Heat in California, July 10 to 20, 2005

Record heat resulted in near record power consumption and one death. High temperatures soared to 121 at Thermal, 120 at Palm Springs, 120 at Borrego Springs, and 116 at Hesperia. Temperatures in the Coachella Valley hit 110 degrees or greater on 9 consecutive days. No relief was found in the mountains either as high temperatures there reached into the mid and upper 90s, even above 7,000 ft. Big Bear Lake tied their all-time record high of 94 on the 18th while Idyllwild hit a high of 98. Daytime temperatures in the inland valleys hit 100 or higher on most days, and things didn't get much better after sunset. A slew of record high minimums were broken as night time temperatures ranged from the low 70s in the valleys to the upper 80s in the deserts. On the 13th, the low temperature in Indio only dropped to 90 degrees. One teen died from heat exposure when he and his father went looking for help after their dune-buggy broke down in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.