Summer 2023 was 3rd-hottest and 4th-driest in Dallas-Fort Worth history

Warmer even than last year, summer 2023 will go down as one of the most intense in Dallas-Fort Worth’s history.

June, July and August, the meteorological summer, were the third-hottest and fourth-driest summer in North Texas history, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

The average temperature this summer was 88.7 degrees, behind only the memorable years of 2011 (a miserable 90.5 degrees) and 1980 (89.2). The past two years have been back-to-back scorchers; summer 2022 currently holds the fifth spot on the list at 88.2 degrees.

According to the weather service, summer 2023 saw 47 triple-digit days. The number already puts the year in a tie with 2022 for the sixth-most 100-degree days in a year — and there are more in the next week’s forecast.

Additionally, this year saw the second-most days of 105 degree or more in a summer, the weather service said. Dallas-Fort Worth sweltered through 23 such days, behind only 1980, which had 28.

June, July and August also left North Texas parched. The summer was the fourth-driest in Dallas-Fort Worth history, totaling just 1.25 inches of rain, according to weather service data. The last summer more arid occurred in 1952.

An August for the books

August was especially torrid this year. The average temperature was 92.9 degrees, according to the weather service, behind only 2011 by half a degree for the warmest ever by that metric. The normal average temperature for the month is 85.7 degrees.

By another measure, the average of the high temperature each day this August was 104.2 degrees. In 2011, the average high temperature was just one-tenth of a degree more. The normal average high is 95.8 degrees.

Two back-to-back days in August featured temperatures not felt in the area for 12 years. The high of 110 degrees on Aug. 25 and 26 was the highest temperature recorded this year and set a new record for each of those days.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Dallas-Fort Worth came in 1980. On June 26 and 27 that year, the temperature reached 113 degrees.

August was also exceptionally dry. It tied with six other Augusts for the second-driest ever, with only trace amounts of precipitation measured. In 2000, there was no precipitation at all.

Dallas-Fort Worth typically sees about 2.18 inches of rain in August, according to the weather service. Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties were in the severe or extreme drought stage as of Thursday, according to the U.S. drought monitor.

This year’s largely rainless August was a stark change from last year’s, which was the wettest August in local history. According to weather service data, 10.68 inches of rain fell on Dallas-Fort Worth in 2022, most of it on Aug. 21 and 22 — when a record 9.19 inches of rain was measured in 24 hours.

The rain last year led to widespread flooding and damage.

Deadly consequences

The intense heat of the summer left a toll in its wake. At least 10 people have died in Dallas County and 13 in Tarrant County as the result of heat-related illnesses this summer, according to the counties’ medical examiners.

There have been nearly 1,700 cases of heat-related illness reported in Dallas County since May 1, according to the county’s dashboard. About 700 of those were reported in August.

While the meteorological summer has wrapped up, summertime heat won’t leave North Texas just yet. Although lows dipped into the 70s Saturday morning, temperatures are expected to heat up to the triple digits once again beginning on Labor Day.

The latest forecast from KXAS-TV (NBC5):

SUNDAY: Partly cloudy and hot with a 20% chance for scattered late afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High: 99.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny and hot. Low: 78. High: 100.

TUESDAY: Sunny and hot. Low: 79. High: 100.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny and hot. Low: 79. High: 101.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny and hot. Low: 80. High: 102.