LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The temperatures that impacted Lake County as part of an early July heat wave didn’t just seem extremely hot — they actually broke records.

In response to questions from Lake County News about the early July heat wave, the National Weather Service’s Eureka office offered an analysis of 30 years of data from long term weather stations in Lake County, most of them used for fire weather.

James White of the National Weather Service reviewed data from a RAWS weather station on the slopes of Mt. Konocti that has been in place since 1995.

Of that station's top 10 high temperatures ever recorded, four occurred in the first two weeks of July, White said.

Those four top temperatures were as follows:

• No. 1: July 6, 112 degrees.
• No. 2: July 7, 110 degrees (tied for second with Sept. 6, 2022, and July 10, 2002).
• No. 5: July 5, 109 degrees (tied for fifth with June 25, 2006, and July 11, 2002).
• No. 8: July 13, 108 degrees (tied for eighth with Sept. 5, 2022; Sept. 2, 1998; and Aug. 4, 1998).

“That information is impressive in its own right. Looking at the same station, it is clear this heat wave was exceptionally long lived,” White said. “For example at the same station, this past heatwave had by far the hottest 10 day average of any heatwave.”

White said that the period of July 3 to July 13, 2024, had an average daily high of 107, which “blows the next highest record out of the water.”

That next highest heat period was the 10 days from July 15 to July 25, 2006, which had an average daily high of 103, White said.

“The longevity of the heat wave is also obvious in the number of days over 100,” White said.

He pointed out that there were 12 days in a row with highs over 100 degrees at the Konocti RAWS weather station between July 1 and July 13.

White said that also tops the previous record of eight days over 100 degrees, which occurred between Aug. 8 and Aug. 16, 2002.

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