The Summer of Hot

On By AngeliaIn Days and Nights, Mon Dieu! and all that stuff.

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Today will mark the 39th day of temperatures soaring to over 100-degrees in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Thirty-nine days of melt everything-in-your car searing heat. Thirty-nine days of risking serious burn putting on your seat belt. Thirty-nine days of hovering in front of an AC unit, just to survive. Thirty-nine days of crispy brown grass and dead – way dead – plants.

Thirty-nine days.

And that’s not even the record. The record in 1980 is listed as forty-two 100+ days in a row.

Which we will beat – according to forecasters – on Friday.

It’s not just the record number of 100+ days in a row, we are, also, breaking temp records each day. Record low at night, record high during the day.

Today, as usual, we could break a record high. The record is 106. Temp today? 107

Two things I can assure you.

One, it’s not a dry heat.

Two, there hasn’t been a drop of rain either (oh, there are urban legends of rain, and/or mirages of rain), it’s not real. If you have seen rain, you risked outside exposure one too many times.

There is a small – obviously sick – part of me that looks forward to the new blazing summer record.

Hey, we got this far! Might as well make history.

Unless something crazy happens, we definitely will.

Now more people can understand why we have tinted windows in our cars and swimming pools on every corner.

These are not optional, they are required.

I hope wherever you are…..you are cool. In Texas, we are just HOT.

Happy Summer!

24 thoughts on “The Summer of Hot”

  1. Ah, yes! I remember it well! One great reason for moving out of the South! I was born in Beaumont, Texas, as I told you. I have never missed one single day of the weather in Beaumont since we moved to Connecticult when I was 12. Now I’m living again in the South (North Carolina) – BUT, we are in the mountains – and although we are having much hotter days than usual, we don’t come anywhere near the temps you guys have been suffering in Texas and other places east and west (and even north) of us.

    I will leave you with this parting shot from an old Larson cartoon – which I’m sure you have seen many versions of: Two men standing in hell – with flames all around them, and one says to the other (who is obviously uncomfortable), “But it’s a DRY heat!”

    Ha-ha! I know. . . 😛 Good luck with breaking the record – I’m with you – if you’re on a roll, you might as well roll all the way (even if it’s down hill!)!

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    1. Paula- I am sure you do remember, it’s not easy to forget. Thing is, we get our time in the winter. Our winters are 60 degrees with little chance of snow or freeze. What’s nine months of hell when we have that?!? LOL.

      I think the humidity is much worse where you are. It really is much drier than usual.

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      1. Then your winters there are better than ours were in Beaumont way back when. I have a distinct memory of Christmas always being about 43 degrees and raining. UGH!

        I love winter, and the change of seasons. I was particularly fond of NW Vermont. Up there they say the weather is 9 months of winter and 3 months of hard sledding – but that is an exaggeration. It does get very cold and snowy, but it is generally consistent and not constantly changing at the blink of an eye. They clear the roads very well there, and there was never a time we couldn’t go somewhere when we wanted to go! (Our kids almost never had snow days!)

        What I loved about Vermont summers was that I could wear a sweat shirt year round – just push the sleeves up on the few warm days that occur. I miss it. We get winter here in the Smokies, but the weather is uneven and unpredictable. Snow one day, rain the next, or sleet or warm and then frigid! Hard to know how to dress.

        Hope you get some rain – and not a sudden downpour – which rolls off the top of the hard-baked dirt – and leaves as quickly as it came. You need a nice long good soaking rain.

        Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

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  2. Momma Diddy

    Wow that’s very hot! We have humid weather all year round, which makes us hot and sticky… Have a cool pool dip would be great 🙂 happy summer

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    1. Momma- I haven’t been swimming this year. I’ve had really bad allergies and the heat makes them worse. I just chill inside and it’s working great. I constantly have the AC and fans blowing my way. Only a few more months and we will be in our favorite time of year – the 60’s and 70’s. I can’t imagine hot and sticky 12 MONTHS! Yikes!

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  3. Don’t forget the chance of rolling blackouts b/c of the high need of energy to keep the AC’s going.
    I live in Lewisville TX so I right there with you sista!
    The pools aren’t even helping. Not when the water is 92+ degrees. We have been staying inside and praying there are no AC issues.

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    1. Splendidmess- We have been really lucky not to have rolling blackouts, but the office building at work decided to turn our air down. It got miserable real quick and we were all scrambling for fans. The hallway was cooler than our office. What in the world?!

      I always imagine the pools are cooler, but you are right. They are like bathwater now. I took a shower this morning and put it all the way on cold. It wasn’t even that cold. Reminds me of Aruba. LOL.

      Praying your AC stays cool and you car doesn’t break down. Did you see we might get rain on Saturday? And, and, and, and 98 degrees on Sunday???? Yeah, I’m not holding my breath either, but maybe?

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  5. Someone on FB posted a video of a helecopter flying over a huge river bed. The river was all dry. Not good. A cause for worry. Many of us are praying for Texas.

    Some of us might even do a rain dance. It can’t hurt to hold the thought of Texas getting relief in our heats while we dance, right?

    Hearing about all the extreme weather around makes me that much for grateful for the most amazing weather we have been having. It has been PERFECT. It seems like it is heating up though. Not as hot as you. But not all of us have air conditioning or pools because it is not normally required.

    Nice to see a post from you!

    XOXO

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    1. Terre-Your rain dance must have worked. We have a huge spot on the radar that looks like it’s going to dump some wet stuff in about an hour. 🙂 However, it’s not looking like we will break the record now either. LOL.

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  6. I feel for you there in Texas. We are so blessed with our weather. Around 74 degrees, half sunny, half cloudy. No airco needed Take care there and I hope all will turn cooler soon.

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    1. Thoughtsappear- After 100 degrees, it’s really hard to tell the diffrence between 102, 105, or 107. At that point, it’s just HOT. You should have come in January. It’s much nicer then, like a Minnesota summer day. 🙂

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    1. -Last check, it’s only 99! And we have a big rain cloud coming. You know it’s bad when you get a notification to check the radar and that’s the big news here. We are all holding our breath just watching the radar. LOL,

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  9. Rach @ This Italian Family

    I hear ya! I mean, it hasn’t been that many days in a row (we occasionally get a rain to bring the temps down), but lots of 100+ temps here too. Today was a breezy 80 when I woke up this morning – I nearly thought I needed a coat! 😉

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