High-end summer heat waves in the Death Valley region and the Mojave Desert have been the norm for the past several years. This entry is a resource of the weather data that I archived for the long-lived heat event during the first half of July 2024. A bunch of maps and weather data are provided by date below the individual station data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An associated write-up by me for the July 2024 heat event is forthcoming. It will have its separate web page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first batch of files below contains the hourly surface weather data from the five stations in Death Valley. Data files are grouped by July 1 to 7 and July 7 to 14, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This next batch of hourly (and for some station, sub-hourly) surface weather reports is for other regional stations. Data for July 7-14 are available for all stations below. Data for July 1-7 are available for some of the stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Below are the July 2024 monthly data for regional stations. This is primarily a mix of NWS cooperative stations (MMTS instrumentation), RAWS stations, CARB stations, and FAA AP stations (with ASOS instrumentation). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep in mind that the temperature sensors on the CARB stations are high up on a pole, some 30 feet high or thereabouts, and maximum temperatures are very conservative (a few degrees cooler!) compared to those measured at the conventional stations where the sensors are about 5 to 6 feet above the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, keep in mind that maximums at the RAWS stations are sometimes inflated a degree (F) or two or three, perhaps, due to inferior radiation shields. This issue is most prevalent on sunny afternoons with light winds. Since many RAWS stations are sited on or near hilltops and ridges, and are generally very well-exposed at locales where conservative maximums would be expected anyway, this problem of somewhat-inflated maximums might be “masked” to a large extent. (I.e., the station is very well-exposed favoring relatively coolish maximums, but the radiation shield problem offsets this.) The bottom line in the case of RAWS stations is that if the wind speeds are less than 10 mph during the hottest part of the afternoon, my experience and studies suggest that the day’s maximum temperature report is apt to be a couple of degrees too high…and maybe a few degrees too high. Sometimes the maximums at Saratoga Spring RAWS in southern Death Valley appear to be a little inflated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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