Susie - Parker is a suburb of Denver. I'm in the extreme SE corner of the metro. Downtown is like 17 miles away on I25. It was miserable.. has been miserable, this year. The UV has been ridiculous.

Toni, I have friends who live in Parker!

How's everybody doing in the heat? I've mulched the beegeebers outta my plants, am watering like crazy, and spray plants down in the morning. Oh boy! What are you doing to keep cool?

Becky - Awesome! I'm in the poor part of Parker... in da 'Hood.. that's OK, DH & I looked very hard & long at trying to find a place w/o an HOA, which was our #1 concern. I didn't want someone telling me how to live in my house that I'm paying for.

Crista - Frying here, too. Sure, it's only in the mid-upper 90s, which is cool for y'all's area, but at our altitude, 95 feels worse than 110 in Vegas (so DH says, he was just there a few weeks ago). I still have to finish mulching (just re-applying new mulch to what's broken down over the years) as all new plants were mulched when I put them in. Watering like crazy here too. Bleh! Can't wait for the snow! We need it!

I hate the heat more than I hate anything. If I had the money, I would leave in the summertime, even if just to Flagstaff or Prescott or ???
In my ideal dream world I have a beach cottage in Oregon that my family comes to all summer long.

My plants are facing east on my balcony and I only lost one that bit the dust while I was away fro 10 days.

Crista we are also suffering in this heat !! Yesterday broke a record for that date in Tucson when it hit 108 F. We had humidity and a high dew point with that so it was REALLY miserable especially when you have an evaporative cooler and not an air-conditioner. Just plain nasty !

Becky, I agree, we would be out of here in a minute if there was a way. I love the Oregon coast !

The plants are enjoying the rain but it is never enough it seems so I still must water over 200 pots every day.

Sorry you guys are suffering from so much heat, that is nasty. It's only 46 degrees here this morning but during the daytime it will reach about 80.

http://www.denverpost.com/news...

Approaching a string of days with highs in the 90s, meteorologists and forecasters would probably quote official records and use specific examples of sizzlingly high temperatures to describe this sweltering summer.

But for city residents such as 19-year-old Cadence Noble, one word will do: "Hot," Noble said. "It's been hot."

The metro area had seen 53 days this year with the high temperature at or above 90 degrees. With a high of 98 on Thursday — which tied the all-time high for the date — that streak reached 54, forecasters said.

The record for days in the 90s is 61, which was set in 2000.

With temperatures for the next couple of days projected in the mid- to upper 90s, forecasters said there's a good chance the previous record will be broken.

In addition to the heat, forecasters for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the recent heavy haze, caused by wildfire smoke from Montana and the Pacific Northwest settling over metro Denver, has negatively affected air quality.

The air-quality index for Denver was listed as "moderate" Thursday afternoon, meaning that unusually sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion.

"At these concentration levels, it's more of an annoyance with the low visibility it creates, but it hasn't risen to the point where it causes health effects," said Emmett Malone, an air-quality meteorologist for the state.

"As thick as this haze is, we'll be close to or under it until tomorrow," Malone added.

Noble, who works at a restaurant on the 16th Street Mall, said she has been trying to beat the summer heat by taking advantage of air conditioning and frequenting local water parks.

And while the heat does get to her, Noble said, she grew up in the East, where summers aren't only hot but humid.

"I have better hair days here," Noble said.

Heat waves are everywhere and then I hear about storms and flooding. The weather is so weird. Oregon sounds heavenly today after 113 here in Phoenix yesterday.

I am staying in doors until dusk.

From the National Weather Forecast

Becky I am miserable down here at 109 F ! I do not know how you stand the heat in Phoenix. I think you have too much concrete up there. We have more desert and mountains so a bit cooler.

Linda, I dislike the sumemrs here and every year it seems to get worse. I think part of it is the concrete too. But the other part is I am getting older. I stay indoors until dusk and then do my shopping in the summer.

I feel the same way Becky but don't old people move here for the heat ? It is not working for me.

I go to the three groceries I shop at on Wednesday mornings leaving at 7:00 A.M. to avoid the heat and the crowds.

Today in Denver 89 but tomorrow 72 YEA our hot streak has broken

I am so sorry for those out there who are still suffering. I wish you cool winds.

Linda,
I think the snowbirds just come in November and leave mostly in April.
Maybe I can meet some that will take me home with them.

Marilyn, heck we here in Phoenix are happy when the LOW reaches 76!

I lived in Arizona for a short period of time and I love the the flora and the sunsets of the desert, especially.

Intense heat I cannot stand, although better than heat and humidity in combination. ( I lived in Houston too)

Colorado is usually a bit more moderate and does not have high humidity.

Marilyn - Today, when I got home, it was still in the 90s (93) down in my side of town.. but you're not too far from me, so I wonder why you were that much cooler?

I have all my windows open right now, just sat outside for a while enjoying the cool breeze. Feels sooo good! Looks like we have like 1 more day of hot next week, then only in the 80s & 70s from here on out! Which is good, considering, while I get sick & tired of my yard being dead, I am also sick & tired of this oppressive heat!

... and we're looking at a cooling 105 ish... Believe me, anything above 105 is HOT. 105 is like Autumn is on the way... even though weeks away. Next month, Sept or Oct we're putting in winter rye lawns. I imagine this year it will be later than normal as nighttime temps will remain too hot to seed.

Toni, my air conditioner did go on late yesterday afternoon, but I turned it off and opened the doors and I was fine. You are higher than us so

you should be cooler.

Today is WONDERFUL!!! What a pleasant respite.

Susie, Someone once said that Phoenix was going to ban lawns .... due to water shortages and requirements.

Did they do that? Do you let the Rye grass grow long or cut it as you do regular lawns?