Texas Is Boiling Hot But Still Manageable In Some Places

A headline recently caught my eye.

This headline from BBC.com was "Will Texas Become Too Hot For Humans?"  I have some very non-scientific answers to this question, but first, let's look at some temps around the state.

El Paso is looks to be over 30 days of 100+ temps and the long-range forecast is showing that it may be another 30 days before the streak ends. They are set to come in at 108 today, while a sampling of Abilene, Houston, and Dallas shows those places coming in at 109. Again, those are just a random sampling; I'm not even certain those are the hottest places in the state.

What the BBC.com author or site tends to forget is just how big and expansive Texas is. For instance, if you were in Galveston today, you'd be enjoying an incredibly nice 88 degrees for the high today.

None of this means we don't have a cause for alarm, because only so many of us can move to the Texas coast, or head to the Panhandle (which is still pretty darn hot). A better question would be "Could parts of Texas become too hot for humans?" or even "Could the majority of Texas become too hot for humans?", but it's going to take quite a bit more heat over a much larger area for all of Texas to become a sun-baked no-mans land.

I will close out with the fact that a large sampling of the cities I checked out today have or are close to an "Excessive Heat Warning" which kicks in at 105 degrees plus. It is very dangerous out there and you should take proper precautions if you are going to be exposed to the heat and/or sun for any length of time.