Record-breaking triple-digit heat scorches Texas, Southeast U.S.
Triple-digit temperatures, more commonly seen in the middle of summer and not in the spring, made an unwelcome visit to Texas and other parts of the southeastern United States this week, placing millions of Americans under extreme heat warnings.
A very strong ridge of high pressure over the south-central U.S. that is centered over the Gulf of Mexico will be responsible for the extreme heat.
"Definitely more like August this week than May," Cameron Self, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's office in the Houston and Galveston area, said Tuesday.
For the next six to 10 days, much of the south central and southeastern parts of the U.S. will be warmer than normal, with the highest temperatures occurring over parts of Texas and Florida, Self said.
Some parts of Texas could easily break daily record highs and some could come close to breaking their monthly record highs.
It's not uncommon to get a day or two with temperatures around 94 or 95 degrees in May in Houston, "But getting long stretches of temperatures well in the 90s, that usually holds off till June," Self said.
Record-breaking heat in North Texas
Temperatures will soar into the 90s on Tuesday, with the high temperature tying the record high of 95 degrees.
That heat will only intensify on Wednesday, with record highs likely to be challenged across much of North Texas. Because of this, CBS News Texas meteorologists have issued a First Alert Weather Day for Wednesday.
By Thursday, the ridge begins to slide east as an upper trough deepens over the western U.S. This will allow a weak cold front to dip into North Texas.
All eyes on the Texas power grid
Lots of eyes will be on the state's power grid this week when temperatures are expected to reach record highs.
"They are projecting a peak of just about 84,000 megawatts and to put that into perspective, the most we've ever used in May, which just happened last year, we were at 77,000," said Doug Lewin, the host of Energy Capital Podcast.
