It’s not the heat ... well, yes, of course it’s the heat

It’s September, which mean it is fall in most of the country.

Just not here.

I can deal with this ungodly Arizona heat.

Just not for this long.

Our summer stretches so much longer than the three months it is allotted on the calendar.

I groaned when it hit 100 degrees for the first time this year on April 10, but now I am rejoicing at weather reports that predict we should be seeing temperatures of just 100 degrees in the next couple weeks.

What normally gets me through the summer was that bit of a break we would get at a certain time in the evening, when I’d get out of the backyard pool just as a breeze kicked up.

I’d stand there, goosebumps rising on my skin, and breathe in.

Or I’d get home from a movie, going from air-conditioned theater to air-conditioned car, only to get out in my driveway and feel a coolness in the darkness and realize it was actually quite nice out.

I’d grab the dog’s leash, walk around the block, and breathe out.

But this summer, it didn’t feel as if we were getting as many of those moments, those times when the temperature dropped below 90, or if it did happen, it was not until after I was in for the night.

It wasn’t my imagination. Phoenix has gotten hotter at night, robbing us of those breathers.

Nighttime temperatures are up almost 9 degrees in the past 50 years, according to scientists, due in most part to climate change and urban sprawl.

Also, the data shows, the number of hours per day that exceeded 100 degrees in May through September have doubled since 1948. So summer, the hot part of it, really has gotten longer.

But take heart, the worst of it is over. Consider these next few weeks a promise of what is to come.

Just hang in there.