Scorching U.S. heat waves continue
— The summer of 2023 may be drawing to a close — but the extreme heat is not: More record-shattering temperatures — this time across Texas — are expected today as the U.S. continues to bake.
Highs of 109 degrees forecast for Saturday and 110 today in Dallas would break the record of 107 each day, both set in 2011, and would come after a high of 109 on Thursday broke a record of 107 set in 1951, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw.
“There really is no relief in sight, there is some hint by the end of August, maybe Labor Day, high temperatures will begin to fall below 100,” Bradshaw said. “It’s possible to see 100-degree-plus temperatures through the first half of September, at least off and on.”
The heat wave causing misery in Texas this weekend is just the latest to punish the U.S. this year.
Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, by deforestation and by certain agricultural practices, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme weather including hotter temperatures.
The entire globe has simmered to record heat both in June and July. And if that’s not enough, smoke from wildfires, floods and droughts have caused problems globally.
Just days ago, daily high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest broke records. At Portland International Airport, the daily high temperature Monday of 108 degrees broke the previous daily record of 102 degrees, the National Weather Service said. It was also the first time in 130 years of recorded weather that Seattle had three days in a row with lows of 67 degrees or warmer.
Last month, the Phoenix area broiled under a record-setting 31 days of daily high temperatures of 110 or above. The historic heat began blasting the region in June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974. In July, the continental United States set a record for overnight warmth, providing little relief from daytime heat for people, animals, plants and the electric grid, meteorologists said.
Meanwhile, in Waco, about 90 miles south of Dallas, there has been no rainfall for a record-tying 49 straight days, since only a trace amount on July 1.
“There’s no sign that’s going to change anytime soon ... Waco is on track to be driest summer on record,” Bradshaw said.
An excessive heat warning is in place from south Texas, western Louisiana across eastern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and all of Missouri. Excessive heat warnings were also issued for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa.
In Minneapolis where the average daily high is 81.7 degrees, the high is to reach 95, before a cold front drops temperatures into the mid-80s today, according to the weather service.
A heat advisory was issued for today for parts of southern Wisconsin and high ozone levels are to affect air quality in Indiana where temperatures are expected to reach the mid90s by Wednesday, the weather service reported.
A high of 95 is forecast by midweek in Chicago, 12 degrees above normal.
More scorching temperatures baked most of Louisiana on Saturday. The Shreveport area Saturday saw temperatures as high as 110 while New Orleans hit the 101 mark.
Megan Williams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Slidell, said residents through today could expect heat index values — or what outside feels like — between 108 to 113 — and in some cases greater than 113.
“The most vulnerable people are at both ends of the age spectrum,” Penn State University Professor W. Larry Kenney told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
“So infants, because they’re really at the mercy of their parents to keep them cool and keep them well hydrated, are vulnerable to temperature extremes,” Kenney said.