Southern U.S. continues to broil
Parts of Texas, Gulf Coast face another week of record heat
The intense, record-setting heat that has smothered much of the southern tier of the United States from Arizona to Florida since June continues this week with little relief in sight. New Orleans; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Phoenix; Orlando, Fla.; Miami; and Houston are expected to be among the hottest cities, according to The Washington Post’s heat tracker, all with heat indexes as high as 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Excessive heat warnings and heat advisories were in effect Monday across much of Texas, all of Louisiana and Florida, and much of Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia, affecting over 65 million people. The combination of high heat and humidity is forecast to be most persistent this week across parts of Texas and along the Gulf Coast, with peak heat indexes near and above 110 degrees.
Searing heat continued mostly unabated through the first week of August after numerous heat records were set across the southern U.S., and even in Alaska, during July.
Several record high temperatures for the month of August were recorded in Texas this weekend, as tweeted by weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, including Sunday’s highs of 112 degrees in El Paso and 110 degrees in Del Rio. It was the second day in a row that El Paso set a record high for August, after having reached 109 degrees Saturday. In New Mexico, Las Cruces and Albuquerque both reached record August highs of 108 and 102, respectively.
Records continue to fall in Phoenix, which set a record daily high of 116 degrees on Saturday, and tied its record daily high of 114 degrees on Sunday. Meanwhile, the low temperature in Phoenix hasn’t fallen below 90 degrees for 23 straight days, just five days short of the record 28day streak in 2020. Phoenix just recorded the hottest month on record for a U.S. city, and last week ended its record streak at or above 110 degrees at 31 days.
While the southern Lower 48 bakes, the northernmost parts of the continental U.S. are also enduring exceptional warmth. Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, had its warmest daily average temperature on record Saturday, as a high of 76 and low of 56 combined for an average of 66. In Deadhorse, just a few miles from the Arctic Ocean, Saturday’s high of 84 degrees was a record for August and its second-warmest day ever recorded, surpassed by the high of 85 degrees on July 13, 2016.
This week’s extreme heat is expected to focus on Texas, Louisiana, southern Mississippi and southern New Mexico.
High temperatures of 105 to 110 degrees are forecast for much of central and southern Texas every day this week, where numerous record daily highs could be tied or broken. The National Weather Service is forecasting highs of 104 to 106 in Austin and in San Antonio, where an excessive heat warning is in effect Monday with heat indexes likely peaking at 105 to 113.
The broken-record of high heat and humidity continues in New Orleans, too, where the Weather Service said, “Trust us, we’re tired of it too. But remember, continue to limit your time outdoors. Stay hydrated. Check on pets and elderly!” With forecast highs of 98 to 100 degrees, New Orleans could tie or break its daily record each day as heat indexes climb as high as 116. In Baton Rouge, the high is forecast to reach 99 to 102 all week and into the weekend, with heat indexes as high as 117 to 118.
Temperatures should be slightly cooler in Phoenix this week, but still very hot with forecast highs near 110 each day, and could trend hotter again by the weekend. The city’s 38 days reaching 110 degrees or higher this year are already the second-most on record, and temperatures sometimes climb that high into the first week of September.