By Reginald Stanley. Posted August 1, 2018, 11:58 PM.

The month of July 2018 saw a consistent pattern of above-average temperatures across Southern California, leading to many locations reporting their warmest Julys in recorded history, and many others coming in at a close second, behind July 2006.

Numerous protracted heat waves, including a record-breaking one at the beginning of the month, culminated in a pattern of persistently above-average temperatures lasting almost the entire month in the region. In Temecula, the oldest station on the WeatherCurrents network where records date back to 1999, July 2018 came in second place (78.8 degrees) for the warmest July recorded there, only 0.2 degrees behind July 2006 (79.0 degrees). The average daily high temperature in Temecula for July 2018 actually exceeded that of July 2006, with an average daily maximum of 95.2 degrees - even exceeding the previous all-time highest average daily maximum for any month, previously held by October 1999 with 95.1 degrees. The average daily low temperature, however, was lower in July 2018 (66.7 degrees) than that of July 2006 (68.0 degrees).

Similar observations were made at other long-running WeatherCurrents stations, including Murrieta and Hemet. The National Weather Service reported some of their warmest Julys in a grander scale, where July 2018 ranked as third-warmest July of all-time in Downtown Los Angeles, where records date back to 1877. Cities such as Palm Springs, Ramona, Long Beach, Van Nuys, Oxnard, and Lancaster reported their all-time warmest July in 2018. A major contributor to the long-standing heat was lingering monsoonal moisture.

High heat is expected to continue, although not as extreme, going into the first week of August.