Multimedia Report: The heat--it's all in your head

By Joanne Drapiewski, Adam Haller and Trampus Willis

In a city filled with unique art and culture, residents have found keeping cool in the hottest city in the U.S. to be an art. According to the National Weather Service, the average high in Phoenix during June was nearly 104 degrees.

Chicago native, Joe Grant, runs a downtown Phoenix hot dog stand and believes the key to staying cool is a mental challenge, not a physical one.

"It's just like the cold in Chicago. You just have to relax and don't think about it being hot and it won't be so hot," Grant said.

Not everyone in downtown Phoenix knew about the heat until they experienced it the first time. "When I first came here I was shocked to find there was hot place in America," a visiting priest said.

Vernon Ross lost his job after an injury and is now disabled and homeless. Beating the heat has become not only his challenge but what he does in exchange for meals at downtown Phoenix's Saint Mary's Basilica Catholic Church.

"The church has the only cold water station in all of Phoenix," Ross said. "Everybody hibernates. The summer months here are like the winter months in New York."

"Don't be so tight. I think that is a way to control the heat and the cold," Grant said.

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A visiting priest from Africa was surprised by the Phoenix heat. "I was shocked to find a hot place in America," he said. (Photo by Trampus Willis)

Disabled and homeless, Vernon Ross beats the heat by staying in the shade and manning St. Mary's Basilica's cold water station. "Everybody hibernates. The summer months here are like the winter months in New York," Ross said. (Photo by Trampus Willis)

Phoenix is the hottest major city in America. According to the National Weather Service, the average June high in 2008 was 106.7 degrees. (Photo by Trampus Willis)