One of these days, summer is going to arrive.
Or maybe not.
High daily temperatures since the beginning of summer on June 20 have been remarkably mild in the Valley region, tamped down by the frequent thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, an anomaly in its own right.
For example, the average high temperature for Brownsville on July 14 is 93.4 degrees. In Harlingen, the norm is 94.5 degrees, and in McAllen, it’s 96.8 degrees.
But the forecasts for Wednesday’s highs according to AccuWeather meteorologists are 90 in Brownsville, and 89 degrees in Harlingen and McAllen.
Looking at the forecast to the end of July, we can expect more of the same, AccuWeather says.
Highs in Harlingen will be in the mid-90s out to July 23, then drop back down to around 90 by the end of the month. Brownsville will see the same pattern, except it may be a couple of degrees cooler. For McAllen, expect low 90s until July 23, then a brief spike into the upper 90s, then a fall back to around 90.
The average daily high during July for Brownsville is 94 degrees, and 95 in Harlingen and 97 in McAllen.
Not that anybody is complaining (well, the mosquitoes, always the mosquitoes), but what gives?
“You’ve had the Rio Grande Valley running seven-eight degrees cooler than normal,” said Dave Houk, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. “Certainly it’s the wet pattern, and no strong pressure domes really taking charge of our weather, kind of leaving a weakness between the Atlantic High or Bermuda High as we call it.”
Usually in the middle of July a high-pressure dome sets up house over northern Mexico and Far West Texas, bringing us hot and dry days here in the Rio Grande Valley for about a month or so.
But not so far this year.
“Part of the thing is with the rainfall, and that certainly allows vegetation to become green and the ground to be wet,” Houk said. “When you’re evaporating that moisture, it has a tendency to keep air temperatures down.”
“And one thing that I like to point out in these situations is the duration of the heat, because you’re getting the storms and we can get up to 89, 91, 92 degrees,” he added. “But if you get a storm at the right time, the duration of that heat is cut down. So the perception becomes a little bit different as to what the actual temperatures are.”
