Why is it so hot already in Texas? Early heat wave is an ominous sign for summer
Summer heat is nothing new for Texans, but this year could be the hottest in years.
Mother’s Day weekend kicked off a stretch of above-90s temperatures that are forecast to continue at least the next 10 days. This week’s highs are expected to reach the high 90s, even flirting with 100 degree weather.
This much heat, this early in the year, is reminiscent of two notoriously hot years — 1980 and 2011 — when by summertime, an oppressive heat wave broke records. Some experts are warning we’ll see above-average temperatures, compounded by drought and wind.
Fort Worth hit its hottest temperature of the year so far on Sunday, May 15, at 97 degrees.
Typically, temperatures heat up in North Texas as summer rages in June and July. Will summer 2022 be as bad as 1980 or 2011?
1980 heat wave
There were 69 days in 1980 where the temperature was at or above 100 degrees — 42 of those days consecutively.
Only 2011 had a total of more 100 degree days than 1980. But 1980 set the record for most consecutive days with triple digits, from June 23 to Aug. 3.
The first 100-degree day for that year was June 7. The highest temperature that summer was 113 on June 26 and 27.
June 1980 had a total of 13 days over 100 degrees, and August had 21 days, with the highest temperature getting to 105. September saw the last of the triple digits with four days of 100-degree highs.
July, however, set the record for the greatest number of days at 100 degrees as the entire 31-day month was over triple digits. Over 40 years later, the July record still stands as the greatest number of 100-degrees days in a month.
2011 heat wave
There were 71 days in 2011 at or above 100 degrees, a record that hasn’t come close to being topped since then.
Of those 71 days, 40 were consecutive from July 2 to Aug. 10, the second most since 1980. Another stretch in 2011 of 20 days from Aug. 15 to Sept. 3, is sixth on the highest consecutive list for North Texas.
The highest temperature was 110 on Aug. 2, and the lowest was 76 on July 2. The first 100-degree day of the year was June 13, and last was Sept. 29.
June had a total of seven days at 100 degrees. July 2011 had the second highest number of 100-degree days with 30, one shy of the record-setting 1980. August 2011 ranks third with 28 days of triple digits.
How do those years compare to 2022?
There hasn’t been a 100-degree day yet in 2022, but it’s only mid-May.
North Texas has seen multiple 90-degree days this year; April 5 clocked in at 95 degrees, and April 20 hit 91 degrees.
By comparison, 1980 didn’t see its first day above 90 until April 7, and 2011 had back-to-back days of 91 degrees on April 18 and 19.
It’s looking like this May could have more 90-degree days than 1980 and 2011. The highest temp in May 2011 was 97; Fort Worth’s forecast for next week predicts we’ll beat that.
So far, there has been nine 90 degree days in May this year, which is more than 1980 but still behind 2011. In 1980 there were eight 90 degree days in May and in 2011 there was 11 total days.
Summer 2022 outlook
The Texas drought is the main culprit of the spring heat wave, according to the National Weather Service. More than half the state is under extreme drought conditions, with nearly one-fourth of Texas in exceptional drought as of last week.
With drought conditions earlier in the year, the beginning of summer heat occurs earlier than normal, meaning that all signs point to a hotter 2022.
The Climate Prediction Center projects a warmer than normal summer for Texas, particularly in central and western Texas, and especially in the Panhandle. New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and western Oklahoma are also likely to have scorchers.
Heat and windier-than-normal springs seem to be intertwined, with this spring’s winds resembling those of 2011, according to NWS.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 11:18 AM.
