Heat, Coachella Valley
- When
- May 7, 12:00 PM PST to May 11, 4:00 PM PST
- Where
- Coachella Valley forecast zone
- Injuries
- 19 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.744, -115.994 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in California, May 7 to 11, 2001
On 5/11/01, emergency crews rescued 19 people suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration on a freight train located near the city of Cabazon. The train was bound from Palm Springs to Los Angeles and it was unclear when the people had gotten on the train.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 19
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS SGX wrote it up.
On 5/11/01, emergency crews rescued 19 people suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration on a freight train located near the city of Cabazon. The train was bound from Palm Springs to Los Angeles and it was unclear when the people had gotten on the train. On 5/13/01, a man's body was discovered in Palm Canyon, located near the Dos Cabezas mine in extreme eastern San Diego County. Record high temperatures had been set in the Coachella Valley and San Diego County Deserts the previous week.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Diego, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 7, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 7, 8:15 AM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
915 AM PDT MON MAY 7 2001
...SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE WEST WILL BRING VERY WARM WEATHER TODAY AND
TUESDAY. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES A BIT COOLER
NEAR THE COAST...AND LOW CLOUDS AND FOG MAY LINGER AT SOME BEACHES
INTO THE AFTERNOON. IT WILL TURN SLIGHTLY COOLER MIDWEEK AS THE HIGH
PRESSURE WEAKENS.
...DISCUSSION...
FORECAST PROBLEM TODAY IS THE BURNOFF TIME OF THE CLOUDS AND DENSE
FOG AT THE COAST...AND JUST HOW HOT IT WILL GET ACROSS INLAND AREAS
THIS AFTERNOON. THE STRATUS SHIELD OVER THE COASTAL WATERS THIS
MORNING IS MUCH LARGER THAN YESTERDAY...EXTENDING ABOUT 200 MILES
OFFSHORE. UNEVEN CLEARING IS OCCURRING AT THE BEACHES...AND WITH THE
STRONG INVERSION AND THE LARGE WEST-EAST THERMAL GRADIENTS THIS
AFTERNOON...THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF COASTAL FOG AND STRATUS
LINGERING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AT THE SOME OF THE BEACHES.
TEMPERATURES ARE RISING QUICKLY THIS MORNING IN THE INLAND AREAS.
THE 24 HOUR TEMPERATURES CHANGE SHOWED 5 TO 10 DEGREES OF WARMING
COMPARED TO YESTERDAY IN INLAND...MTN AND DESERT AREAS. COASTAL
TEMPS WERE ABOUT THE SAME.
THE RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD THIS AFTERNOON...THEN THE RIDGELINE
MOVES EAST TUESDAY BUT IT WILL STILL REMAIN HOT TOMORROW. SLIGHTLY
COOLER WEDNESDAY AS THE RIDGE FLATTENS IN RESPONSE TO A WEAK
SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE
IN THE COACHELLA VALLEY WHERE IT WILL REMAIN HOT.
IN THE EXTENDED...RIDGE TRIES TO REBUILD THURSDAY AND FRIDAY BUT IS
UNDERCUT BY A BROAD UPPER LOW OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC WHICH WILL
BRING GRADUALLY LOWER HTS AND SLIGHT COOLING THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED TO INCREASE HIGH TEMPS IN A FEW ZONES...AND TO
MENTION LINGERING BEACH CLOUDS INTO TH-E AFTERNOON.
SAN 000
.SAN...NONE.
BALFOUR/MOEDEThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, San Diego County Deserts
- When
- May 7, 12:00 PM PST to May 11, 4:00 PM PST
- Where
- San Diego County Deserts forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 33.028, -116.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, San Diego County Deserts | 2001-05-10 | 25 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, May 7, 2001
- Flash Flooding in U.S. Virgin Islands, May 7 to 8, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 7, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, May 7, 2001
- High Wind in North Dakota, May 7, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 7, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 7, 2001
- Funnel Clouds in Texas, May 7, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Michigan, May 7, 2001
- Heat in California, May 7 to 31, 2001
- Hail in Texas, May 7, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, May 7, 2001
More
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5243334, 5243335.