Tracking temperatures well above the seasonal average

Happy Monday! It's another brutally hot day here in the Coachella Valley. Highs yesterday reached 117°F. Today, we are feeling similar temperatures with highs reaching at least 115°. The record for the day is 118°, and the average high is 104°. That puts us at least 10° above the seasonal norm.

While there are no active heat-related advisories for the Coachella Valley, there is a Heat Advisory currently in effect through 8 PM Wednesday for our friends just to the east. This includes the Inland Empire, Riverside County Mountains, as well as most of Orange and San Diego counties inland from the coast.

An Air Quality Alert is also currently in effect, although this is solely for the Coachella Valley and the San Gorgonio Pass area. This alert will remain in effect through 8 AM Tuesday morning. While major, prolonged, gusty winds are not expected, we can't rule out the risk of blowing dust and sand. We should expect some slightly elevated breezes, especially near Whitewater and along the freeway.

The name of the game over the coming days is heat, heat, and more heat! Temperatures will remain above 110° at least through Thursday at the minimum. The summer solstice will be on Friday, marking the official start of summer. This is the point where we will begin to see some gradual cooling. High temperatures should return to numbers closer to normal by Sunday/the start of next week.