Posted on 06/16/2004 3:40:58 PM PDT by freedom44
El Paso, Texas, with average summer temperatures above 93 degrees Fahrenheit and relative humidity over 70 percent, is the sweatiest city in the United States, a study released on Tuesday found.
Research scientist Tim Long calculated heat indexes and relative humidity levels to come up with his top 100 sweatiest cities in America list.
By Long's calculations, in just four hours, El Paso's residents produce enough sweat to fill an Olympic swimming pool, with individuals shedding more than 36 fluid ounces of perspiration an hour.
"The driving force is heat, but humidity is a key factor," said Long. "It can feel like 118 in El Paso but it's only 94."
For the dubious honor, El Paso Mayor Joe Wardy will receive a year's supply of Red Zone antiperspirant from Old Spice, a brand owned by consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co. and the sponsor of the study.
The next four sweatiest U.S. cities are: Greenville, South Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; Corpus Christi, Texas; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
From your handle, I had guessed you were from some obscure island halfway to New Zealand. Ah, well, wrong again (g!). Clearly, you're not lawless (w/ or w/o capitalisation).
Wow sounds like a great trip. I grew up on the East Coast (CT) but like you, love to travel all throughout the US. I think I have missed only 3 states so far (NoDak, Alaska and Hawaii) and I'm in my early 30s. :) I know people twice my age who have never left California, except to go to France or Italy. Yes, they are libbies (are you surprised?)
To be honest there is not much to see in Hatch, but the chiles from that area are great--I've not been to the Chile Festival so it might be pretty neat. On the way to Denver from Santa Fe I suggest you stop off at Pecos National Monument if you have time. It is right off I-25. I worked there for 3 years and it has a great visitor's center and quick ruins trail. Also the site of an important Civil War battle--the battle for Glorieta Pass.
I'm with you. I've lived in CT, Pullman WA, Albuquerque and Santa Fe NM, Sevilla Spain, and now the SF Bay Area, and I wouldn't mind living in El Paso. I've maybe spent a month there visiting relatives but it sure seemed nice to me.
One thing I've noticed--if someone has grown up in one place and never lived anyplace else, they always think their 'hometown' is the best place on God's green earth. People in the Bay Area tell me they couldn't imagine living anyplace else. The people in rural CT (where I grew up) say the same thing, as do the people in New Mexico.
More power to them. Personally I like moving around and getting to know this great country of ours, first-hand and up close.
I trust you.
Although I was not born here, this Yankee has been living in Houston for about five years now. It is humid, hot, and sweaty. The traffic is bad and the drivers are worse.
Still, after living in Dallas for six years and College Station for eight years, I love Texas and I have come to appreciate the good points of Houston. While it is far from perfect, I like Houston and I am happy to be living here. It is home.
Hot, crowded, and liberal.
But is still Texas, so it is better than any non-Texas city.
"It was nearly 100 degrees that day"
It is nearly 100 degrees every day in the summer in Houston, and the humidity is always high. Come on down here and you will learn what it means to sweat.
"El Paso is 97 degrees right now with 10% humidity."
That sounds about right. I have worked some in El Paso and while it is hot, it did not seem humid to me. It reminds me of San Antonio, weather wise.
I would. It not a bad little city, besides the liberals and the traffic.
No. It's a border town. You put up with the worst of Mexico (dirty, poor) without getting any of the benefits to offset (beach, resorts).
I was just talking about the Reaissance Festival yesterday with a friend who is growing his hair out and working the goatee for his part in this November's festival. Xena lite's can't be too shabby. But are you looking for an Autolycus or a Gabrielle?
I was there (Austin)in July about 10 years ago...the temperature hovered in the upper 90's, but the humidity was low (or it seemed low to me, coming from South Carolina), and it was breezy, so it really wasn't uncomfortable at all.
Austin is a fun city, lots of interesting tourist attractions and good watering holes (especially the Ginger Man). I'd like to go back for a longer vacation.
Oh, I know what it means to sweat. I once lost 12 pounds playing roller hockey outside in the summer -- in one freakin' day!
Notwithstanding, the few times I've visited my cousin, it has been NO contest: if El Paso isn't the sweatiest city in the nation, I **absolutely** don't want to visit whichever city is. Contrarily, the only beef I've ever had with Houston is the bloody traffic, which is (was?, I hope you've done something about it!) utterly, abysmally awful. Nearest thing I've ever seen to a 24/7 traffic crush (excuse me, ''jam'').
I used to live in El Paso. It's a nice place. Gets hot in the summer, but "sweaty?" Hardly. The humidity is usually pretty low.
You want sweaty? Come down to Louisiana in the summer. My nomination would be Alexandria, La. They could just retire the trophy after visiting that place.
El Paso has a high elevation and it actually cools down somewhat at night -- unlike other parts of Texas.
I'm a native El Pasoan and I am not scarred for life. Mom still (happily) lives there.
Just avoid certain parts of town - central and south El Paso, for instance. Stay on the west side and you'll be fine.
Look on the bright side - there's excellent, affordable Mexican food on just abour every street corner!
I think there needs to be a correlation between the size (overweight) of the population and the amount of sweat per capita. Without this correlation no one city can be the "sweatiest' - thin population in hot city vs 'chunky' population in cold city.
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