The capital city of Texas—Austin—just wrapped up a record-breaking weekend. At Austin’s official climate site, located at Camp Mabry northwest of downtown, the temperature climbed to 101 degrees on Saturday. On Sunday the temperature peaked at 104 degrees, which was not only a record but the hottest day of the summer so far.
Today was the hottest day of 2018 thus far in Austin and San Antonio. Today's high in San Antonio was 102° while Austin topped out at 104°! This set a new record at Austin Camp Mabry, which broke the old record of 102° set back in 1980. 🌡️🔥🌡️🔥
— NWS Austin/San Antonio (@NWSSanAntonio) July 1, 2018
This past weekend was part of a stretch of six days with high temperatures at or exceeding 100 degrees. In fact, since Friday June 22nd, Austin reached 100 degrees nine out of the past ten days.
Looking at the history books, the first 100-degree day normally occurs on July 7th. In 2018, the first 100-degree day occurred on June 2nd, more than one month ahead of schedule. For the year, Austin has reached 100 degrees twelve times as of July 1st. The year with the most 100-degree days in Austin was 2011 with 90 days.
Of course during the summertime in Texas one would expect hot temperatures. The highs in Austin, however, have been above average. Looking at the climatology of Austin’s Camp Mabry weather station, the average high this time of year is around 94 degrees. The average low is around 74 degrees. Only five days have been below average since May 1st.
Looking ahead, Austin may very well have two more 100-degree days before the intense heat breaks. By midweek, highs will fall back to the middle 90s with a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms.
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