I’m re-arrranging my touring plan, but I’ve heard the hottest time of day is 12-3, and others say 3-4. When is a good time to leave the parks and go back to the hotel (onsite) for a swim and a nap?
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This is a fun little conversation I seen to have to keep having with DH. The sun is highest in the sky at noon. This is generally the beginning of the bake for the hottest part of the day. Within 2 hours you typically see your peak temperatures as the sun has had “access” to more of the Earth’s surface (in your immediate area) over an extended period of time. Then as the sun continues on it’s journey down the immediate atmosphere starts to cool. Within another 2 hours the temperatures start to reflect this. So 1:30- 4:30 are usually the hottest “feels like” temperatures.
Now things can effect this like variances in winds, clouds, rain. But on a typical sunny day with no other effects- this is generally it.
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End of June is like, “Sorry bro.” 
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My rule of thumb is that 4pm is the peak heat most days of the year.
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I leave the parks Noon - 1pm and don’t come back until 3:30pm at the earliest… It’s, typically, closer to 4pm.
4pm is the last hour of the day that most live entertainment/shows happen in the parks. I aim to return for one of those often
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I take a long walk daily so I’m always keeping an eye on the weather forecast, aiming for the warmest hour in winter and the coolest in summer. Regardless of the season, the temperature typically peaks around 3 hours after the sun hits the highest point in the sky, so 3:00 in winter and (because of daily saving time) 4:00 in summer. On rainy/cloudy days the high temp is usually a bit earlier, like 2:00 or 3:00.
On hot summer days, I’d shoot for a break between 2:00 and 5:00ish. I believe those hours are most notorious for passing thunderstorms too. Oh, and the most crowded time in the parks.
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Our late June 2022 trip my phone offered up weather info from somewhere. I didn’t think I’d signed up for it. A graph started appearing with the current temp.
At rope drop the temp was usually about 75. This was warm but doable once I realized I needed to start electrolytes at breakfast. DH was fine.
As the mornings progressed I quickly realized that when the graph of the temperature started to close in on 90 we needed to start heading for the park exit. We were there a week, and the last 4 days were more enjoyable because we left just before 90 degrees. This would also be about when the parks started feeling over crowded.
In the afternoon we headed out to arrive at a park between 5 and 5:30 - usually when we were having supper. Upon leaving the restaurants, we could definitely feel cooler - but not by a lot - air, as the sun started setting.
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