Public Radio reporters across the state ventured out in their communities to see how people are coping with this brutal summer.
At 8 p.m. on Monday, even though the sun was going down, it was still 97 degrees in the shade in Brackenridge Park in San Antonio. That was down from the day’s high of 103.
Cameron Williams was cooling down from his evening run. “I try to get out here a couple times a week but with the heat it’s tough,” Williams said.
Williams is in the army, stationed at nearby Fort Sam Houston. He likes to exercise here to keep up with military fitness standards. This is one of his favorite places to run because of the shade and scenery, ‘Usually, I’ve gotta wake up super early or come out here, usually probably later than now it’s still kind of hot out. It's kind of annoying because normally I’d like to work out after work.”
But he still prefers it to running on the treadmill at the gym, “I’m looking forward to the fall, I’d really like it to cool off.”
But up in Abilene, one family says they’re just fine with the Texas summers.
It was a breezy 85 degrees when Sara and James Stephan paused to talk about the heatwave during a morning walk with their five kids. “I kind of describe it like opening an oven. Like that heat that blasts you in the face? But then once you’re out in it it’s fine. We honestly don’t mind the heat,” Sara laughs.
The family moved to Abilene from Canada more than a year ago when Sara accepted a nursing job at the local hospital. James says the minus 40-degree days they experienced in Canada were worse. So far, their neighbors at the RV park where they’re living are surprised by how much their kids play outside, “If we were to keep them inside all the time then bring them out in the heat, then they would react to it a lot more severely. So we try to make sure they have consistent time outside in the sun, and yet making sure that they’re hydrated and coming in when they need to.”
Despite highs reaching the 100s in the afternoons, Sara’s happy with the relatively low humidity, “At least here in Abilene it’s a dry heat so you don’t feel wet all the time. We have friends who also moved from Canada, I guess a year and a half ago. And they were in Houston probably for about four months in the summer. And they said they just never felt dry.”
But head to Central Texas, and you’ll feel much more humidity,
The heat has been record-breaking in Austin. But what was also remarkable, especially earlier this summer, was that humidity. Fortunately, the city of Austin overcame perennial staffing challenges to open every public swimming pool this summer. At Barton Springs pool, more than 140,000 people visited this past June. That's over 10,000 more people than visited the June of last year. And that's especially interesting because June last year was also historically hot. It's part of a trend of hotter summers that we've had thanks to climate change and the urban heat island effect.
“I was just telling my friend that I didn't even really notice the difference between like last summer and this summer. I don't know. It's hot,” Laura Sartucci, she said she's been here three times this summer and plans to be back many times more. “You just love the cool water. Like the cool water is definitely what chills you like cools you off.”
Public health officials are telling people to do what they can to stay cool and hydrated. In Austin, they say heat related illnesses doubled last month from the previous year, and EMS calls are also way up. So I am now going to jump in and do what I can to cool myself off.
In Lubbock, the weather's been a little milder.
It’s almost 10 a.m. and Lubbock’s Mackenzie Park is bustling. Families fish along the river, taking advantage of the 74-degree morning. The Dustbreakers cycle group rides into the parking lot. They’re out here every Sunday.
“It was cool, it said 68 when I walked outside,” says member Drake Haney’s about to start a second lap around the park. “Cloudy, nice breeze. This is a beautiful day.
Though temperatures later crept up to 97. Still, Haney says he rides his bike as often as he can. “This summer has been particularly warm,” he says. “100+ days, I mean, I don’t even know how many days now. It’s unrelenting.”
It does feel more humid in Lubbock this summer, thanks to much-needed rain and sporadic thunderstorms. We’re not used to it, though. When weather comes up, folks around here more often say “At least it’s a dry heat.” But that’s not fooling Haney, “An oven’s a dry heat, too.”
Highs are currently in the triple digits in the Panhandle and South Plains, but it’ll cool off a bit before the weekend.