To some, passing Labor Day on the calendar means a winding down of summer, a gradual transition into football and pumpkin spice. To others, it means getting away from the August heat, particularly in Santa Monica.
Even though the beachside city isn’t impacted by sweltering conditions like its inland neighbors, Santa Monica too is affected by August, the hottest month of the year for the area. The city’s average maximum temperature, according to statistical database Weather Underground using data from the Santa Monica Municipal Airport station, was 76.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the month.
This was Santa Monica’s hottest average max temperature since the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020. Taking average normal temperature into consideration, 2024 was the city’s hottest overall August since 2018, sitting at 69.83 degrees. Five days in the month reached the 80-degree mark, peaking on August 20 and 21 when the mercury reached 84.
It’s not just the city that has been a victim to the heat, as the whole state is under never before seen circumstances. According to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, July 2024 was the hottest month ever on record in California, with an average temperature of 81.7 degrees.
Cities such as Fresno in-state, as well as places like Austin and Denver, have suffered from urban heat trapped by concrete and asphalt, which is also a trapping of the Los Angeles area.
"Too often, heat is talked about as just ‘the weather,’ International Institute for Environment and Development senior researcher Tucker Landesman told CNN. "But we’ve built our cities to be heat islands, often much hotter than the surrounding land, which exacerbates the effects of climate change. This effect can be especially acute in low-income areas that lack quality green space."
Overall, the institute stated that at least 1,071 days of temperatures 95 degrees or above took place in the United States 50 largest cities, over 150 more than the average over the past decade. The entire Earth has been privy to this trend, as 2024 is en route to becoming the warmest year on record yet again, according to Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The conditions won’t be slowing down this week, as the National Weather Service forecast for the greater Los Angeles area calls for a "pretty significant stretch of heat," with Thursday likely being the high point. The forecast also states that coastal areas should be on the lookout for temperatures in the 80s once again.
Last year, per Weather Underground, Santa Monica had three September days in the 80s, with an average max temperature of 73.97 degrees. October had even more days in the 80s (six), including on Halloween, which may give an indication of a longer warm period in the fall.
thomas@smdp.com
