Memorial Day weekend brings warm, breezy weather to Yuma County
Sunny skies and mid-90s heat set up Memorial Day outings across Yuma County, with afternoon gusts and hotter pockets in the Imperial Valley and Ocotillo corridor.
Mid-90s heat, clear skies and only a light morning breeze gave Yuma County a workable start to Memorial Day weekend, but the comfort window narrowed by late afternoon as gusts strengthened and outdoor plans pushed deeper into the heat.
Saturday’s forecast called for a high of 95 degrees in Yuma and 94 to 95 degrees across surrounding county communities, with the Imperial Valley running hotter at about 97. Morning gusts in Yuma County were around 14 to 17 miles per hour, a manageable start for cemetery visits, river outings and early barbecues. By late afternoon, gusts were expected to rise into the 18 to 20 mile-per-hour range, adding a breezier feel and making fire safety and loose outdoor setups more of a concern.
The National Weather Service forecast for Yuma on May 23 showed Memorial Day itself reaching 97 degrees under sunny skies, with Sunday near 95 and Tuesday also near 95. A separate nearby forecast point painted a hotter picture for the same holiday stretch, with Sunday at 101 degrees and Memorial Day at 104, underscoring how sharply temperatures could vary across Yuma County and into southeastern California. Winds in the Yuma forecast area could gust as high as 20 miles per hour on Sunday and Monday.
That spread matters for holiday travel as much as for backyard plans. KYMA’s forecast also pointed to stronger winds in the Imperial Valley and warned that drivers heading back from Southern California, especially through Ocotillo, could run into very windy conditions. For residents moving between Yuma, the Imperial Valley and the desert corridor west of town, comfort could change quickly over a short distance.
The warm spell was not expected to end with the holiday. The National Weather Service in Phoenix said temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees below normal on Friday before warming through the weekend and turning above normal by Monday, June 1. NOAA and National Weather Service climate records put May’s warmest average temperature at 86.6 degrees, set in 1997, and the updated 1991 to 2020 normals show how far this weekend’s mid-90s readings ran above Yuma’s typical May pace. By Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters expected a dip into the low 90s before another climb toward 97 degrees the following Saturday, keeping heat and wind in the mix well beyond the holiday.
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