Triple-digit temperatures scorch Texas as Southwest is under heat warnings

Tubers float the cool Comal River as temperatures in South Texas hit triple-digit numbers, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Summer heat scorched Texas and the Southwest on Wednesday, pushing Phoenix to nearly 90 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and putting millions of people under excessive heat warnings.

Meanwhile, energy demand in Texas hit an unofficial all-time high Tuesday, according to data from the state’s grid operator.

A major heat alert is in place for Texas, reflecting what the weather service called “rare and/or long-duration extreme heat with little to no overnight relief.” An extreme heat alert was issued for eastern New Mexico.

This area of high pressure, sometimes referred to as a heat dome, is a slow moving, upper-level high pressure system of stable air and a deep layer of high temperatures, meteorologist Bryan Jackson said.

“It is usually sunny, the sun is beating down, it is hot and the air is contained there,” Jackson said. “There are dozen or so sites that are setting daily records … mostly over Texas.”

A paddler moves down the Guadalupe River as temperatures in South Texas hit triple-digit numbers, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Record high temperatures were expected in cities such as Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Amarillo. In Phoenix, monsoon rains have provided brief respites since Sunday, although daytime highs continue to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius).

The dome was expected to move into western Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico beginning Saturday, then into the mid-Mississippi Valley, where it was forecast to weaken slightly, Jackson said.

About 14.7 million people are under an excessive heat warning, with heat indexes expected at 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) and above. Another 10 million people were under a heat advisory.

In Fort Worth, Texas, hundreds in August have sought emergency care due to the heat, according to MedStar ambulance. The service responded to 286 heat-related calls during the first 20 days of August, about 14 per day, compared to about 11 per day in August 2023, according to public information officer Desiree Partain.

Austin-Travis County EMS Capt. Christa Stedman said calls about heat-related illness in the area around the Texas state Capitol since April 1 are up by about one per day compared with a year ago, though July was somewhat milder this year.

A tuber floats the cool Comal River as temperatures in South Texas hit triple-digit numbers, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

“The vast majority of what we see is heat exhaustion, which is good because we catch it before it’s heat stroke, but it’s bad because people are not listening to the red flags,” such as heat cramps in the arms, legs or stomach warning that the body is becoming too hot, Stedman said.

Despite the record heat in Texas, residents haven’t been asked to cut back on their energy use like in years prior. This contrasts with the 11 conservation notices issued last year.

One reason is that the agency, which manages Texas’ independent energy grid and deregulated providers, has improved the grid’s capabilities to better control supply and demand, Doug Lewin, an energy consultant and president of Stoic Energy said.

However, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ criteria for when to notify residents to conserve energy has also changed, Lewin said, because they’re ineffective and unpopular.

A tuber floats the cool Comal River as temperatures in South Texas hit triple-digit numbers, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in New Braunfels, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

“I don’t think they’re seeing all that much reduction when they give notices,” Lewin said of ERCOT. In fact public uproar against the conservation warnings has led to the agency sending fewer of them, he continued.

“There are many factors that ERCOT operations take into consideration when determining the need to issue conservation, case by case depending on conditions at the time,” communications manager Trudi Webster said on the matter.

“It’s been a hot summer, but this one does stand out in terms of extremes,” said Jackson, the meteorologist.

Earlier this month, about 100 people were sickened and 10 were hospitalized due to extreme heat at a Colorado air show and at least two people have died due to the heat in California’s Death Valley National Park.

Globally, a string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Nino climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced Thursday.