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Temperatures in North Texas are expected to once again rise into the triple-digits after the region saw a temporary respite earlier this week.
According to Jason Dunn, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, a brief cool front lowered the temperatures in the area and brought “some cooler, drier air behind it.” That cool air snapped a 21-day streak of 100-degree weather on Monday.
At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, temperatures peaked at 99 degrees on Monday, 94 on Tuesday and 97 on Wednesday, the weather service said. Temperatures also reached the coolest they’ve been in August this year on Wednesday at 73 degrees.
But as the cool front moves away, Dunn said, a big ridge, or area of high atmospheric pressure, that “was sitting over us for most of the summer is going to kind of scoot back over the southern plains.” Ridges tend to bring warmer and drier weather, and KXAS-TV (NBC 5) forecasts the high for tomorrow at 107 degrees, potentially record levels for the day.
KXAS-TV forecasts highs to stay relatively the same for the next few days; possibly 109 degrees on Friday, 107 on Saturday and 108 on Sunday.
An excessive heat warning will be in effect for North Texas from noon Thursday to 9 p.m. Friday, the weather service said.
Dunn said the rest of the week looks pretty similar: hot and dry.
“It’s really going to be the same as it was before the cold front,” he said.
Grasses as well are very dry, he added, creating greater potential for fires to spark. Wind speeds, however, will be light tomorrow, he said, but the fire danger will pick up with stronger gusts.
On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 191 Texas counties, including Dallas, Denton and Tarrant, in response to widespread wildfire activity throughout the state. The declaration allows counties to access state resources when fighting wildfires.
The Texas A&M Forest Service has established a Level 4 preparedness level, the second-highest tier. From June to Wednesday, the agency has responded to around 430 fires that have burned a total of about 50,000 acres combined.
The high temperatures this week prompted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator, to issue a weather watch until Friday. The agency told The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday that the grid is “currently operating under normal conditions and it expects adequate supply to meet demand.”
Unofficial records from the agency show demand peaked at 85,435 megawatts on Aug. 10. Current forecasts show the record could be broken on Saturday with demand potentially reaching a little over 86,000 megawatts.
Latest forecast from KXAS-TV (NBC 5)
THURSDAY: Sunny and very hot. High: 107. Wind: S 10 mph.
FRIDAY: Sunny and very hot. Low: 82. High: 109. Wind: S 10-15 mph.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny and very hot. Low: 82. High: 107. Wind: S 10-15 mph.
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny and very hot. Low: 82. High: 108. Wind: S 10-15 mph.
MONDAY: Partly sunny and hot. Low: 82. High: 105. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.
TUESDAY: Partly sunny and hot. Low: 81. High: 102. Wind: SE 10-15 mph.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy and hot. Low: 81. High: 101. Wind: E 10-15 mph.