Triple-digit days are here

[TexasStooge]

By APRIL KINSER / WFAA.com

Backs and thighs sticking to car seats, beads of sweat on the forehead, unbearable gusts of hot air – yup, 100-degree days are upon us.

The thermometer hit 100 degrees at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for the first time this year at 3:13 p.m. Friday.

B.J. Bonner, 58, of Dallas said recently the afternoon heat wasn’t unbearable.

“I’m not normally out in heat like this, but as long as you have a breeze you can make it,” Bonner said. “Thank God I don’t live somewhere like Arizona where the temperatures are higher.”

The heat index, which takes humidity into account to determine how hot the air feels, has reached into the 105- to 106-degree range over the past week, giving Dallas residents a taste of what’s to come.

Steve Fano, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said more southwesterly winds have caused the area to become drier, which is one reason the temperatures have risen.

Recent heavy rains have somewhat delayed the arrival of 100-degree heat, he said.

“Just having the extra stored moisture certainly will have an effect, but we’re not that far from normal for this time of year,” Fano said. “Normal values are around 95 or 96 degrees.”

In 2003, the first recorded 100-degree day in the Dallas/Fort Worth area was July 18, he said. An average summer has 15 days of triple-digit weather. Last year, temperatures reached 100 degrees or higher 17 times.

In 1999, the Dallas/Fort Worth area experienced 26 consecutive days of temperatures above 100 degrees. The hottest recorded summer in Dallas was in 1980, when temperatures remained at 100 degrees or higher for 42 consecutive days.

The highest recorded temperature for the Dallas/Fort Worth area was 113 degrees in June 1980.

[VanceWxMan]

On Thursday Vance AFB, Enid OK hit 102ºF That is the HOTTEST day thus-far this year.

Aaron

[W13]

So far, it has only reached into the low 90s here. It is a totally different story over in Eastern Washington. During most of the past week temperatures were over the 105F mark in and around the Tri-Cities/Kennewick area. Most of the rest of Eastern Washington were also in the low 100s.