the risks you want to take on where you want to be. I will say, I'm always looking for somewhere other than Arizona to be, and Oklahoma is a good candidate right now. Simply just off the weather alone, Oklahoma city was a much more enjoyable time than I could've spent in Arizona, and that doesn't even include the other aspects I liked about it.