“I lived for four years in Tucson, and you actually have to prepare yourself daily to be out in the heat...especially after mid-day.”
Another story, we were over by the Fiesta Bowl stadium, as I remember it was over at Arizona State University. We were looking for a restaurant and had to walk down a street of brick buildings that were around 3 - 6 stories high. It was like walking into a brick oven. Between the pavement and brick on buildings it was unbearable.
I was in Tucson in 1990 when it finally went to 117 degrees (all time high in the town). It’s funny, but you reach a level where you consider 105 degrees ‘mild’, and 99 degrees as being ‘comfortable’. I owned a scooter at the time, and remember making the 20 minute ride from the office to the apartment. I sat and sipped for half-an-hour on ice tea after getting home.
It takes about six months after you get there...to get used to it, and accept it. Around the fourth (last) year, we had a mild summer with six weeks straight of summer heat never exceeding 100 degrees, a remarkable feat.
A few years ago, I attended a conference in Las Vegas in early August. Being Las Vegas, the conference center, hotel (Venetian), casino, and all the other amenities are all indoors; you never have to leave the place if you choose not to do so.
A colleague and I decided to step out and check out another casino after our conference one day. We walked through the doors, out onto Las Vegas Boulevard, and were met with a blast of 115-degree heat. Even though a "dry" heat, you could feel the physical force of the temperature change. I would not want to deal with that on a regular basis.