Parrothead

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

MomDDTravel

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.

Chele60

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.

MomDDTravel

hummm chele - are you my neighbor?

LoveItaly

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!

Barbara

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.

MomDDTravel

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

iamq

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

lvk

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.

RBCal

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.

Chele60

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

november_moon

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...

TTess

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

BarbAnn

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.

MomDDTravel

Southern OC here

Anonymous

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.

kimamom

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***

elnap29

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.

mlgb

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.

Marginal

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.