Rising temperatures could bring North Texas some of its hottest days of the year so far before a cold front moves through the region later in the week.
Temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to rise into the mid-80s to low-90s, with heat index values in the mid-90s to near 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Warmer days also bring more humidity.
The weather service takes temperature and relative humidity into account to calculate the heat index to determine what the temperature will feel like.
The highest heat indices are expected to occur in eastern North Texas and central Texas over the next few days.
ERCOT, which operates Texas' power grid, put it on “weather watch” on Wednesday due to “unseasonably high temperatures, high levels of maintenance outages expected during the spring shoulder months, and the potential for reserves to decline.” The department said it had announced.
The weather service does not suggest widespread power outages in the state or that ERCOT will issue calls for energy conservation. This just goes to show that demand on Texas' electricity infrastructure is higher than expected.
Similar to the past few weeks, the unstable pattern will continue through the middle of the week, with a chance of storms Wednesday and Thursday. The Bureau of Meteorology warned that strong to severe thunderstorms could bring heavy rain to some areas, causing damage from large hail and gusty winds.
Flash flooding is possible in some areas saturated by recent rainfall.
A cold front will approach Dallas-Fort Worth late Thursday, according to forecasts from KXAS-TV (NBC5).
The drop in temperatures will continue into the weekend, with highs settling into the mid to upper 70s.
Forecast for Dallas from KXAS-TV (NBC5):
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, windy, warm and humid with a 20% chance of showers or storms. Low pressure: 72. High pressure: 90. Wind: SSW 10-20 mph.
Thursday: Cloudy and not too warm, with a 30% chance of showers and storms. Minimum temperature: 66. Maximum temperature: 81. Wind speed: Northeast 10-15 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny and somewhat cool. Minimum: 61. Highest: 77. Wind: N 10-15 mph.
Saturday: It's mostly sunny and calm. Minimum temperature: 58. Maximum temperature: 78. Wind speed: Northeast 5 to 10 miles per hour.
Sunday: Calm and cloudy. Low pressure: 60. High pressure: 79. Wind: East-southeast 10 to 15 miles per hour.
