Texas set to endure another week of searing heat wave

AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — A weekslong heat wave continued Tuesday across Texas, with the National Weather Service issuing weather warnings as heat indices rose to between 112 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit.

Much of the southwest and southeast corners of the state are under a heat advisory lasting until 9:00 p.m. Tuesday. In addition, a large chunk of the state — from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to West Texas — is under an excessive heat warning.

Much of the state has sweltered in triple-digit highs, from 103 degrees in Austin and San Antonio to 109 degrees in El Paso. The intense heat has prompted warnings from officials across the Lone Star State, including in Austin, where officials are handing out water to people without homes and asking others to conserve power.

Andrew Quigley, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio, said in an interview that Texas has been experiencing above-average highs for the past couple of weeks due to a mass of high-pressure air parked over the state. 

“One of the reasons why we have seen a string of these high temperatures is because the feature has not moved all that much over the last couple of weeks,” Quigley said. “We are in store for another hot day [Tuesday] and we will probably see some headlines through the remainder of the work week."

In good news for Texas, Quigley said the high pressure will begin shifting east toward the Mississippi Valley. Texans may find some relief as the weekend approaches, with temperatures predicted to be "in the mid to upper 90s across the majority of south-central Texas by next Monday."

The extreme temperatures seen in Texas over the past couple weeks have proven to be historic. On June 21, the border city of Del Rio set an all-time record of 113 degrees Fahrenheit, beating the previous record of 112 set the same month in 1988. In Corpus Christi, the heat index reached a sweltering 125 degrees — similar to temperatures found in Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest places on the planet.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Texas was 120 degrees. Seymour, a small town in North Texas, set the record in 1936. Monahans, a town in West Texas, matched it in 1994.

The stifling heat has cost lives. This past Friday,a man and his stepson perished after going on a hike in Big Bend National Park in 119-degree heat.

In a news release, a park spokesman said that a team of park rangers and U.S. Border Patrol Agents found the 14-year-old boy dead along the trial and the man, who left the boy with his bother to go get help, in his crashed vehicle. Park officials warned of no shade or water along the trail where their bodies were found.

Extreme heat also raises concerns in Texas prisons, where there is no air conditioning and heat-related illnesses are common in the summertime.

Despite calls from former inmates and activists, lawmakers in Texas have not enacted legislation to lower the temperature in state prison facilities. Texas has one of the largest prison populations in the state, with around 122,000 inmates at last count.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 9,000 Americans are hospitalized and an average of 720 die each year from heat-related illnesses. 

Keeping the body cool and hydrated is essential to preventing heat-related illnesses. The CDC recommends staying indoors or taking breaks in a cool area before being active outside. Regardless of activity level, drinking water is a must during the heat of summer.

While the above-normal temperatures have left many Texans wary about the remainder of the summer, Quigley with the National Weather Service said that it can be hard to predict what may be in store.

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