To many North Texans, it feels like the hottest summer ever. Yet somehow, some way, it isn’t.
Certain daily high-temperature records have been broken here and there this summer, said Monique Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Although it isn't exactly 1980 hot, summer 2023 might seem especially brutal to some people because of high heat indices or the general lack of relief.
“When you start to get these long stretches of heat, we're not really getting a break from it,” she said. “So, not only are we tired of talking about it, we're tired of dealing with it.”
No kidding.
Look: Texas summers have always been toasty, but this one seems to be hitting a little differently for many folks. Just look at the county’s recent rise in heat-related illnesses and the bevy of colorful anecdotal accounts from social media users.
One commenter on a Dallas-related Reddit page pointed out that even though the temperatures aren’t technically the all-time worst, “there is something distinctly miserable about this year” that they can't ignore. Many North Texans on X (formerly known as Twitter), meanwhile, have noted that although last summer was also way too hot, this year feels far more “oppressive.”
NWS Fort Worth tweeted an infographic on Sunday to help squelch the hottest-summer-ever narrative.
“It’s hard to quantify the hottest summer ever, but these metrics give an idea of intensity, longevity, and average,” the graphic reads. “So far 2023 doesn’t quite stack up to 1980 and 2011.”
Is this DFW's hottest summer ever? While it is hard to quantify "the hottest summer ever", here are some climate stats that give us an idea on how 2023 compares to other very hot summers.
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) August 20, 2023
So far 2023 does not quite stack up to 1980 or 2011, but we still have some summer left... pic.twitter.com/cJ8DFEMSWZ
The highest temperature recorded in the region, a whopping 113 degrees, touched down in 1980. This year’s high so far has been 109, occurring three times over the past several days — on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
But the weather service’s graphic contends that we could potentially outpace 1980 in one regard: days at or above 105 degrees.
As of Monday, Dallas-Fort Worth has claimed 10th place in the total number of 100-degree days, Sellers said. And we’re expected to continue climbing the ranks as the week progresses.“Until we either get some rain or even just a nice cold front to push temperatures down a little bit, we're kind of on this path for at least the foreseeable future.” – Monique Sellers, meteorologist
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On top of that, this summer hasn’t seen much in the way of rain, Sellers said.
“We're dealing with fires, you know; it's a compounding issue,” she continued. “And unfortunately, with just not much relief in the forecast, it's kind of hard to be optimistic about it.”
WFAA’s weather whiz Pete Delkus tweeted on Monday that another record-high temp was expected that afternoon, with Fort Worth expected to reach as high as 107 degrees and Dallas and Denton pushing 106.
“40 100° days so far. Today will mark 41 days of triple digit heat and 5th consecutive,” Delkus tweeted. “At this time last year, we were done with 100° days.”
Another record-high temperature is likely this afternoon.
— Pete Delkus (@wfaaweather) August 21, 2023
40 100° days so far. Today will mark 41 days of triple digit heat and 5th consecutive.
At this time last year, we were done with 100° days. #wfaaweather pic.twitter.com/bCGRcc21ed
This week we're witnessing other types of severe weather notices. Aside from excessive heat, weather officials are issuing an air quality alert and red flag warning.
Red flag warnings occur when conditions like high winds and low relative humidity converge to create possible critical and extreme fire weather. Delkus encouraged people via tweet on Monday to “[a]void sparks/open flames” as the fire danger soared.
Earlier this month, six wildfires simultaneously raged across the region, including blazes in Dallas, Johnson, Jack, Erath, Parker and Red River counties.
Meanwhile, the latest air quality alert indicates high levels of ozone in the region. Poor-quality air can be an issue for people with respiratory problems when they spend time outdoors.
Dallas-Fort Worth recently ranked No. 18 on a list of metro areas with the worst ozone pollution levels.
Believe it or not, summer 2023 is “kind of one of those run-of-the-mill” seasons, Sellers said. It’s just lasting a lot longer than most of us would like.
“Until we either get some rain or even just a nice cold front to push temperatures down a little bit,” she added, “we're kind of on this path for at least the foreseeable future.”
