Calif heat wave; what are you doing to survive?
 

Well, we're on Day 3 of this newest heat wave. I live in Citrus Heights in eastern Sacramento County and today will be over 110. Some of the things we do to get through it:
* Don't use the stove any more than necessary and don't use the oven at all
* Go out to dinner rather than cook or bbq
* Keep door closed when carrying in groceries rather than leaving it open between trips to the car
* Keep lots of cold water on hand. Read the ads today to see who has bottled water on sale this week.
* All blinds are closed tight, keep lights off and house dark during the day
* Using minimal electricity trying to avoid black-out. If power goes down the temp inside the house will climb to a level that will be difficult to get back down without hours of running the air conditioner endlessly
* Bought a cheap fan yesterday at Wal Mart for $15, DH uses it at work instead of air conditioning

It has been pretty hot here in Southern Ca but seems to have cooled off today.. there is still an overcast and I am a good 20 minutes from the beach.

In So Cal here and it is overcast. not quite the 100 degrees they had been predicting, and I doubt it's even been very far into the 90's. Warm, but not too bad - it is July, after all. And I'm pretty well inland in Orange Co.

There is a little more humidity in the air and that makes things just a tad uncomfortable, but even that is not all that bad.

hummm chele - are you my neighbor?

Hi Parrothead, I am in Vacaville and it is suppose to get up to 110 again today. Smokey air and sky too and am sure you have the same.

I do not have to close my blinds as after 10:00am I do not have sun streaming in except for the bedroom so of course I close the bedroom blind.

I keep all the windows closed and the AC on. I don't feel guilty about the AC as that is what we are advised to do.

Ran the dishwasher quite late last night. Not using the oven either. Basically eating sandwiches or salads. I should vacuum (this is my excuse, lol) I don't want to use unnecessary electricty.

And of course drinking lots of water, and staying inside as much as possible.

Take care Parrothead. Unhealthy heat and air!

It's nice in San Diego today. It's currently 73 at my house, 10 minutes from the beach (used to be 8 minutes, but they put in more stop lights!). We're not getting the seriously high temperatures the people north of LA are experiencing. Yet.

We are headed to the beach next week local and I do hope it is nice and hot :-)

We're heading north to Seattle for a few days. It is in the mid 70s right now. Ahhhhh.

I'm at the coast, too, and the marine layer was so thick this morning that I had to use my windshield wipers because of the drizzle. It's only 70 now and probably won't get much past 80. I'm hoping that they are getting this same weather in Goleta and Big Sur.

Microclimates are funny. I wouldn't want to deter anyone from visiting California because they think the whole state is too hot and smokey.

Often the fog is worse at the beach when it is extremely hot inland. I spent last weekend in north county San Diego and only saw the sun when I went shopping inland about a mile.

MomDDTravel ~ We could be. :) I live/work in north Orange County. Are you somewhere in the neighborhood?

I'm in San Jose and we are doing pretty much what everyone else is doing - laying low, not cooking, keeping the fans going, closing the windows and curtains during the day, openning them after sundown...

It's 71 here in Carmel and the same in Big Sur. We do have fog so that's a good thing!

Hi Parrothead,

I'm in El Dorado Hills. Smoke and heat is so bad, it hurt my eyes just walking to the mailbox. The AC has been running nonstop for 3 days. Usually I will open up the windows at night, but not when it is so smokey out.

My golden retriever wanted to lay out on the patio about 11A. I made him come in the house as yesterday we took a morning walk and had breathing trouble afterwards.

Hopefully the delta breezes will kick up this weekend to help with the smoke.

Southern OC here :-)

I'm in a different part of the country, but I thought I'd add my tip here: A little clip-on fan, blowing straight at your head and shoulders, will make any room feel at least 5 or 10 degrees cooler.

It's even more efficient than a ceiling fan, and useful any time you're not moving around a lot: sleeping, sitting at your desk, etc. We cool off the house to 78 or 80 degrees and we're OK because of keeping the air moving.

We spent a gorgeous weekend in Laguna Beach, nice, sunny beach weather there. We are off to the Oregon Coast soon where the weather will be cooler! ***kim*** ((*))

Shutters/shades and windows closed all day until sun goes down.

Go to early movie to enjoy the air conditioning or head to grocery store!

Turn on the fans and open windows at night. Avoid turning on lights.

Drink lots of ice water or herbal iced tea.

Eat only cold salads, sandwiches, vegies and fruit.

We have the natural air conditioning today in Long Beach.

But when it's hot I just go to the movies for about 6 hours, then to the frozen food section of the supermarket.

No A/C at my house.

It's 88 in Tahoe right now, which is horribly hot, as no one has home a/c. It's also really nasty smoky. It's going to be an awful hot, dry, and smoky rest of the summer if this keeps up.

It's currently 106 degrees here in Stanislaus county (near Modesto). The air and the heat is miserable. It's very smokey today. We use the Air conditioner, but try to open windows and use fans overnight.I don't turn on the AC until noon-ish. Keep the house dark. Drink lots of water. Cook as little as possible! I've been doing laundry after 7:oo p.m. to try and conserve energy. Play with the water hose and don't mind getting soaked!!!
Wait....the news just said it's 108!

Woodland Hills, the heat capital of SoCal! Air con on at all times at home, car, and office, and to Zuma Beach/Malibu on weekends. I cannot recall last time I turned the stove/oven on, so we are keeping it light.

Anna Roz

According to our local website it is still 110 degrees here. Here being Vacaville in the southern end of the Sacramento Valley. I had to go out twice..short runs. It is hot! The air seems a bit less smokey however compared to this morning which was really bad air wise.

We had a record breaking 109 yesterday in the Bay Area. Not sure how hot it got but I know it was at least 101 today.

A neat trick with a fan, is to put a large bowl of ice infront of it so it blows cold air at you!

Utah(give me my ice)<font color="brown">tea</font>

I live in northern California at the top of the valley and it is hot and smoky here. I've done all the things possible to keep the house cool without owing my entire income to the electric company. It is almost 9 pm and it is 90 degrees inside and outside and our AC quit about 3 hours ago. We are using ceiling fans right now and sweating. Tonight with all the smoke, we will not be able to open the windows so it will be pretty miserable. Tomorrow we will try to get on the list to have the AC fixed or replaced, and I will start wearing a cooling neck scarf in the house. Probably will go to the mall or movie to stay cool and eat out. On the positive side, this heat will give me a real excuse to avoid doing vacuuming, ironing, etc. and have down time to read a book.

Trader Joe's fruit popsicles--usually like lime (tastes like a margarita), then switched to mango, but am now hooked on Caribbean--yum! (fat free, too!)

I live in the Mojave Desert...it was 113 today, its 96 now at 10:45pm. During the day it feels like you put your head in an oven, its painful to shut my car's trunk...hot!! I can't wait to move to the ocean one of these days...somewhere, somehow!! I've put up with this dry, brown, windblowing, hot desert for 28 years...can you tell I don't like it? Hubby's job (and a great job at that) was here..but, he's semi retired now and we could move....just waiting for the timing to be better.
We head down to Ventura week after next for a dog show...can't wait!!
Shadow