Weather
The desert decides
whether you ride.
Glamis is not a place where weather is a detail you check on the way out of town. Summer highs here pass 110F and the season exists because of it. In winter the same sand runs cold after dark. Here is what it is doing right now, and what the next seven days look like.
Loading live weather from Open-Meteo…
Blowing sand
The second thing
that stops a day.
Heat is what most people plan around. Wind is what ends a ride early. Sand moving across the open faces takes visibility down quickly, changes the crests you thought you had read, and separates a group faster than anything else out here.
Wind risk: Checking…
Reading current gusts.
Seven days
What is coming,
and how it reads.
| Day | High / Low | Sky | Gusts | Heat read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading forecast… | ||||
Forecast from Open-Meteo for the dunes themselves rather than the nearest town, so the numbers reflect open sand. Conditions on the ground still change faster than any forecast. Confirm with BLM El Centro before you travel.
Reading the numbers
What these mean
out on the sand.
Below 90F
Prime riding weather, and the reason the season runs when it does. This is what people drive all night for.
90F to 100F
Hot. Start early, get off the sand through the middle of the day, and go back out late. Machines and radiators feel this before you do.
100F to 110F
Dangerous heat. Carry far more water than you think you need, and plan on shorter loops with a fixed turnaround rather than a long push.
Above 110F
Extreme. Riding in this is genuinely dangerous, which is why most people do not come out in it and why the permit season stops when it does.
Two things the temperature does not tell you. Humidity here is low enough that you stop noticing you are sweating, which is exactly how people get into trouble. And the overnight low can sit forty degrees under the afternoon high, so a camp that was unbearable at four is cold by midnight. Pack for both ends of the day.
Before you tow
Official sources
beat any forecast.
This page is a planning tool, not an authority. For closures, fire restrictions and current orders, BLM El Centro Field Office is the one that counts, on (760) 337-4400. For watches and warnings, use the National Weather Service forecast for the dunes.