Dew point temperatures increase steadily for the third summer in a row

According to KESQ & CBS Local 2’s First Alert weather team, dew point temperatures have been steadily increased over the past three summers. A combination of high heat, humidity and a strange smell in the air have some locals frustrated.

“We’re getting all the smoke from the fires and then we get the smell from the sea,” said a Palm Springs’ store manager, Ana Guillen.

Melissa Baccera from Cathedral City says odor from the Salton Sea is stronger in high humidity. “That Salton sea fume that comes in, that rotten egg smell, after a while, it’s like, ‘ah, the desert.’

Some people who visited Village Fest in Downtown Palm Springs Thursday told News Channel 3 & CBS Local 2’s Lauren Coronado, they prefer dry heat, and are surprised to feel how much moisture is in the air.

“This is so, so moist. Ah, I feel yucky,” said Rose Flores, who’s visiting from Los Angeles.

According to the First Alert weather team, some people may be feeling the affects of monsoon season more so now than previous years. Guillen blames slow business on the humidity.

“Customers are used to like, ‘okay, Palm Springs. It’s going to be dry, it’s going to be hot, but dry,’ then they come out here and it’s 120 degrees plus humidity,” said Guillen.

Phyllis Barnette, a vendor at Village Fest, says the humidity is tough, but claims she’s seen worse.

“Last summer we had the bugs, we had the scorch, like the locus. There were thousands and thousands. It was really bad, so I’ll take this over that,” Barnette said.

Find out where cooling center locations in Riverside County are, here.