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Dallas may get rain, not a new record for triple-digit degree days [The Dallas Morning News](Dallas Morning News (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 29--Some startling numbers are popping up in the seven-day weather forecast -- like 92 and 91 -- and no, they aren't talking about the early morning lows. Best of all, the cooler seasonable temperatures launching the Labor Day weekend could bring a little rain along for the ride. The downside, though, is that another long-standing weather record, pursued relentlessly through many a sweaty afternoon over the last three months, could be slipping away. That would be the record for most 100-degree days, set at 69 in 1980. An unexpected bit of rain Aug. 11 stopped another record run, for most consecutive triple-digit days, at 40, two short of 1980's all-time record. Sunday's high of 107 at Dallas-Fort Worth International was the 62nd day of temperatures at 100 degrees or more this summer, and 63, 64 and 65 are virtual certainties over the next few afternoons, with expected highs of 102 or more. Those temperatures are high enough that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is urging consumers to conserve electricity, especially between 3 and 7 p.m., and it warned that Monday or Tuesday could set an all-time record for demand. But by Thursday, the heat spell could be history, forecasters say. "I wouldn't say the record's gone," said Nick Hampshire, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. "But it's going to be a little harder to do after this week." Long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service, AccuWeather and the Weather Channel differ a bit on particulars, but all call for high temperatures in the mid-90s by the end of the workweek, and even cooler over the weekend. "We have a promising trend in the forecast," said Ken Clark, a meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College, Pa., "and it might not only lead to less heat in North Texas, but to some precipitation chances, too." Various computer models show a low pressure system pushing north from the Yucatan Peninsula and the Bay of Campeche in the western Gulf of Mexico, displacing the upper-level ridge that has dominated Texas for this very hot, exceptionally dry summer. That opens the Dallas area to more gulf moisture and better chances of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms through the Labor Day weekend, forecasters said. "We might start seeing highs in the 90s as soon as Thursday, and going out to Sunday," said Hampshire, of the weather service. "Overnight lows could fall into the 70s and even the upper 60s as you get away from the metro area." The AccuWeather and Weather Channel forecasts go out a full 10 days, with AccuWeather's including almost-unthinkable high temperatures of 83 on Sept. 6 and 7, with lows in the upper 60s. That's a long way out, Clark said, "but at least there's some hope for less heat and a little more moisture for you." ___ (c)2011 The Dallas Morning News Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |