Temperatures soared to a record-tying 88 degrees Thursday, just another part of an extraordinarily warm 2012.
From January through October, the average temperature was 72.1 degrees, the second-highest on record for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For the same period in 2006, the average temperature was 72.5."Part of it is we did have a very warm January, February and March," National Weather Service meteorologist Jennifer Dunn said. "We were 6.7 degrees above normal just in March."Thursday's reading of 88 tied a record set in 1945. And there's a good chance that today's record -- 86 -- will be tied or toppled, since forecasts call for temperatures in the upper 80s.It's also been drier than normal.October, typically one of the wettest months, got only 1.02 inches of rain at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, 3.2 inches below normal.That was enough to drop DFW Airport to 1.62 inches below normal for the year.Some areas are even further behind.Fort Worth's Alliance Airport is 5.9 inches below normal, and Denton is 9.72 inches below normal.October "was really the month that pushed us below normal," Dunn said, noting that at the end of September, DFW Airport was 1.58 inches above normal.With the latest long-range forecasts no longer predicting a wet winter, North Texas may also have to worry about the dry conditions persisting.Earlier this fall, the projections held that El Niño, which is caused by rising surface sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean off South America, would bring more precipitation to North Texas this winter."The outlooks for the winter have changed some regarding precipitation and are not really favoring wetter than normal anymore," Dunn said."But as far as short-term chances, we are not in a dry pattern."There will be a slight chance of rain Saturday and Sunday and another chance of rain toward the end of next week, Dunn said.While the highs are expected to drop into the 70s by Sunday, warm weather might stick around well into November. The all-time November high of 89 degrees has been set three times, including as late as Nov. 22, in 1955.Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698Twitter: @fwhannaHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
