Extreme summer temperatures will continue to build, peaking from Thursday through Sunday as a large heat dome remains parked over the Desert Southwest and extends into Texas.
With temperatures this high, the National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory from Thursday through Sunday for the northern Hill Country, Interstate 35 corridor and coastal plains, which include Austin.
Thursday will start with morning cloud cover and temperatures around 80 degrees, along with increasing humidity that will make it feel a bit muggier. Winds will be calm from the south.
By the afternoon, temperatures will soar past the century mark, marking the 23rd day this year with temperatures reaching at least 100 degrees. Feels-like temperatures will climb to between 103 and 106 degrees.
On Friday, a weak cold front will move into the Ark-La-Tex region, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms to East Texas. However, the front is not expected to make it as far south as Central Texas.
Instead, the front could make things even hotter here thanks to compressional heating. This occurs when air sinks and is compressed by increasing atmospheric pressure, or high pressure. As the air is compressed, its temperature rises, helping warm the air mass even more. In Central Texas, that sinking, warming air could contribute to even hotter temperatures on Friday and through the weekend.
Morning temperatures will begin in the low 80s and then heat up to around 103 to 106 degrees, with heat indices soaring to 110 or hotter Friday through Sunday.
Most of August has been marked by triple-digit heat, with 17 days, including Wednesday, reaching at least 100 degrees.
Austin had one long 12-day stretch from Aug. 2 through Aug. 13. That streak was broken by just one degree when temperatures peaked at 99 degrees Friday, Aug. 14. Since then, we’ve begun another stretch of consecutive 100-degree days, and we are currently up to five.
With temperatures expected to remain in the triple digits through the weekend, into next week and potentially through the end of August, we could see this latest streak reach 17 consecutive days before a possible break in early September.
Longest consecutive stretches at or above 100 degrees in Austin:
1. 45 days: July 8-Aug. 21, 2023
2. 27 days: July 17-Aug. 12, 2011
3. 21 days: July 16-Aug. 5, 2022
4. 21 days: July 12-Aug. 1, 2021
5. 20 days: Aug. 2-Aug. 21, 2020