Hottest Day Of The Year... So Far

Today (Thursday, August 9th, 2012) will be the hottest day of the year so far.  The high temperature at DFW was 108.

Why did it get so hot?  There was a push of drier air from the NW that moved into the metroplex in the early afternoon.  Dewpoints which are a measure of how much moisture is in the atmosphere dropped from 62 degrees at 2pm to 52 degrees at 5pm.  What this means is the air really dried out quickly.  Dry air can heat up much faster than humid air.  So you don't need as much energy to heat drier air compared to heating humid air.  That is one of the reasons it is so much hotter in Phoenix than say Houston.  The air in Houston is much more humid than Phoenix and tougher to heat up to 100+.

Today's 108 high is the 24th time this year we have made it to 100 degrees at DFW.  Last year by this date we had seen 46.

HERE ARE THE HIGH TEMPERATURES FROM AROUND THE METROPLEX TODAY!  Keller made it to 110 today.