Despite record-breaking high temperatures Monday, forecasters at the National Weather Service say they have little bearing on possible summer heat.
The temperature reached 94 degrees Monday at DFW International Airport, breaking a record for the hottest Feb. 26 on record. The previous record of 90 degrees was set in 1917, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth
Daniel Huckaby, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said these higher temperatures are “unusual, but certainly not unprecedented.” He pointed to the higher temperatures the area saw last February as a recent example.
“Last summer, we were hot and we did have 90s in February, but a lot of the other occurrences really didn’t pan out in terms of being hot during the summer,” he said.
Huckaby said the “transitional seasons” between summer and winter (i.e. spring and fall) limit much of a correlation or connection between the two. Instead, he said he looks to springtime rainfall as a predictor of summer temperatures.
“If we have a lot of spring rainfall, it delays the summer heat and can even reduce the summer temperatures overall when we have green vegetation,” he said.
Huckaby said it would be difficult to predict how much rain will move through D-FW over the next few months, but he did say it seems the inner urban areas of Dallas and Fort Worth may have had their last freezes.
Cooler weather is expected to move in later this week, with highs dropping into the 50s on Wednesday and Thursday. The cold front is projected to be short-lived, with highs going back into the 70s for the weekend.
