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Weather|101 Degrees in May? Even for Texas, This Is Hot.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/weather/texas-heat-record-may.html
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Forecasters expect multiple records to be broken over the next week as an early heat wave settles over the region.
By Amy Graff
Amy Graff is a reporter on The Times’s weather team.
May 14, 2025, 7:03 p.m. ET
Temperatures soared dangerously high across south and central Texas on Wednesday amid what forecasters with the National Weather Service called “one of the hottest May heat waves of all time.” Multiple records are expected to fall as the heat lasts well into next week.
By 5 p.m., Austin had reached 101 degrees, surpassing its same-day record of 97 set in 2022. Earlier forecasts had indicated the city might reach 105 degrees, breaking the 104 degree record for the hottest day in May.
It’s common for Austin or anywhere in Texas to reach the 100s in the summer, but Orlando Bermúdez, a forecaster in the Weather Service’s Austin and San Antonio office, said on Wednesday that an average high there for this time of year is 87 degrees.
“This is something we see in mid-June and definitely in July and August,” Mr. Bermudez said. “But this early in May? This is rare.”
Source: NOAA • Note: Forecast data is as of 8:16 a.m. Eastern on May 14, 2025. Values shown represent the highest forecast heat index level for each day.
The heat wave began on Tuesday with many locations in the central and southern parts of the state breaking 100 degrees. On Wednesday, temperatures in those regions ranged from 100 to 113 — levels that are considered dangerous to anyone who can’t escape to an air-conditioned space and pour a cold glass of water. Most other areas of Texas are forecast to see temperatures in the 90s.
