Weak cold front zips through North Texas

A quick, feeble cold front passed through North Texas Tuesday morning, and with it the hope of cooler temperatures for the rest of the week.

The fast-moving front caused a shift in light winds — 5-7 mph — from south to north.

“It wasn’t too noticeable,” said meteorologist Dennis Cavanaugh at the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.

Lingering clouds and a 20 percent chance of rain could hold the temperature at 100 degrees or a few degrees below that Tuesday afternoon.

That would be a tiny improvement over the roasting that went on Monday, when the temperature at 5:08 p.m. was 106 at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport — tying Sunday’s high as the hottest in three years.

Fort Worth’s Meacham Airport, Spinks Airport and Naval Air Station also recorded 106. Dallas Love Field climbed to 107. The highest mark was at Arlington Municipal Airport, where it was 108 degrees.

Salvation Army cooling stations in North Texas were busy Monday, and they will continue to open as long as the heat remains.

MedStar officials say they have seen an increase in heat-related calls, but it’s about the same as last August.

Managers of the state’s electrical grid reported that peak electricity demand topped was 69,408 megawatts between 3 and 4 p.m. Monday, then 69,738 megawatts, between 4 and 5 p.m. That broke the record of 68,912 megawatts set last week, between 4 and 5 p.m. Thursday.

On Monday, it was the 33rd day without rain at D/FW Airport, the official rain gauge for North Texas. The record, 55 days without rain, was established from July 30 to Sept. 22 in 2000, according to the weather service office in Fort Worth.

Temperatures should be just below 100 degrees for the rest of the week, according to the NWS office in Fort Worth.

Staff writer Bill Hanna contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Weak cold front zips through North Texas."