Excessive Heat — Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills, California

2023-07-14 to 2023-07-22 · Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills, California

Event narrative

A long-duration, excessive heat wave occurred across the Santa Ana Mountains from July 14-22. Highs reached the upper-90s to near 100 degrees each day. The following are the highest temperatures reported during the event, and the day on which the peak temperature occurred:

El Cariso: 100 (7/20/23) El Cariso ranged from 95-100 through the duration of the event, with overnight lows of 72-79 degrees each day.

Wider weather episode

A long duration heat wave impacted inland portions of Southern California July 7 to 29 with nearly continuous warnings and advisories. San Diego County public health reported 224 heat related incidents around their network of 23 hospitals. Numerous record highs were broken in the lower deserts where temperatures topped 115 for many days in a row, as well as across the inland valleys and mountains. Overnight low temperatures remained elevated in the lower deserts as lows only fell into the mid-80s to mid-90s, exacerbating the extreme heat risk.

July 2023 was the hottest month on record at Palm Springs.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1121689. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.