This week Austinites woke up to something they haven't seen in a long time: a National Weather Service forecast without any highs predicted in the hundreds. Things are still expected to be hotter than average, but this could mark an end to the extreme heat we’ve suffered through since June.
“I think that it’s very possible,” Keith White, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said.
The reason? Austin is more likely to get cold fronts from the north starting around this time of year. The days are also simply getting shorter, allowing less time for the sun to heat us up.
”For today, the average high at Austin Camp Mabry is 93,” White said. “By the time we get to the end of the month, it’s already down to 88 degrees and continuing to fall through the rest of the autumn and into the winter.”
If we avoid more triple-digit days, the grand total for 2023 will be 78. That’s the second most ever recorded. (2011 holds the record with 90.)
Of course, there’s no guarantee extreme heat won’t be back this year, especially with climate change bringing ever more frequent and extended heat waves.
But, White said, “with each passing day it becomes less and less likely.”
If you’re not ready to declare victory over triple digits yet, you might look forward to Oct. 2. There’s never been a triple-digit day recorded in Austin after that date.
