Temperatures soared dangerously high across south and central Texas on Wednesday amid what forecasters with the National Weather Service called “one of the hottest May heat waves of all time.” Multiple records are expected to fall as the heat lasts well into next week.
By 5 p.m., Austin had reached 101 degrees, surpassing its same-day record of 97 set in 2022. Earlier forecasts had indicated the city might reach 105 degrees, breaking the 104 degree record for the hottest day in May.
It’s common for Austin or anywhere in Texas to reach the 100s in the summer, but Orlando Bermúdez, a forecaster in the Weather Service’s Austin and San Antonio office, said on Wednesday that an average high there for this time of year is 87 degrees.
“This is something we see in mid-June and definitely in July and August,” Mr. Bermudez said. “But this early in May? This is rare.”
The heat wave began on Tuesday with many locations in the central and southern parts of the state breaking 100 degrees. On Wednesday, temperatures in those regions ranged from 100 to 113 — levels that are considered dangerous to anyone who can’t escape to an air-conditioned space and pour a cold glass of water. Most other areas of Texas are forecast to see temperatures in the 90s.
Matthew Brady, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, said the risk for heat-related illness was high, because “many will not be acclimated to this type of heat so early within the year.”
Little relief is expected at night, with overnight lows in many locations likely to dip only into the upper 70s, compared with the lows in the mid-60s that are typical for this time of year.
While tying a single heat wave to climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that heat waves around the world are becoming hotter, more frequent and longer lasting. Last year was Earth’s hottest year in recorded history; the 10 warmest years in the history of accurate record-keeping (which spans the past 175 years) have been the past 10.
Energy use soared on Tuesday and even more so on Wednesday as Texans blasted air-conditioners. Texas’ electrical grid is under increased stress as new manufacturing plants and data centers for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies are opening in the state.
By late Wednesday afternoon, the demand for energy reached over 78,000 megawatts, surpassing the previous May record of 77,000 megawatts from last year, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the organization operating Texas’ grid.
Doug Lewin, an energy consultant who writes a newsletter focused on the state’s electricity grid, said the reliance Texans have on their air-conditioners is “very different” at 100 versus 105 degrees. But he said he expected the grid to be prepared to meet the demand.
The record-breaking heat was caused by a dome of high pressure that started to move into Texas on Tuesday and was directly over the state on Wednesday. The high pressure in the atmosphere acts like a lid, trapping hot air and pushing it toward the Earth’s surface. “When that air touches the ground, that heats the air just above the surface,” Mr. Bermúdez said.
Relief from the scorching weather is not expected until late next week.
Areas around Austin and San Antonio are expected to break daily records for the next several days, a run of hot weather that Mr. Brady called “definitely unusual” for this time of year.
The hot weather comes after Texas saw normal-to-below-normal temperatures at the start of May as well as thunderstorms that brought damaging winds, heavy rain, large hail and tornadoes. The Weather Service called the recent shift to hot weather “one of the more dramatic temperature swings in recent memory.”
Amy Graff is a Times reporter covering weather, wildfires and earthquakes.
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