Hmmph. I've heard it was from a 14th century Spanish novel, and remember it was a Spain that had been occupied for 700 years by the Arabs. Arabic crept into the Spanish language.
Caliph + fornia An Arab Caliph, a ruler. The novel was about a utopia, and the ship captain named it after such. He had a long voyage, and did a lot of reading, so it was on his mind.
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With regard to the cooler weather in Death Valley (just went there a few weeks ago)--it's been rainy-ish here in Las Vegas, our violent "monsoon" season, so if it rained a bit west of here, there's your answer. Today was an uncharacteristically cool day for us as well. It's just another example of the news media cherrypicking unusual data points to make misleading conclusions.
Finally, even though I argued against cooling in the preceding paragraph, it probably IS cooling. Lack of sunspots, and all. Sun's been quiet.
I learned a lot from this history teacher, way back in the early 1970s. As an old professor, Michael Svanevik is still teaching, wrote a number of books, appears on local TV and gives history tours of local cemeteries. One thing that he taught us is that there are many interpretations of history, and you should look at the different interpretations to seek truth. Much history is in dispute, and too often what is the "official" version is far from true and subject to debate. (Think "global warming" and you get the point.) He taught us about evidence of Chinese explorers sailing here in North America, mostly Mexico, in the 6th century. Also evidence of Sir Francis Drake exploring San Francisco Bay before Spanish explorers "discovered" it. And so on. A lot of evidence to the contrary of "official" history is often ignored by those in power. Every country does it, trying to extinguish traces of evidence that is contrary to what is being stated as gospel.
That having been said, every time I've been to Las Vegas I feel like I'm in a furnace. One of my sisters and her family lives there and I can't take that heat (both the weather and her family).