If you think it’s warm now, wait until Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures will be in the 90s and near or above 100 degrees.
Although it’s still winter in the Rio Grande Valley and spring won’t begin until March 20, the weather system is transforming earlier than usual, which will bring the hot conditions, said Geoff Bogorad, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley.
“March is sometimes our warmest month because of the change of the season…the approach of the changing of the seasons,” Bogorad said.
The Valley tends to get some storm systems that take a more southern track, which causes winds to take a more southwesterly direction and in turn causes the air to become compressed.
“It’s a local phenomena that we get here in the springtime in March and April. …It just heats up the air. It’s going to be a dry air, and there’s going to be a cold front coming Thursday night, so all those things compress the air and when you compress air it heats up,” Bogorad said. “It’s rare, but it’s not unusual.”
In fact on March 27, 1984, Brownsville reached a high temperature of 106 degrees.
The high temperatures Wednesday will range between 99 to 103 degrees in the upper Valley, 95 to 99 degrees in the mid-Valley, and 90 to 95 degrees in the lower Valley.
“The weather setup is looking more favorable for a heat spike on Thursday,” Bogorad said.
On Thursday, it will be much hotter, with the high temperatures between 104 to 107 degrees in the upper Valley, 102 to 105 degrees in the mid-Valley, and 96 to 103 degrees in the lower Valley.
Bogorad said the Valley experienced similar temperatures and records set on March 2 in the 1990s, with Brownsville at 96 degrees in 1991, Harlingen at 97 degrees in 1999, and McAllen at 99 degrees also in 1999.
And because of the hot conditions, the NWS might have to issue a fire weather watch and red flag warning later this week, Bogorad said.
The Valley is currently suffering from moderate to severe drought conditions because of the lack of rain.
A cool down will come late Thursday night with the passage of a cold front, with Friday morning temperatures in the upper 50s and the daytime temperatures in the 70s.
“You will see about a 40 to 45 degree drop in temperatures,” Bogorad said. “It’s going to be comfortable, not cold but compared to Thursday it is going to be comfortable.”
