MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY

By Laura Edwards
California Climate Specialist, Western Regional Climate Center
July 2006

Read the full California Climate Watch newsletter here: in PDF format

It was a hot one across California in July! Temperature records, both daily and all-time, were broken, and then broken again in some cases. The table on pages 6-7 in this issue demonstrate some of the extraordinary high average temperatures. Statewide, the average temperature was 75.8°, 4 degrees above the long-term average. Extremely high minimum temperatures were a fair share of this departure, with statewide average minimum temperature coming in at 61.8°, 4.5 degrees above average. The average precipitation percentage of average was 163% for the state, with monsoonal moisture-driven thunderstorms in the Southland. The majority of the state was dry, as is the climatology for July, with no precipitation.

The first week of July was benign, with some cooling just after Independence Day. An upper level trough passed through, but was not enough to bring any precipitation to most of California the 5-7th.

Heat came quickly to the central part of the state on the 8th, and remained in place until nearly the end of the month. High temperatures even reached the 90s at some central near-coastal locations. The upper-level high pressure ridge had taken hold. This brought monsoonal moisture to the southeastern part of the state, keeping dew points high and overnight lows in the 70s in many locations.

The hottest days were July 20-25, when some locations set new records for all-time maximum and all-time high minimum temperatures. Some all-time maximum temperatures include: Stockton, 115 on the 23rd; Modesto, 113 on the 24th; and La Mesa, 109 on the 22nd. Stations with new all-time high minimums include: Needles, 100 on the 22nd; Fresno, 90 on the 23rd; and Sacramento, 84 on the 23rd. Thunderstorms rumbled through on the 24th, bringing one of the few days of precipitation for the month to those that were lucky.

A number of stations had the warmest July on record, including Fresno, Palm Springs, Burbank and Los Angeles downtown.



Page last updated 8/23/06.