Author: Ken Miller and Nadia Larson
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Summer heat scorched Texas and the Southwest on Wednesday, bringing Phoenix to nearly 90 straight days of triple-digit temperatures and putting millions under heat warnings.
Meanwhile, energy demand in Texas hit an unofficial record high on Tuesday, according to data from the state's grid operator.
A major heat warning has been issued for Texas, reflecting what the weather service calls “rare and/or prolonged extreme heat with little overnight relief.” An extreme heat warning has been issued for eastern New Mexico.
This high-pressure area, sometimes called a heat dome, is a slow-moving, upper-level high-pressure system made up of stable air and deep temperatures, meteorologist Brian Jackson said.
“It's usually bright, sunny, hot weather and closed air,” Jackson said. “About a dozen locations are setting daily records … mostly in Texas.”
Cities such as Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Amarillo are expected to see record high temperatures. In Phoenix, monsoon rains brought a brief respite since Sunday, although daytime highs continued to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius).
Starting Saturday, the dome is expected to move into western Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico and then into the central Mississippi Valley, where it is expected to weaken slightly, Jackson said.
About 14.7 million people are under heat warnings, with heat indexes expected to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) and above. Another 10 million people are under heat warnings.
In Fort Worth, Texas, hundreds of people sought emergency care due to hot weather in August, according to MedStar Ambulance. The service responded to 286 heat-related calls in the first 20 days of August, about 14 a day, compared with about 11 a day in August 2023, according to Public Information Officer Desiree Partain.
Christa Stedman, an emergency response captain with the Austin-Travis County EMS, said that since April 1, calls about heat illness in the area around the Texas Capitol have increased by about about a day compared to a year ago. Together, however, the situation eased in July this year.
“The vast majority of what we see is heat exhaustion, which is good because we catch it before heat stroke occurs, but it's bad because people don't listen to the danger signs,” such as those in the arms, legs or stomach. Heat cramps warn Steadman that the body is getting too hot.
Despite record heat in Texas, residents are not being asked to reduce energy use as they were a few years ago. This is in sharp contrast to the 11 conservation notices issued last year. Doug Lewin, an energy consultant and president of Stoic Energy, said one reason is that the agency that manages Texas' independent energy grid and deregulated suppliers has improved the grid's ability to better control supply and demand.
However, Lewin said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' standards for when to notify residents about energy savings also changed because they were ineffective and unpopular.
“I don't think they saw that much of a reduction when they issued the notice,” Lewin said of ERCOT. In fact, public outcry over conservation warnings led the agency to send fewer warnings, he continued.
“ERCOT operations consider many factors when determining whether protection is needed, depending on the situation,” communications manager Trudi Webster said on the matter.
“It's been a hot summer, but this summer really stands out in terms of extremes,” meteorologist Jackson said.
Earlier this month, scorching weather at a Colorado air show sickened about 100 people and hospitalized 10 people, and at least two people died in California's Death Valley National Park.
The European climate agency Copernicus announced on Thursday that 13 consecutive months of record average high temperatures across the world ended in July this year as the natural El Niño weather pattern recedes.
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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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