Dallas-Fort Worth hits record high for third straight scorching day

Dallas-Fort Worth hits record high for third straight scorching day

Dallas Morning News
Aug. 3, 2011

One of the hottest weeks in Dallas-Fort Worth history stretched into a third straight record day as the mercury again zoomed toward 110.

The temperature hit 108 early in the afternoon, and a day after reaching 110, forecasters said we may eclipse that and obliterate the old daily record of 107.

“We’re ahead of where we were yesterday, and there’s fewer clouds,” said John Lake, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

Wednesday marked the 33rd straight day of dangerous triple-digit temperatures, which once again proved deadly.

The 13th death related to extreme heat in Dallas County was confirmed Wednesday by the medical examiner's office.

The body of 73-year-old Bettie Lawrence was found Tuesday in her Idaho Avenue home in Dallas. The cause of death was listed as hyperthermia, or extreme heat, and hypertension. Seven additional deaths are being investigated as possibly related to the unrelenting high temperatures.

Even the lows of Dallas’ monthlong heat wave are setting records.

Wednesday tied an all-time high for warmest overnight temperatures when the low dipped to only 86 degrees just before dawn. That equals a mark set last week.

“We didn’t cool off much this morning,” said Jason Dunn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

That head-start could put the all-time high of 113 in jeopardy, too, depending on how fast temperatures rise.

“It’s possible that we could get close,” Dunn said, “especially if we’re warming up faster.”

The heat wave is taking a toll on the state’s power grid, with air conditioners working overtime to keep many thousands of homes and businesses cool.

Texans used nearly 68,000 megawatts of power late Tuesday, breaking Monday’s record, and will probably break the record again today at 68,100 megawatts. ERCOT asks consumers to reduce their late-afternoon electricity usage to avoid emergency outages.

Nearly 6,000 people in North Dallas suffered an outage late Tuesday when a transformer blew. This morning, about 2,300 customers woke up in the dark.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit warned that any rolling blackouts would wreak havoc on the rail lines.

“Blackouts could affect our signals system and that would force us to operate trains more slowly,” according to a DART statement.

The warning came a day after the heat caused a switch to fail on the Trinity Railway Express line. As a result, train cars were jam-packed, and air conditioning on board was spotty.

There were also problems on the roads as the sun baked the asphalt and warmed pavement to the breaking point. In Frisco, Legacy Drive is closed at Lebanon Parkway after the road buckled from the heat.

An excessive heat warning remains in effect until Thursday night, and health officials continue to warn how dangerous such high temperatures can be. More than a dozen deaths have been attributed to the heat.

Once again there’s no relief in the near future.

The forecast calls for record-setting temperatures four of the next five days, before a barely noticeable cool-down into the low 100s early next week.

Glad I'm back in Minnesota. It's a nice 81 here as I type.

Been in the 90's and very humid here... but that's Ohio.

Triple-digit temperature streak hits 35 consecutive days

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Friday, Aug. 05, 2011

Shortly after noon Friday, the official temperature in Dallas-Fort Worth reached 100 degrees, extending the streak of consecutive days with triple-digit temperatures to 35, according to the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.

The all-time record is 42 days, set in 1980. This summer's streak is the second-longest on record for the DFW area.

At 4:20 p.m., DFW reached another record high of 107 degrees, making it the fifth consecutive day of record high temperatures for North Texas, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

It broke the record for the date of 106 set in 1956 and equaled in 1964. So far this month, we've seen record highs every day: 107 on Monday, 110 on Tuesday, 109 on Wednesday and 108 on Thursday.

The long-range forecast calls for temperatures of at least 104 through Thursday, one day shy of the consecutive-days record.

There have been 42 total days of triple-digit temperatures in 2011, good for eighth on the all-time list. The record is 69, also in 1980.

The overnight low, 83 degrees, tied the Aug. 5 record for highest low temperature. The mark was set in, you guessed it, 1980.

Ready for some overheated weather trivia?

-- Only once since June 1 has the high been at or below the normal high for the day. On June 22, the high was 91, one degree below normal. Every other day, we've seen temperatures from 2 to 13 degrees higher than normal, the weather service said.

-- Since July 7, the temperature has dipped into the 70s only twice, on July 20 and 30, both times by only one degree.

Also Friday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state's power grid, reminded customers to conserve energy from 3 to 7 p.m.

DFW high hits 107, setting another record

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Aug. 9, 2011

The triple-digit string in Dallas-Fort Worth is now only three days from an all-time record after another record high temperature on Tuesday: 107 at DFW Airport.

The record was 106, set in 1936 and tied in 1942. So far in August, temperatures have been 9 to 12 degrees above normal on average, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

On Tuesday morning, the temperature at the weather service's official reporting station dropped to 84 degrees, unofficially tying a record set in 1947 for the highest low temperature on Aug. 9.

There was a 10 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and evening.

The DFW temperature reached 100 during the noon hour Tuesday to extend the streak of consecutive days with triple-digit temperatures to 39.

There have been 46 days of 100 or more overall in the summer of 2011. The streak record of 42 days was set in 1980, when the overall mark of 69 also was reached.

The heat streak record is appearing likely to be tied Friday as the weather service long-range forecast calls for high temperatures of at least 102 through then. As for breaking it, the forecast high for Saturday is for only 101.