William Reid

SoCal climatologist, Great Plains storm chaser and photographer, Tempest Tours tour director, certified wx observer & Death Valley record-temperature researcher

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@TarkStas @NWSBismarck yes

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

Weak tornado about 8-10 miles south of Minot from 10:03 to 10:08 pm CDT Sunday. View to the south from 93rd Ave SE, about a half mile east of US 83.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

Wall of dust to the SSE and S, close to the time that the tornado began to our south.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@Kingstorian @LAKings @DarylEvans15 @JimFox19 I was in attendance with my brothers. The feeling was massive doom and gloom after two periods as many Kings fans filed out of the Forum. After regulation, it was screaming and yelling and high-fiving everyone in the lobbies...and then the shot by Evans to complete the miracle.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

The month with the previous greatest positive departure from long-term average at L.A. was February 2016, with 77.5F compared to the ave of 67.2F. Greatest negative departure was Jan 1937 with 55.2F, which is 11.1 deg lower than the long-term average of 66.3F

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

The ave daily max temp at Los Angeles for March 2026 is 82.2F. This breaks the previous record highest of 79.1F (March 2015) and is 13.6 deg above the 148-year ave of 68.6F for March. This is the largest departure (+ or -) of ave max for ANY individual month in L.A. since 1877.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

This ave daily max for L.A. of 82.2F is 12.3 degrees higher than the 1991-2020 normal ave max of 69.9F for March. This (slightly smaller) departure of 12.3 deg is also large enough to give March 2026 the greatest departure from normal on record for any month at L.A, per WRCC.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@DanielShawAU Still waiting at the curb for you.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@WeatherProf All of the stations listed "highest in the nation" on Saturday (with 110F) were RAWS stations. And like the previous several days, the NWS climate stations in the region were about 3 deg lower on max temp. RAWS stations have inferior instrumentation and should be disregarded.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@PGDynes What was the highest temperature for this heat event from a NWS/NOAA-certified station, such as at a NWS cooperative station or at an ASOS at an airport?

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@WeatherProf The old record of 108F for March was at Rio Grande City, Texas, on March 30, 1954. https://t.co/jX0yNkHK6k

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

WPC's list of places with the hottest temperature in the nation on Fri. 3 of these are RAWS stations: Fort Yuma, FWS R2 PORT #2 (near Martinez Lk), and Buttercup (SSW of Ogilby). The one NE of Winterhaven is an "AZMET" station. The nearby NWS climate stations maxed out at 109F.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@WeatherProf Rio Grande, TX (WNW of McAllen) had a 108F in March of 1954 or March of 1964, depending on which recent media article you want to believe! I suspect that this record was from a USWB cooperative climate station. The RAWS stations started showing up in the 1980s, I think.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@WeatherProf I am not familiar with the AZMET. Obviously, one would hope that these non-NWS stations would provide high temperatures data that is very comparable to the AP ASOS stations and the NWS cooperative stations with the MMTS equipment (or the old cotton region shelters).

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@gregporter_wx RAWS stations are notorious for edging up a little too high on temperature on sunny afternoons with light winds. If one compares the highs at the RAWS stations with those in the surrounding areas, it becomes apparent! It is a crazy heat event for the Southern Deserts for March.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@WeatherProf Your old "record" numbers look too low to me! 500mb heights greater than 580dm are not that uncommon in March across the southern states.

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@Garrett8856929 @Veeringwindswx If there is, I am unaware of it. I have been writing down some upper air numbers daily for SoCal for 25 years or so. This U of WY site is good for researchers... https://t.co/Q9X2Yf5gjN

[William Reid @stormbruiser]

@ThierryGooseBC @Weather_West @WeatherProf @severeweatherEU @ryanweather @ExtremeMeteo @JimCantore @StephanieAbrams @NWSPhoenix @US_Stormwatch Highest off of the RTP list from the San Diego office is 108F at Ocotillo Wells, Indio and Thermal, CA. Highest off of the Phoenix list is 106F at Yuma, and 104F at Needles and DV from the Las Vegas office. The stations on these lists are the most trustworthy.