Went to my cousins wedding in Houston about 25 years ago. Mid-June, 106 air temperature, humidity in the high 90s. I was having a smoke outside the airport exit to the parking garage. More than one person staggered as they left the building and a couple of them fainted. Grotesque does not being to describe it. And we were in suit and tie…
We have no such concept in the American southwest even though we have many immigrants from Mexico where they do siesta. Where I live, Phoenix, the hottest part of the day is like 5-7 PM. Most laborers start work early in the summer and are done by early afternoon.
The Spaniards are famous for their siesta, and it used to be (until recently) that most businesses would close from 12:30-1:00 till 3:30-4 over here in small town india (and in some metros like Bengaluru)
I would imagine that every place would have some coping mechanism or the other, be it ac, a halt on work, design of living spaces with heat rejection in mind and so on.
Northern California in the central valley has been hitting 117F (47C) this summer, but the humidity is in the low 20%, so you're body can still cool itself. I can't imagine 90% humidity.
Yeah, some friends and I went to Las Vegas one spring. It was 118 outside but as you say, very dry. It was hot but by no means unbearable. Much more tolerable than the northwest Gulf of Mexico. We had a stretch in Austin back in 2011 where we were above 110 for like two weeks in a row, with the usual south Texas humidity. That summer broke my spirit, even as a native Texan.
