Houston officially saw its hottest summer on record this year, narrowly beating out the previous all-time summer heat record from 2011. The average temperature in the city from June through August this year was 88 degrees.
"This summer beat 2011 by just barely a tenth of a degree," said Matt Lanza of Space City Weather. "If you factor in September, that lead grows."
Statewide, summer temperatures just barely trailed those in 2011.
"That's probably attributable to the fact that Dallas and some other north Texas cities weren't quite as hot this year as they were in 2011," said Lanza. "The drought that year was worse in some parts of the state that year than it was this year."
This summer proved to be the 11th driest on record in Houston, with just 6.23 inches of rainfall from June through August. The summer of 1980 maintains the record for Houston's driest, with just 3.89 inches of total rain.
"Last summer was hot, but things cooled off considerably in August," said Lanza. "What's unique about this summer is how persistent the heat has been. Since mid-June, it's just been non-stop."
Lanza credits the heat to a combination of warm temperatures in the Gulf, drought and climate change.
This month alone has easily surpassed Houston's record for hottest September, with unusually high temperatures nearly every day, even with increased rainfall.
"The heat will continue into the beginning of next week," said Lanza. "September will end not quite as hot as it started but, relative to normal, pretty close."
However, Lanza said, with a cold front coming in at the end of next week, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
"We're looking at that coming through probably not until Friday," said Lanza. "As long as that happens as forecast, we'll probably knock back our high temperatures into the 80's most days and our low temperatures into the 60's."
Lanza also said he projects the humidity will be noticeably lower as the cold front makes its way into town, especially in the mornings and evenings.
