San Diego remains drought-free despite summer heat wave

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Despite experiencing the hottest day ever measured on Earth last month, San Diego seems to be faring much better this summer compared to a couple years ago in terms of drought.

Data from the European climate change service, Copernicus, showed July 22 was the hottest day ever recorded in recent history with a global average temperature of 17.16 degrees Celsius (62.88 Fahrenheit). This beat the previous record of 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.24 degrees Fahrenheit), previously set in 2016.

Despite the July heat wave that led to excessive heat warnings for some parts of San Diego County, the region has remained drought-free all summer long, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, following a trend seen in most of California.

This year, California is near the bottom of the list of states experiencing the worst droughts, at No. 45 out of 50.

The most recent map is a far cry from around the same time two years ago, when almost all of California was in severe drought. Most of San Diego County was in a moderate drought, aside from some areas to the east and northwest which were in the “severe drought” category. Several counties even reported drought conditions as “extreme” or “exceptional.” (Click through photos below to see comparison)

A map from Aug. 20 showed that most of California recorded no drought, while some parts of northern California had abnormally dry conditions and fewer areas reported moderate drought.

The improvement came following the heavy rain and historic snowfall throughout the state in the winter of last year, compounded with the effects of Tropical Storm Hilary in August of 2023.

Another winter storm that swept through the county in late January dumped record amounts of rain in the area. Jan. 22 was regarded one of the wettest days on record for the county.

However, California is not out of the woods just yet. According to the state department of water resources , climate change is expected to create more variable weather patterns throughout the state, which could lead to longer or more severe droughts and floods in the future.

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