Millions of people in Texas braced Thursday for a spell of widespread heat that officials said was likely to last for days, break records and raise the risk of wildfires and related illnesses. heat
More than 30 million people in Texas, as well as Florida and Louisiana, were under heat advisories early Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Many of those affected are in south and east Texas, and some of the advisories are set to remain in effect until Friday night.
Parts of Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are expected to see heat index readings of 105 to 112 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday or Friday, the Weather Service said in an advisory. An index of up to 119 degrees is possible in some southern countries, the agency said early Thursday. The heat index measures how hot it feels outside, taking temperature and humidity into account.
High temperatures in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are forecast to remain in the upper 90s through the weekend, but by early next week, the region could hit 100 for the first time this year, according to the Weather Service.
On average, the Dallas-Fort Worth area sees its first 100-degree day on July 1, but in past years, temperatures have reached triple digits earlier in the year, according to the Weather Service.
Madi Gordon, a meteorologist with the Weather Service branch in Fort Worth, Texas, said Thursday that “extreme heat” is forecast to arrive earlier than normal in North Texas.
“It’s not unusual,” he added.
Later this week or early next week, the heat index in South Texas and the western Gulf Coast could climb as high as 120 degrees, the agency said in a forecast. Some daily high temperature records may fall, it added, and the weather may pose health risks for people who spend long hours outside or without air conditioning.
In parts of Texas, the Salvation Army has opened several cooling stations, where people can escape the heat of the sun.
There is also the potential for severe storms in the forecast for parts of Texas and the Southeastern United States. Oklahoma, North Texas and parts of Kansas were at the greatest risk for severe weather on Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center, which warned that some storms could bring damaging winds, heavy rain hail and tornado.
The Time Service SAYS that hot and humid weather conditions will allow “any storms to become severe” on Thursday.
Parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are also expected to experience an above-average risk of wildfires, with dry heat and low humidity, on Thursday and Friday, according to the Weather Service.
It’s not unusual for Texas officials to issue heat advisories this time of year, said Monte Oaks, a meteorologist with the Weather Service’s San Antonio office. They usually do when high temperatures combine with other factors, including high humidity and westerly winds that blow hot air from high deserts, he added.
In this case, Mr. Oaks said, the humidity was high because Texas had a wetter and windier spring than usual. That leaves parts of the state looking a little bit worse than they usually were in June, he said. But it also means that the hot earth “cooks up a lot of moisture” and releases it into the air.
“We’re not hot on the charts,” he added, speaking by phone Wednesday night. “We are generally warm after a long period of relatively mild weather in the months of April and May.”
Electricity demand is expected to increase in the state later this week due to hot weather, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90 percent of the state’s electricity load, said in a statement Wednesday night. But there is enough supply to meet demand, the company added, and it does not expect an “energy emergency.”
Global warming is making dangerously hot weather more common, and more severe, on every continent.
In Texas and neighboring Mexico, it made forecast levels of heat over the next few days at least five times more likely, according to an analysis Wednesday by Climate Central, a nonprofit research collaboration with scientists and journalists.
jesus jimenez contributed to the report.
