Austin’s Hottest Summer on Record

I read somewhere that the highest temperature in a public sauna is 106 degrees Fahrenheit. I can top that. The city of Austin yesterday had a high of 110 degrees. And, our public sauna, or the state of Texas, holds approximately 25,145,561, as compared to 20 in a big sauna. Today, our high is 109.

With the hottest year on record for many cities in Texas swiftly approaching, heat waves rising off the blacktop, and drivers worried that tires will melt on the road, it’s f*#$ing hot! If the sauna analogy doesn’t cut it, let me explain further. It feels like the exhaust from a car’s tail pipe blowing directly on your face, and it’s inescapable.

Austin’s hottest year on record was 1925 with 69 days of 100-plus degrees. Until now. On August 24, 2011 we broke the record with 70 days of over 100-degree heat. Dallas follows closely with a predicted 65 days of 100+ heat before the summer’s end, attempting to break a record from 1980. Although Austin has beat their record, Dallas will likely get rain in the next few days, cooling severe temps.

The infrastructure of the city only makes matters worse: cars, steel, concrete, and buildings add to the heat. Thank goodness for Barton Springs!

Barton Springs

Making matters worse, in conjunction with the heat, is the drought. Texas has faced the driest summer since 1895—16 to 20 inches below normal averages!

At a certain point, Texans wanted to break the record, in order to feel somehow justified to bear the discomfort. Of course, much more than our personal comfort is at stake here. Texas is the 11^th largest exporter of peaches in the US, and this year production will be less than half of usual production.

The only upside (that I can possibly imagine) to the hottest year on record occurring in the same year as a horrible drought is: dry heat is better than sticky, damp, humid heat! Moreover, the fall should be cause for an epic celebration.