Calm down, everyone: You’ll survive another Arizona summer

Holy cow! Did you see the forecast for Father’s Day weekend?

We are likely going to flirt with 120 degrees, just three fewer than the all-time Phoenix record of 122!

First, I want to speak to the heat veterans in Arizona. I want to speak to those of us that have survived summer after summer here in Arizona: It does not sneak up on us!

It comes around this time every year so stop freaking out!

We have to deal with temperatures above 100 every year, and let’s face it, when it gets to 105 or 110, it’s just as hot as 115 or 119. We go through the same patterns.

Now I want to address the newbies, the ones that saw what a beautiful state we have — maybe during a visit a couple years ago — and thought, “Wow! Arizona is the place for me!”

This might be your very first summer in what probably seems like the Valley of the Surface of the Sun!

Don’t panic. You’ve made the right move

This is a great place to live! Nine months out of the year, we can put our climate up against any other climate in the country. It will be OK.

Here are a few pro tips:

• First, find time to enjoy the outdoors. I know it sounds crazy, but summer nights are amazing in Arizona. Don’t be a hermit.
• Next invest in bulk sunscreen. The Arizona summer sun will do some damage to your unprotected skin!
• Finally, hydrate early and often — with water! YES, WATER! Those sodium-packed sports drinks won’t help you and, no, iced tea is not for hydration.

Those are just a few tips that will make you first Arizona summer a bit more manageable.

Just keep reminding yourself as you sit in the shady area of your pool this summer: You don’t have to shovel sunshine.

And even better: You will soon be laughing at your family back east when they are trapped in their house by snow.

Follow @GOMikeRussell