Rising heat is a reality that most Californians are facing year to year.. June can be hot, but July through September are typically the hottest months of the year in the hi-desert, especially when monsoons and humidity hit the basin.
According to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment office (OEHHA), the statewide annual mean temperature has increased by about 2.5 degrees since 1895. Drought and climate change are to blame, and the warming has accelerated with seven of the past eight years being noted as the warmest on record. Warmer nights keep temperatures hotter during the day, and long stretches of unrelenting heat can be a health hazard to anybody if you aren’t properly prepared.
The State of California has released a new tool called the “CalHeatScore” that aims to help with that preparation. It’s essentially an online map where you can look up your area code to access data on how hot it’s been, how hot it could be and what you can do to keep yourself safe in the heat. The map ranks each area from 0 (low) up to a 4 (severe). The tool also provides historical data. For instance, on Tuesday, June 25 in the 92252 area code it forecasts the maximum temp as 97° F and gives a “feels like” temperature of about 92° F. That puts Joshua Tree at a CalHeatScore of 1, or “mild.”
But when air temperatures stay warm overnight and humid air stays in the valleys, the human body can lose its ability to cool itself off naturally. That’s when that “feels like” temperature that the CalHeatScore references becomes more important. If the CalHeatScore climbs to a 3 or 4, the relative humidity and air temperature will make it hard for both humans and animals to keep cool when they are outdoors, and precautions should be made to stay out of the heat.
When the “feels like” temperature (also known as the heat index) hits 115 F degrees, cooling centers at the Twentynine Palms Senior Center open up. Municipalities in the hi-desert keep government and community buildings open for residents to cool off in on hotter days, and the air-conditioned libraries in Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms are all free to relax inside during business hours.
The “CalHeatScore” tool was launched in December of last year and communities are being asked to participate in the data collection to forecast heat-related events. You can find more information and links to the tool below.
Links:
More information on the CalHeatScore from the CalEPA / OEHHA
CalHeatScore website (experience.arcgis.com)
Signs of Heat Illness (HotReadyCA.gov)
