The suffocating heat is expected to last through the weekend, with places like Corpus Christi forecast to endure temperatures that feel as hot as 119 degrees.
Parts of the South, and especially Texas, remains in the midst of a record-breaking brutal and long-duration heat wave that is showing no signs of letting up.
On Wednesday, six all-time heat records were broken or tied in Texas. These all-time records included a blistering 115 degree reading in Del Rio and 116 degrees in Cotulla.
For places like San Angelo (hitting 114 degrees) and Kingsville (111 degrees) these were all-time record highs that were tied. With the previous records hit just one day before, on Tuesday.
On Thursday, heat alerts remained in effect for 18 million people across much of Texas, parts of New Mexico and a small part of Oklahoma.
Metro areas under these alerts include Tulsa, El Paso, Roswell, Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
Across these areas, highs in the 90s to near 100 combined with high humidity will lead to heat index values above 110 degrees once again. In some cases, the heat index values could be as high as 120 degrees.
For Houston, their maximum heat index through the weekend will feel as hot as 109 degrees. Farther south for areas like Corpus Christi, their maximum heat index through Sunday could reach an astonishing 119 degrees.
In addition to the heat indices being suffocating, they have also been record-setting.
On Tuesday, Dallas tied their hottest heat index on record soaring to 117. The last time this happened was 1980.
San Antonio felt like 116 Tuesday, which set the new record for highest heat index. By the time Tuesday was over, the Alamo City had set another record for most hours with a heat index of 110 degrees or hotter, at more than 15 hours.
While Texas is no stranger to excessive heat during the summer, this is a significant heat event for the state, and especially for the month of June.
According to The Weather Prediction Center’s Alex Lamers, if the current forecasted temperatures come to fruition, this could be the hottest 2-week stretch on record for Del Rio and Laredo. The high heat is forecast to last into July.
Climate change is increasing the odds of Texas seeing longer, more frequent, and intense heat waves.
Climate Central, a non-profit science communication organization, has a tool called the Climate Shift Index (CSI) which estimates the influence of climate change on temperatures.
For Thursday’s forecast highs across southern Texas, the CSI reveals index levels of 3, 4 and 5 on their 0-5 point scale. That equates to the background warming due to climate change making the extreme temperatures three, four and times as likely as they otherwise would be if baseline temperatures weren’t starting warmer.