The dog days of summer 2023 can’t be categorized as Fido. They’re more like Cerberus.
Sure, last week we got a “cold front,” with a pause in the heat headlines — heat advisories and excessive heat warnings — and temperatures only in the low 100s. But it’s still been hot, even by Texas standards.
It’s best if you didn’t get too comfortable last week, because the heat advisories, and possibly excessive heat warnings, are expected to return most days this week, according to the National Weather Service. Most of Central Texas, including Austin, has been placed under an excessive heat warning for Monday.
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Travis, Williamson, Bastrop and Burnet counties were all under a heat advisory Sunday. Travis County’s last heat advisory was on July 23. National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Brady said the number of heat advisories and excessive heat warnings this year has been higher than normal.
The hottest days are expected to be early in the workweek, Monday through Wednesday, with high temperatures expected to blaze in the 103- to 106-degree range. And the heat advisories and excessive heat warnings could continue through mid-August.
This month is on track to be the hottest July on record, Brady said, with an average temperature of 90.7 degrees so far. With an excessive heat warning on the only day left in the month, he said, it looks as if this year will take the top spot.
Last year will drop to the second-highest, Brady said, with an average temperature of 90.6 degrees, while 2011 falls to third place with an average of 88.8 degrees.
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Austin added another record this year when Camp Mabry reached 105 degrees for the 10th day in a row last Monday.
However, this summer is only the third-hottest so far, Brady said. With a slightly cooler beginning to June, the average temperature this summer has been 88.6 degrees. The hottest, and not a shock for anyone who lived through it, was 2011, with an average temperature of 89.5 degrees, and the second-hottest was last year at 88.8 degrees.
Capt. Darren Noak, an Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services medic, applies a chemical ice pack to a man on East Sixth Street on July 12. The temperature that day reached 107 degrees, and Austin was under an excessive heat advisory.
You’ve probably heard the constant calls to stay hydrated, wear light-colored and loose-fitting clothes, limit time outside, take breaks if you’re going to be outside, wear a wide-brimmed hat, put on sunscreen and listen to your body for signs of heat-related illness.
