The predicted differences between Santa Monica and the Valley is nearly a 20 degree difference. That's less than one degree per mile of distance!

Unless by "the Valley" you mean the Santa Clarita Valley. :-) That's just over 20 miles from Santa Monica.

Hey, I've seen days when the temperature at Topanga and PCH by the beach was 62 while Topanga and Ventura in Woodland Hills was 102. And that's only a 12-mile drive (or about 9 miles as the crow flies) for a gradient of almost 4 degrees per mile.

(But of course that requires a heavy marine layer and a bit of onshore flow to keep it hugging the coast, but not enough to push it over the hills.)

It's not always like that, though. On days with substantial offshore flow, the Valley is about the same temp as the rest of the city, except for the parts right at the shoreline.

And the Valley isn't all the same, either. On days with onshore flow, Studio City is frequently 10-15 degrees cooler than, say, Woodland Hills or Chatsworth.

There's a substantial southeast-to-northwest thermal gradient across the Valley. As you go further west, the hills get higher, so the western end of the Vallley gets a lot less marine influence.

Here in Studio City, at the base of the low Cahuenga Pass, we won't even be getting the DWP's "Hot Zone" rate discount - according to the UCLA study of summertime high temps, we're in the same thermal band as places like Beverly Hills and Westwood, so no discount for us.

And we're noticeably cooler than places like Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Downtown, (which will be getting the discount).

Either way its goddamn hot.