Brace yourselves, Houston. A heat dome responsible for 90 straight days of 100ºF+ temperatures in Phoenix has moved into Texas, according to the National Weather Service. As a result, Texas is likely to experience record-breaking heat by the weekend. While a major heat alert is in effect for greater Texas, ERCOT has not issued any conservation notices.
What is a heat dome?
A heat dome is a slow-moving high-pressure weather system in the high regions of the atmosphere that which not only creates heat, but entraps it like the lid of a pot. As a result, affected regions typically experience dangerously high temperatures.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a heat dome can last anywhere from a few days to weeks. In Phoenix, where the heat dome led to 90 consecutive days of triple-digit-temperatures, the heat dome was broken up in large part due to monsoon rains.
How will the Texas heat dome affect Houston?
An excessive heat warning is presently in effect in Childress, Cottle, Dickens, Hall, Kent, King, Motley, and Stonewall counties in with record high-temperatures are predicted in Texas cities Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio. Excessive heat warnings are dangerously hot conditions typified by temperatures up to 112º.
At the present moment, however, Houston isn’t under the lid of the heat dome – at least not included in the excessive heat warning of the other Texas counties. That said, a heat advisory is in effect until 10 pm Thursday, with a max heat index up to 112ºF.
The weekend forecast, according to the National Weather Service, predicts highs of 99ºF Thursday, 96ªF Friday, 95ªF Saturday, and 94ªF on Sunday with mostly cloudy conditions. The forecast system predicts scattered thunderstorms come Monday, that could last throughout the week and keep temperatures down to the low-mid 90s.