AUSTIN, Texas — The unrelenting summer sun is all too familiar this time of year in Texas, and with the recent early summer heat, it’s been a case of too much, too soon.
The kind of weather we usually experience in August has happened in May and so far in June, with record-breaking temperatures across the entire state.
“May of 2022 was the second hottest May on record for Texas while June is starting off very hot,“ said Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, state climatologist and a professor at Texas A&M University. “The first half of it is comparable to some of the hottest Junes we've experienced so summer so far. Unfortunately, June is climatologically one of the wettest months of the year as is May. But it looks like right now, May came up well short and June is looking even drier than that.”
Dr. Nielsen-Gammon says that long-range climate models are showing that its going to get hotter in the weeks – and years – to come.
“We've seen a number of 100-degree days double in all regions of the state, basically over the past 40 or 45 years,” he said. “And that trend is expected to continue. The reason we see such a big uptick in 100-degree days is because primarily because temperatures overall are increasing.”
While some Texans may look hopefully to the Gulf of Mexico hurricane season for drought relief, Dr. Nielsen-Gammon said rains from tropical storms that reach the Texas coast only ease the drought for some parts of the state, but not for others.
Meantime, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data this week, early June drought conditions haven't been this bad in Texas since the drought of 2013, with Austin, San Antonio and the Hill Country experiencing exceptional drought conditions with no change in sight.
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