San Antonio Experienced 17 Days Of Triple-Digit Heat This June; Normal Is Two Days
Blazing hot and bone-dry Texas is in the midst of a vicious, reinforcing climate cycle. It keeps getting drier as relentless heat saps moisture from the ground. And it keeps getting hotter as the parched soil loses moisture that would help hold the heat in check. The outcome of this feedback loop — which began in May — is a record onslaught of 100-degree days in population centers across the state.
San Antonio — the site of the lethal heat-related migrant tragedy earlier this week — has seen high temperatures of at least 100 degrees on a record 17 days this month; in an average June, it sees just two. Amid the heat, power demand in Texas soared to an all-time high last week, Reuters reported. But, so far, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s grid, has met demand aided by new wind and solar power plants the news agency wrote.
Although the heat has eased modestly to close out June, a surge of even more severe heat is on the way. With little to disrupt this unforgiving weather pattern, the tally of dangerously hot days — intensified by human-caused climate change — is set to continue its rapid rise. San Antonio has already seen more than a full summer’s worth of 100-degree days. The city has registered 22 such days, 17 in June and 5 in May, the most on record year-to-date by far; 2009, the previous record holder, only had 13 up to this point. The average yearly 100-degree day count in San Antonio is 18, the great majority of which typically occur in July and August.
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While near the epicenter of this freakish early heat, San Antonio is not alone. Numerous other Texas cities have endured a historic number of 100-degree days this June, including:
Del Rio: 23 days, most on record tied with 2018 and 1953
Austin: 21 days, most on record topping 20 in 2008
Abilene: 20 days, second-most behind 21 in 1953
Waco: 16 days, second-most on record behind 17 in 2011 and 1998
Victoria: 11 days, most on record topping 8 in 2009
Dallas-Fort Worth: 9 days, fourth-most on record
Houston: 5 days, fifth-most on record
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/30/texas-heat-drought-sanantonio-climate/
