Location, Weather, Appropriate Clothing, and Time Change
Desert Princess Inn
6655 E. Renegade Trail,
Hereford, AZ 85615-9103
please call 877-366-6655 for reservations or questions.
The Desert Princess Inn is located in Cochise County in Southeastern Arizona. Unlike Phoenix and Tucson, we are at 4711 feet above sea level (one mile is 5280 feet) in the upper Sonoran Desert which stretches from Sonora, Mexico into southern New Mexico and Arizona.
Our temperatures range from 15 to 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix and Tucson the year round. The average humidity from September 15th to June 15th is between 5 % and 15%. Thus, it feels much cooler than it really is.
Below is a chart provided at Weather.Com, which shows among other things, our average temperatures and precipitations throughout the year.
Month |
Avg. High |
Avg. Low |
Avg. Precip |
January |
62.0° F |
34.0° F |
1.19 in |
February |
65.0° F |
36.0° F |
0.65 in |
March |
70.0° F |
41.0° F |
0.44 in |
April |
77.0° F |
46.0° F |
0.36 in |
May |
85.0° F |
53.0° F |
0.26 in |
June |
93.0° F |
62.0° F |
0.38 in |
July |
93.0° F |
66.0° F |
3.01 in |
August |
90.0° F |
64.0° F |
3.85 in |
September |
87.0° F |
60.0° F |
1.29 in |
October |
79.0° F |
50.0° F |
1.16 in |
November |
69.0° F |
40.0° F |
0.45 in |
December |
62.0° F |
34.0° F |
0.98 in |
MONSOON SEASON
June 15th to September 15th is known as the “monsoon season.” Better than 90% of our rainfall comes during that time.
During those months we love to sit in our Arizona room with the 18 ft. of glass windows and witness brilliant lightening shows, marvelous layers of clouds, mighty winds, rushing water and then instant calm and glorious rainbows – God’s promise.
PLANNING THE TIME DIFFERENCE
Arizona is always on Mountain Standard Time (MST). Therefore, in the winter, we are on the same time as Denver, one hour slower than Chicago and two hours slower than New York. In summer, we are on the same time as California, two hours slower than Nashville and three hours slower than the East Coast.
Many of our visitors come from the East, therefore, if you are from Cincinnati, come here during Daylight Savings Time and typically wake up at 7:00 a.m. at home, it will be 4:00 a.m. here. That is the bad news. The good news is the sun starts breaking over the mountain about 4:30 a.m.
In the winter, it is dark here at 6:00 p.m., so we adjust our activities to suit you and the time of year.
WHY WE CAME
We moved here because of Jane’s health. She has fibromyalgia and asthma. Both of these illnesses are affected by weather.
WHY WE STAYED
It is dry with prevailing winds. Therefore, we have no mosquitoes. We can sit out every evening and not be bothered by insects.
The sun shines 360 days a year and at our elevation, we have practically no cloud cover.
We are in a mountain valley with the Huachuca (pronounced wa chew’ ka) Mountains reaching up to 6500 feet within 0.2 miles behind us to the west. Looking out 50 miles to the north is the Dragoon Mountains. Facing east is the San Pedro River Valley (through which over 80% of the migrating birds pass twice a year between North and South America). We have an eastern view of 25 miles to the Mule Mountains and our southeastern view stretches 40 miles to the San Jose Mountains in Mexico.
After years of traveling around the world, we have a year round vacation living in Cochise County.
WHAT KIND OF CLOTHING SHOULD YOU BRING? (Travel Lightly)
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Hat (baseball, wide brim, etc.) and sun glasses
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Jeans, shorts or light weight slacks
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Layered upper body clothing. (It’s cooler in the mornings and again in the evenings and may rise as much as 40 degrees in midday) Sweatshirts for all evenings and for both winter days and nights. A long sleeve shirt protects from sunburn.
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Sport shoes or boots for hiking; sandals are optional for summer.
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Restaurants and other establishments accept casual attire, but shoes, shirts and shorts or pants are required.
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A modest swimsuit is necessary for the hot tub in the spa room.
