I think all the North American deserts are rain-shadow deserts. By this I mean that in the direction of the prevailing winds, there are mountain ranges that parallel the coastline. Most of the moisture is squeezed out of the air by going over the mountains ⛰️ leaving large areas where the annual evaporation exceeds the annual rainfall.
This is exacerbated by the fact that the oceanic currents West of us are relatively cold. They don’t add as much moisture to the atmosphere as warm currents do.
There are several different deserts 🏜️, which can be divided along elevation, geology, precipitation, other climate measures, and by the biological organisms that live there. So for instance, the #High_Desert and #Intermediate_Desert ares of !SoCal have specific plants 🌱 and animals that live there. The #Low_Desert consist of multiple sub deserts with different climates and life forms. These deserts are generally located at lower elevations as well as being to the south of the other deserts. Most of the Low Deserts are subsets of the Sonoran Desert.
The !SoCal #High_Desert (elevation 3000 feet and higher) and #Intermediate_Desert (below 3000 feet, but still higher and more northerly than the low deserts), which are portions of the #Mojave_Desert, are expecting peak temperatures of 100⁰F / 38⁰C and up, while the #Low_Desert (including the Colorado Desert, Sonoran Desert, and a couple of other smaller deserts) are expecting 110⁰F / 43⁰C and up.
Excessive heat warnings issued across much of desert areas of #CA, #NV, #AZ. Stay out of the heat as much as possible.
I'm told that Palm Springs in !SoCal's #Low_Desert reached 111F today. Multiple places in the #High_Desert should also be above 100F tomorrow and Sunday (Sat 2023-07-01 and Sun 2023-07-02), but with low humidity.
This isn't like #TX, where parts of the state were under "wet bulb" warnings (so hot and so humid that people are likely to die because their bodies cannot cool off) recently.
#NOAA / #NWS issuing #fire_weather alert (watch) for portions of !SoCal's #San_Bernardino and #Riverside and #San_Diego Counties, as "strong gusty winds and low humidity" are expected in mountains and valleys. Includes some #Low_Desert areas, but no #High_Desert areas. Yucaipa, home to two large fires this Summer, is included in the danger area.
The alert does not cover #Orange or #Los_Angeles counties, but that may be a function of which office issued the bulletin.
If you're in Southern California, please be careful not to do things which could cause another catastrophic fire. There was a town in NorCal (Paradise) that no one had ever heard of until nearly the entire town burned down and many residents were killed in a fire a couple of years ago. We don't want other municipalities to relive their experience.
Some !SoCal #High_Desert and #Intermediate_Desert locations have had a little snow recently. It isn’t really a big deal. We used to get 1-2 inches of snow several times per year, even as late as the 3rd week of May.
This is more like a return to the recent normal for an El Niño year than an “OMG we’re all going to die!” moment. (There have been times when it snowed a little on the #I-210 from around Glendale to Azusa, so it isn’t unknown in the #Los_Angeles area, either.)