Phoenix was settled in 1867 when Jack Swilling dug an irrigation canal reusing a network the Hohokam people had built over 2,000 years earlier — eventually 135 miles of canals that gave the new town its name, rising phoenix-like from a vanished civilisation. It sits in the Sonoran Desert's Salt River Valley, now the fifth-largest US city, sprawling across 518 square miles known as the Valley of the Sun. Summers are a real constraint: the city averages 111 days a year at or above 38°C, and 2024 brought a 113-day streak above that mark. Less known: Phoenix hosts the only wild, self-sustaining population of rosy-faced lovebirds in the US, escaped pets now numbering in the thousands.
Nights sit around 26°C and afternoons around 39°C, though some days reach 43°C.
Phoenix has real seasons: summer afternoons sit around 42°C, winter ones around 21°C.
Some summer days reach 46°C, and some winter nights drop to 4°C.
Rain is hardly part of the picture: about 185 mm a year, with August the wettest month at just 24 mm. Dry, bright months are the norm.
Wind is rarely an issue; most months sit between calm and a light breeze. Air quality is worth watching: January averages an AQI of 63, while September clears to 51.
Days stretch to about 14.2 hours of light in June and shrink to 9.8 in December — something to weigh if you work to a fixed timezone.
For what you're after, the best months in Phoenix are April – May. Expect fast internet (345 Mbps) and a high cost of living (about €2600 a month).
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