Palm Desert has been our delightful home away from home since December 15th. Our lovely condo complex has every amenity we would ever want or desire including tennis, pools, hot tubs, pickle ball courts and a variety of social activities that would fill your calendar to the brim. It's been a perfect spot for us but it is time to move on to our next destination so we must bid this gem of a locale adieu.
If you are unfamiliar with the area, Wikipedia has officially (?) documented everything you ever need to know about Palm Desert but have been afraid to ask. To my friends in frosty places, I've included the temperatures for the area, not to gloat but to explain why we escape every winter.
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately 14 miles (23 km) east of Palm Springs and 122 miles (196 km) east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census. The city was one of the state's fastest growing in the 1980s and 1990s,[citation needed] beginning with 11,801 residents in 1980, doubling to 23,650 in 1990, 35,000 in 1995, and nearly double its 1990 population by 2000.
A major center of growth in the Palm Springs area, Palm Desert is a popular retreat for "snowbirds" from colder climates (the Eastern and Northern United States, and Canada), who swell its population by an estimated 31,000 each winter. In the past couple of years Palm Desert has seen more residents become "full-timers", mainly from the coasts and urban centers of California, who have come for both affordable and high-valued home prices.
History
The area was first known as the Old MacDonald Ranch, but the name changed to Palm Village in the 1920s when date palms were planted. Local historians said the main residents of pre-1950 Palm Desert were Cahuilla Indian farmers of the now extinct San Cayetano tribe, but a few members of the Montoya family of Cahuilla/Spanish descent were prominent leaders in civic life.[citation needed]
The first residential development occurred in 1943 in connection with an Army maintenance camp in the area. That site was later developed into "El Paseo", an upscale shopping district not unlike Rodeo Drive. In 1948, the Palm Desert Corporation began to develop real estate, and in 1951 the area was given its present name.
Many celebrities keep homes in Palm Desert, including Rita Rudner and more recently, the current home of professional golfer Michelle Wie and one of the homes of Bill Gates. Film producers Jerry Weintraub call Palm Desert their second home. With only 1,500 permanent residents, the community was incorporated on November 26, 1973. At the time, Palm Desert was a master planned community situated in the desert that used to stretch from Palm Springs to Indio.
Climate
The climate of the Coachella Valley is influenced by the surrounding geography. High mountain ranges on three sides and a south-sloping valley floor all contribute to its unique and year-round warm climate, with the warmest winters in the western United States. Palm Desert has an arid climate: Its average annual high temperature is 89 °F (32 °C) and average annual low is 62 °F (17 °C) but summer highs above 108 °F (42 °C) are common and sometimes exceed 120 °F (49 °C), while summer night lows often stay above 82 °F (28 °C). Winters are warm with daytime highs between 73–84 °F (23–29 °C). Under 5 inches (130 mm) of annual precipitation are average, with over 348 days of sunshine per year. The mean annual temperature at 75.8 °F (24.3 °C) makes Palm Desert one of the warmest places in the United States. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Palm Desert was 125 °F (52 °C) on July 6, 1905.[5]The surrounding mountains create a Thermal Belt [6] in the southern foothills of Palm Desert leading to a unique micro-climate with significantly warmer night-time temperatures during the winter months. The University of California maintains weather stations located in this Thermal Belt as part of their ecological project in the Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center.
| [hide]Climate data for Palm Desert, California, elev. 10 feet (3.0 m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 97 (36) | 100 (38) | 103 (39) | 109 (43) | 117 (47) | 123 (51) | 125 (52) | 121 (49) | 122 (50) | 115 (46) | 101 (38) | 93 (34) | 125 (52) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 71.9 (22.2) | 75.3 (24.1) | 81.3 (27.4) | 87.5 (30.8) | 95.7 (35.4) | 103.1 (39.5) | 107.3 (41.8) | 106.6 (41.4) | 102.0 (38.9) | 91.9 (33.3) | 79.6 (26.4) | 71.0 (21.7) | 89.5 (31.9) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 58.3 (14.6) | 61.6 (16.4) | 68.1 (20.1) | 74.1 (23.4) | 81.7 (27.6) | 88.6 (31.4) | 93.8 (34.3) | 93.4 (34.1) | 88.0 (31.1) | 77.8 (25.4) | 65.7 (18.7) | 57.6 (14.2) | 75.8 (24.3) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 44.6 (7) | 48.0 (8.9) | 54.8 (12.7) | 60.7 (15.9) | 67.7 (19.8) | 74.2 (23.4) | 80.3 (26.8) | 80.3 (26.8) | 74.0 (23.3) | 63.7 (17.6) | 51.8 (11) | 44.2 (6.8) | 62.1 (16.7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 13 (−11) | 20 (−7) | 25 (−4) | 33 (1) | 38 (3) | 45 (7) | 59 (15) | 56 (13) | 46 (8) | 31 (−1) | 23 (−5) | 19 (−7) | 13 (−11) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 0.56 (14.2) | 0.64 (16.3) | 0.43 (10.9) | 0.05 (1.3) | 0.07 (1.8) | 0.01 (0.3) | 0.04 (1) | 0.54 (13.7) | 0.04 (1) | 0.26 (6.6) | 0.18 (4.6) | 0.62 (15.7) | 3.44 (87.4) |
| Source: www.ncdc.noaa.gov[7] | |||||||||||||
Thanks for reading # 109 of 7777.
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