The heat wave has been unique for how long it has lasted and how high the temperatures were so early in the summer, said Isaac Longley, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.
A heat dome, created when the atmosphere traps hot air over an area, has inflicted triple-digit heat and humidity in the region since earlier in June. Del Rio, near the Mexico border, broke its daily record high for 10 straight days. The streak ended Wednesday, when the city only tied its daily high at 108 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. Daily temperature records were also broken in cities including San Antonio, Abilene, Austin and San Angelo.
“It’s hard to believe that just a week ago, 112° would’ve been our all-time record high and now it’s just another day of 110° heat to add to the count,” the National Weather Service office in San Angelo said on Twitter Sunday.
Longley said central Texas has seen some of the worst of the heat. “We’re talking about temperatures up to 15, or even close to 20, degrees above the historical average,” he said.
As of Thursday afternoon, 80 million people were under heat warnings or advisories in Texas as well as in the West and a span of the Southeast stretching from southern Illinois to Arkansas and Louisiana and into Mississippi and Tennessee.
