Palm Springs Breaks Six Month Heat Record

Since record keeping began in Palm Springs in 1917, the city has not seen a warmer January through June than in 2014.

The average mean temperature, which includes highs and lows, was a whopping 74.2 degrees, almost a full degree above the next highest year in 1997.

It wasn’t only Palm Springs though. Big Bear, Riverside, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and San Diego all broke the same record for their respective stations.

The cause can’t be attributed to just one factor, but Southern California generally sees a warmer start to the year when El Nio is on the way in or out. Right now, it’s still on the way in.

Most of the previous records were recorded during the start of the biggest El Nio on record, in 1997.

That does not mean the upcoming El Nio will be greater than the super Nio of 97-98′, especially since a massive ridge of high pressure on the west coast greatly contributed to this past winter’s heat.

What it does mean however, is we’re likely in for a long, hot summer.