Editorial: Summer

Arizonans have this saying about how comfortable it is in the summer: Sure, you can cook an egg on the hood of your car, but it doesn't feel like 110 degrees. It's dry heat.

Not dry enough, given that the average Phoenix resident pumped out 0.76 liters of sweat per hour in 2004, according to Florida State University researchers. That's the equivalent of more than two 12-ounce glasses of lemonade, according to makers of Old Spice who, working with FSU, recently released a list of the Top 100 Sweatiest Cities.

Phoenix topped the list released to coincide with the first day of summer, today. Phoenix's gain: Old Spice will deliver a year's supply of antiperspirant to the city's mayor, Phil Gordon.

And if you're one of those folks who have taken an evening stroll the past few nights and can't understand how Phoenix could be so bad, you're not all wet. Fort Myers and four other Florida cities — Miami (No. 4), West Palm Beach (No. 6), Tampa (No. 8) and Orlando (No. 9 ) — made the Top 10.

These sweaty statistics, in conjunction with the state of hurricane season, will be enough to send some of our neighbors in search of a generator, just in case.

For the uninitiated, there's no dry heat here, just air thick enough to drink come late summer. Lest we have long power outages after hurricanes, maybe we could lobby for the No. 1 position.

A yearlong supply of antiperspirant could come in quite handy.