HARLINGEN — If you think every time you go outside the temperature feels hotter than the day before — you’re right.
The National Weather Service in Brownsville predicts this weekend will be the hottest of the year based on 30 years of statistics, and it anticipates the searing heat will continue into next week.
Forecasters say a heat dome is sitting over the Rio Grande Valley and the rest of Texas and will remain through the weekend. They say a low pressure system will move in and “squeeze” the heat dome, increasing temperatures.
Temperatures through the weekend in the Upper Valley west of U.S. 281/I69 are predicted to be 104 to 108 degrees. McAllen could reach 107 degrees. The “feel like” temperatures will range from 111 to 115 across most of the Valley.
Barry Goldsmith, warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS, says the agency seldom issues heat advisories for the region because the Valley is always a hot place during July and August.
“However, based on a historical study of how the combination of heat and humidity produce the ‘feels like’ temperatures, we discovered that values of 111 and higher fit into the rare category; fewer than 5 percent of summer days, on average, reached this threshold during the late 1990s through mid 2000s. The current atmospheric setup has been conducive not only to the heat, but high humidity.”
Goldsmith says the weekend will also see an increase in southern winds, which produce a “blast furnace” effect and cause concern for wildfires. The lack of any substantial rain in the Valley has made brush and grasslands extremely dry. The NWS says a recent wildfire in northeast Starr County scorched 600 acres.
Forecast high temperatures
Today – 106
Thursday – 107
Friday – 108
Saturday – 108
Sunday – 105
Source: National Weather Service Brownsville
