Record highs could be set as heat wave intensifies over Dallas-Fort Worth
Jason Sickles, Yahoo! Dallas Editor
Not to be outdone by J.R. Ewing's return to "Dallas," Mother Nature is making her own 1980s-like comeback.
The heat wave forecast for North Texas this week could produce record high temperatures and will get DFW even closer to 1980's infamous streak of 42 consecutive days of triple-digit heat.
Sunday's official high of 103 at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport puts 2011 in second place on that list with 30 days of 100 or better. The scorching temps made the month the third-warmest July on record.
But officials warn that this week's outlook could be dangerously hot and have issued an excessive heat warning through Thursday.
The American Red Cross offers a checklist of precautions people should take. Reliant Energy is sponsoring "beat the heat" centers at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center and West Dallas Multipurpose Center. City of Dallas rec centers are also open to folks needing to cool off. Fort Worth is providing relief at public buildings and offering other assistance as well.
"The primary forecast challenge is determining just how hot it will get, but model guidance is in good agreement that temps will range from 105 to 110 over the area during the next few days," meteorologist Ted Ryan Monday morning wrote in a forecast for the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. "This will be the hottest stretch of weather since Aug. 30 — Sept. 5th in 2000 when temps peaked at 111 degrees."
RECORD HIGHS AND FORECAST HIGHS FOR THIS WEEK AT DFW:
DATE RECORD YEAR/S FORECAST*
Aug. 1 106 1998 107
Aug. 2 107 1998 108
Aug. 3 107 2008 108
Aug. 4 107 1951 107
Aug. 5 106 1964, 56, 51 107
Aug. 6 109 2003 105
Aug. 7 106 1988, 53, 51 104
*Issued during the afternoon on Aug. 1.
