Fall starts with record heat and dry skies
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Fall in Texas? You mean ‘second summer’?
We kick off the new season with more of the same as hot, dry and sunny conditions persist through the upcoming weekend. The heat peaks today and tomorrow with afternoon highs climbing into the low 100s – flirting with records both days.
High pressure weakens some this weekend keeping us out of the low 100s but still hotter than normal (upper 90s). Sunshine and dry skies will stretch areawide.
We are tracking a welcome fall cold front set to blow through rain-free on Monday morning next week, dropping temperatures to more seasonable highs in the 80s to near 90 degrees, and lows in the 50s to near 60 degrees. Low humidity may stick around much of next week, making the weather feel much more comfortable.
Tropical Update
As category 4 Hurricane Fiona spins northward toward Bermuda and eventually toward Canada, our attention turns toward the next tropical disturbance that is likely to develop further over the next five days.
The low pressure system has yet to form a closed center, so predicting track and intensity more than a week out is impossible. We are, however, seeing consistent indications that atmospheric steering flow could bring the eventual storm named ‘Hermine’ toward the Gulf of Mexico late next week.
The storm will be moving over very high ocean heat content as it treks through the Caribbean Sea, potentially supercharging the storm into a strong hurricane. Below are the latest ‘spaghetti model’ tracks through this weekend.
Beyond that timeframe, a track toward the Central or Eastern Gulf Coast is most likely at this time, but Texas is not out of the woods yet. Stay with the First Warning Weather team as the storm develops and the forecast track/intensity become more confident.
FIRST WARNING WEATHER: Stay up to date with your Central Texas forecast, sign up for our weather newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters
Summer Heat
Meteorological summer ended on Aug. 31, as Camp Mabry recorded its second-hottest summer in recorded history. Austin-Bergstrom recorded its 7th-hottest summer on record.
Preliminary data indicates the entire state of Texas recorded its second-hottest summer on record this year.
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