Heat in Kern Deserts, California

While the temperature was not high on July 24, there had been a stretch of days from the 16th through the 20th that were quite hot in Central California, including the Kern Deserts. The fatality was reported on 7/24/98 but death occurred sometime earlier in the week (when warmer).Record delays in reaching triple-digit temperatures occurred this year in Central California (records for the latest 100-degree occurrence were reset to July 16th in both Fresno and Bakersfield ... eclipsing records of the 6th and 5th in Fresno and Bakersfield, respectively). However, the onset of the "normal" summer temperatures began in earnest in mid-July with 9 of the last 15 days of the month 100 deg.F. or greater.