According to the National Weather Service, Saturday saw another day of high temperatures in the Dallas/Fort Worth area before a mild cool wave hit as heat warnings stretched from the Gulf Coast to the southwest and eastern United States.
According to the weather agency, the thermometer in the area reached 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit), beating the previous record for that date in 2011 by 2.2 degrees Celsius (four degrees Fahrenheit).
Meteorologist Ted Ryan predicted that the heat dome that has hung over the state since June will soon break away from the region.
Excessive heat warnings were in place for much of east Texas, most of Louisiana and Mississippi, and parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, and the Northwest Corridor of Florida.
The Electric Safety Council of Texas (ERCOT for its English acronym) has called on the state’s 30 million residents five times this summer to voluntarily reduce their electricity consumption due to the high energy demands caused by the high temperatures.
According to its website, ERCOT has seen record-breaking electricity consumption 10 times since June.
The historic heat wave has also engulfed parts of Mississippi and Louisiana.
Highs of 48.3 and 48.9 degrees Celsius (119 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit) are expected for the entire area.
In Mississippi, the city of Jackson remained on an excessive heat warning as temperatures were expected to soar to a high of 103 Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) on Saturday.
City officials said the high temperatures are taking a toll on the city’s water system, as an additional 15.1 million liters (4 million gallons) of water is pumped through the system each day.
Water company JXN Water has urged residents to reduce their fluid consumption to conserve it.
Slightly cooler temperatures are expected for the Dallas area, which had experienced record heat for nine days prior to Saturday.
