05/12/2025
Make sure mom is sitting down before you share this news with her!
A potentially-historic May heat wave will bring record-scorching heat to much of Texas this week. We are talking all-time record highs for May could come tumbling down across a large chunk of the state, especially in that corridor from Del Rio to San Antonio to Austin to Waco where the drought is intense and the air significantly drier. For us in Southeast Texas, the week ahead will be as if we copied a typical week in mid July and pasted it in the middle of May. Local heat index values will top out between 100-105 degrees starting Wednesday.
And here's the part that gets me...most of our computer models are throwing out even hotter numbers than what you see here. Either the models are broken or something in the climate broke because the extreme scenario they are painting is way out of bounds for this early in the calendar year.
Why am I using these kinds of descriptors? Because the data show us that we usually see a spike in heat-related illnesses during the first big heat wave on the front end of summer. Yes, it gets hot like this and sometimes hotter every summer, but our bodies are not yet in "summer mode." If you or your loved ones work outside for long stretches of time, make sure everyone is taking all the typical heat precautions you would take in the middle of summer, and always look before you lock and check the back seat.
Record highs in Houston will be challenged or broken Tuesday through the weekend, so savor what is left is this lovely Mother’s Day weekend weather. Your full forecast here: abc13.com/forecast