Texas Has Entered a New Era of Extreme Heat

[bronxiteforever]

Texans have never been afraid of summer temperatures. This year’s record-breaking heat wave should make us think twice.
Texas Monthly
By Peter Holley
June 27, 2023

Texans certainly complain about extreme heat during the hottest stretches of summer, but you’ll rarely, if ever, hear them express fear of the high temperatures that envelop our state each year. For many, the ability to endure heat-related discomfort is worn like a badge of honor—a twisted vestige, perhaps, of frontier grit. “Hot enough for ya?” is our greeting of choice when temperatures spike and shirt collars wilt.

… But ground zero for this year’s misery appears to be Del Rio, the border town 170 miles west of San Antonio, which has set a new record daily high temperature for nine days in a row (today would make it ten), peaking at 115 degrees on June 21. Murphy expects this devastating streak to break a previous record that included eleven straight days of record daily high temperatures in Dallas–Fort Worth and Wichita Falls during a historic heat wave in 1980 that locals are still groaning about…What makes this heat even scarier is the heat index, otherwise known as the “feels like” temperature, which has met or exceeded records in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas–Fort Worth. In Corpus Christi the index reached 125 degrees just over a week ago, a number that exceeded average June temperatures in Saudi Arabia by about 15 degrees. “Another sign of climate change is the ridiculously high dew point temperature, which refers to the amount of moisture or water vapor in the air,” Murphy said. “In Texas, what we’ve been experiencing lately is air that you’d expect to feel in South Florida, the Caribbean, or in a jungle near the equator.”

What makes the humid air even more dangerous is the length of time it has blanketed much of South and Central Texas, where millions of Texans are accustomed to drier air…

Unfortunately, the current heat wave is likely a preview of what Texans can expect in the future, says Jeff Goodell, a climate change expert and the author of a new book exploring the impact of extreme temperatures, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. It’s not just record-breaking heat that we need to worry about, Goodell said, but more weather events that arrive without warning, defying climate models and unleashing the sort of chaos that shocked the Pacific Northwest. “Seeing it get to 121 degrees in British Columbia was the equivalent of seeing snow in the Sahara,” said Goodell, whose book documents in searing detail the trees and wildlife fighting for survival during the heat wave. “And we’re essentially seeing a version of that in Texas right now as the expected weather patterns that a lot of people grew up with are gone. We’re in a new regime with new rules, and no one knows quite what those rules are.”

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/texas-weather-new-era-extreme-heat/

Meanwhile Abbott rescinded water breaks for workers.

[RussBLib]

1. He's got a theatrical sense of timing

Really, really bad theater.

[Trueblue1968]

13. WORKERS NEED TO SUE. Abbott rescinded water breaks for workers.

[CatWoman]

17. plus infinity

[Comfortably_Numb]

2. And our electricity is more expensive per kwh than ever, and our grid is held together with baling

wire and WD-40. But at least our governor hatemonger gave those trans kids and voters of color what for. YEE-HAW motherfuckers! Fuck I hate this state.

[walkingman]

4. It sucks and no one seems to care. The love for Texas has greatly deminished in the last 30 years

simply because we have elected such dumbasses to represent our Government.

[tanyev]

5. And we ain't sharin' that grid with any other states

that could jump in and help us when it gets overloaded! Yee effing haw.

[Backseat Driver]

8. Don't know we share grids but there's AEP Ohio and AEP Texas

and AEP partners in other states that routinely sends Ohio crews to TX or other service partners in other states to help restore power after "emergency" natural events.

[tanyev]

11. Yes, companies send crews to other places to help, but the grid itself is not linked to other grids.

When a massive winter storm came through Texas in February, causing days-long blackouts across the state, many people learned for the first time that Texas has its own electric grid.

In the rest of the continental U.S., power plants connect to a larger grid. There is one grid that serves the Eastern half of the country, and one that powers the Western half. Energy produced in one state can be used in another, and power companies can buy energy from out of state.

But not in Texas. Here, electricity is generated and used only within state lines.

And that's one reason the February blackouts lasted so long. With minimal connection to power plants in other states, Texas didn’t have access to electricity produced in places where snow and ice weren’t shutting things down.

https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2021-07-22/texas-electric-grid-february-blackouts-the-disconnect

When things are going well, they like to brag about how the Texas grid is able to avoid federal regulations because it is not linked up. When things are going poorly, which is happening more often, they’ll blame wind or solar or Democrats or communists or anything else they can dream up.

[inthewind21]

9. Indeed

Born is raised in Texas. left 11 years ago. My electric bills the last year I lived there (2012) on a 1300 SQ ft house were $500-$600 per month in the summer. Damn near my entire mortgage payment! My sisters are still there. I think they will need to take out second mortgages to afford air conditioning! I DO. NOT. MISS. IT!

[Comfortably_Numb]

12. Same here. 1400sq ft, thermostat on 78, conserving all we can, and this month's bill is projected to

be $512. That’s before the hell of July August September.

[NowISeetheLight]

14. Once

I once thought I'd end up living in TX. A couple big hospital systems are headquartered there. Glad it didn't happen.

[musette_sf]

3. SO glad I left when I did

I was there for all the Freeze A Yankee hate back in the 80s - “we’re on our own private grid so F all y’all MFers”. Not working for them so well now…

Adding the tune on edit

[Johnny2X2X]

6. Gloabl Warming effects

Sometimes we forget that the effects of global warming are going to be vast and unpredictable. Like Global Warmings means more severe Winters in Europe. But still, global warming for some regions will be more straight forward, much hotter stretches. Texas is warm already, but it's seemingly going to be more Arizona level of warm in the Summer now.

Arizona? Don't even know, but even without the water shortages we've seen there, the heat could be too much in some spots and people will be forced to leave. You simplycan't live in an area that will see 110 degree temperatures for several weeks at a time. Arizona has areas that might become like Death Valley.

[moondust]

7. Karma?

~
As of 2018, the United States is the world’s largest crude oil producer.
~
Texas is the largest producer of crude oil in the United States.
~
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/oil-production-by-state

[Kaleva]

10. Time to leave TX, FL and other places

When climate change migration begins in ernst, property values in the affected areas will plummet while prices in the climate change refuges will sky rocket

[question everything]

15. He should be sued for endangering the lives of workers before someone dies

[roamer65]

16. The best is yet to come.

Just wait until it starts exceeding wet bulb temps.

[FakeNoose]

18. Water breaks for workers - that's the least of Abbott's problems

Texas voters are finally going to figure out - this summer - that Greg Abbott is the least capable person in Texas history to ever be elected "Governor." This man can't lead himself out of a paper bag.

This year even the Repukes of Texas are going to be DONE with that pathetic loser.

[DET]

19. Why?

Why do Republicans purposefully do things that make people suffer? Texas supposedly has a huge budget surplus. They could probably afford to implement changes to alleviate some of this suffering. Instead, Abbott doubles down on life threatening measures. From what I’ve heard, seven inmates have died since the start of the heat wave in Texas prisons without air conditioning. It almost sounds like the cruelty is the point. Abbott couldn’t get away with this without the implicit cooperation of his constituents.

[orleans]

20. are republicans still singing the song that all of this is normal--

that there are weather anomalies and that is normal and not "climate change" or "global warming" .. ?

they have to be telling themselves it is normal even if it isn't typical -- otherwise, you know, the libs were right and rather than listening to that liberal science and regretting that they never bothered to take any preventative measures to stop this... those republicans are happy as shit to roast in 125 degree temperatures ... you know, even to just "own the libs"

my god!