As parts of California see temperatures reach the 90s and 100s this week, it was only fitting that these rankings would be released. Show
Daniel Hampton, Patch Staff Posted Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 11:13 am PT Reply (1) FRESNO, CA — A new report says several of the hottest cities in America — temperature-wise, don't get cocky — reside right here in the Golden State. With parts of California seeing temperatures reach the 90s and 100s this week, it was only appropriate that five of them were listed among the nation's 50 warmest cities, according to the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St. The report said Sacramento, Stockton, Redding, Fresno and Bakersfield are some of the hottest cities, with Bakersfield being the warmest in California. Here's a breakdown of the cities, according to the report. Let's go! Sacramento
Stockton, CA
Redding, CA
Fresno, CA
Bakersfield, CA
The report, which only looked at cities with populations of at least 10,000, ranked the cities based on the average number of 90-plus degree days per year. The authors used climate data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. While Arizona claimed the top two spots with Phoenix and Tucson, Texas had the most cities on the list with 17. Florida had the second-highest with seven. Let's go! Excessive heat is blamed for more than 600 deaths in the U.S. every year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat can cause people to experience illnesses including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which happen when the body can no longer properly cool itself. "While the body normally cools itself by sweating, during extreme heat, this might not be enough," the agency wrote on its website. "In these cases, a person’s body temperature rises faster than it can cool itself down. This can cause damage to the brain and other vital organs." The sun rises onto the Panamint Mountain Range seen from Highway 190 during a weekend of extreme record breaking high temperatures reaching in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday, July 11, 2021. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty ImFurnace Creek has earned its name. The small town that sits just over the California border from Las Vegas, a little beyond Death Valley junction, lies at almost 200 feet below sea level, houses about 100 residents and is the hottest place on the planet. On July 10, 1913, the temperature at Furnace Creek was recorded at 134 degrees, the highest temperature on Earth in recorded history. And while some experts have disputed the accuracy of that measurement, recent reliable data shows that Death Valley is consistently the hottest place in the world. Last August, when a "heat dome" covered much of the Western U.S., temperatures hit 130 in the valley. In 2020, it reached 129.9 degrees. Those broiling highs aren't outliers: In 2001, the valley recorded 154 consecutive days with a maximum temperature over 100. As a scorching heat wave heads our way this weekend, potentially breaking a record in the valley for the hottest temperature recorded on Earth in September, we decided to figure out why a valley just 250 miles from the cool California coast is the cauldron of the world. Why is it hotter there than, say, the Sahara, Dubai or Ethiopia? More for you
"All those places you mentioned are deserts. If you don't have a lot of cloud cover, and not a lot of plant cover, the sun can shoot off the Earth," Abby Wines, former spokesperson for Death Valley National Park, told SFGATE. "What's different about Death Valley is how deep it is, how low in elevation it is surrounded by steep mountains." The contrast in elevation between the valley and surrounding mountains is stark. The lowest point in North America, at the site of a long-since evaporated lake, are the salt flats of Badwater Basin a few miles south of Furnace Creek. The highly salinated sand there sits at 282 feet below sea level, yet only 80 miles northwest, Mount Whitney stands 14,505 feet tall, the highest point in the contiguous United States. A woman and child hike Death Valley. Jordan Siemens/Getty ImagesThe mountains — the Amargosa Range on the east, Panamint Range on the west, the Grapevine Mountains to the north and Owlshead Mountains to the south — surround Death Valley and trap its broiling air. "Everyone knows warm air rises. In normal places that warm air rises and just blows away, whereas here it gets trapped by the mountains on either side of Death Valley and then recirculates. It's like a convection oven," Wines says. "That same landscape that makes it such a dramatic place to visit is also what gives it such an extreme climate." That heat formed on the sparsely planted desert surface just can't escape the valley's depths, leading to the uniquely super-heated air blowing through the 140-mile-long, 10-mile-wide stretch. Wines has lived and worked in the valley for the park service for 16 years. Working manual labor is perilous in temperatures that regularly rise above 120 degrees, and Wines tells me that employees are only allowed to work for 10 minutes outside at that heat before spending 50 minutes in the shade or indoors. "You can't work straight through it, no one can," she said. Death Valley may seem to be an unlikely place to decide to call home, and fewer than 600 people live there today. But the region has long been inhabited by people maybe drawn to a life away from the busy world, or else seeking a fortune. Native American people are known to have inhabited the area as early as 9,000 years ago, but it was the Californian Gold Rush that brought white settlers to the valley. In 1849, the name Death Valley was given to the land between the mountains after a group of European speculators looking for a shortcut to the Sierra lost a member to the heat. The discovery of borax on the ancient lakebed drew people to the baked terrain in the early 1900s, though word of its inhospitableness was spreading. A 1904 Pomona newspaper article celebrating the newly completed Salt Lake Railroad titled "Desolate Horrors of Death Valley," described the valley as a "little known and horrible corner of the union," and "all that is melancholy, grim and withered in the desert." With the Amargosa Mountain Range in the background at sunrise, a sign warns park visitors of extreme heat danger along Highway 190 during a weekend of extreme, record-breaking high temperatures in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday July 11, 2021. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty ImToday, most visitors describe the heat with a kitchen analogy. "It may sound cliche, but it feels a bit like hot air hitting your face when you open an oven," said Sam Argier, a meteorologist for FOX 5 Vegas. Argier explained why Death Valley is a different meteorological beast than the Bay Area. "Along the West Coast of the United States, the Pacific Ocean acts like a giant air conditioner. The Bay Area is a perfect example ... just look at the temperature contrast between San Francisco and a city like Walnut Creek most afternoons," Argier said. "The temperature warms up as you move inland with hills and mountains limiting the cooling influence of the ocean. In the case of Death Valley, there are three significant mountain ranges that not only limit cooler air coming in but also rainfall from storms that roll in off the Pacific." Most Popular
As Argier pointed out, the extreme heat is combined with extreme dryness. Death Valley has an average rainfall of 2 inches a year, that's an inch less than the Sahara. This is due to the mountains taking all the moisture from storms heading in land from the ocean in the winter. The NPS explains that by the time the clouds reach the mountain's east side, they no longer have as much available moisture, creating a dry "rainshadow." The four mountain ranges between the Pacific and Death Valley each add to an increasingly drier rainshadow effect. Some years see just millimeters of precipitation. In 1929 and 1953, zero rainfall was recorded through the entire year. "With the lack of rainfall, you're left with a desert lacking much vegetation. That lack of vegetation combined with dry desert air and a low elevation gives it the perfect combination for very high temperatures in the summertime," Argier says. As the valley's name suggests, that heat can have fatal consequences. Last year a San Francisco man died hiking in the heat on the Golden Canyon Trail in the park. Wines says that the park usually has one heat-related fatality every year or every other year. Last summer they have had had three, a worrying trend that some fear is only getting worse as conditions get more extreme. I asked Wines whether climate change feels real in the valley. "Nine of the park's 10 hottest years in history have happened in the last 15 years, since I've lived here," she said. "This year has been unbearable." Wines told me that while she normally prefers to use a swamp cooler — which cools the dry air by passing it over water-saturated pads, causing the water to evaporate into it — in place of expensive air conditioning, that hasn't been an option in this year's unusually hot and humid heat. Argier says that visitors need to take the heat seriously. "Hydration is so important when surviving in this very hot weather. Limiting alcohol and drinking plenty of water is key. Light-colored clothing also helps you stay cooler. Also, don't overexert yourself in this type of weather," he says. "The desert heat can sneak up on you quickly." What is the warmest part of California in the winter?Palm Springs in December. If you're wondering where the warmest place in California is in December, look no further than Palm Springs! Southern California in winter makes for the perfect time to explore the desert since daytime temperatures are pleasant.
What part of California has the best weather?Best weather: San Francisco, CA
First place goes to San Francisco, with only two days of extreme heat and a low temperature just below freezing at 27 degrees. Second place goes to San Diego, followed by Los Angeles. Both have an average yearly temperature of 60 degrees with sunny days 70% of the year.
What parts of California stay warm year round?Many cities in southern and central California like San Diego and Santa Barbara have year-round temperatures typically between 60 and 85 degrees and see little rainfall, making California the state with the best weather!
What is the warmest area in California?San Diego
Warm days are abundant in San Diego, which is why it takes the number one spot on this list. Even during the hottest months, San Diego's high temperatures reach a comfortable 79 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures hover around a cool 66 degrees during the coldest months.
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