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108! It Was The Hottest July 19th Ever In North Texas. And The Weekend Could Be Worse

Thursday was a record-breaking kind of hot in North Texas: Dallas reached 108, beating the 93-year-old record for the date and making it the hottest day so far of 2018. Wichita Falls hit a searing 111.

Temperatures are expected to push up to 109 in Dallas and 110 in Fort Worth on Saturday.
As if that weren't bad enough, the heat index – what the temperature actually feels like when humidity is taken into account — is expected to surge as high as 113.

These novel temperatures are fun to post about on social media, but the National Weather Service Fort Worth warns they're not to be taken lightly. The agency issued an excessive heat warning through Sunday, which means spending time outdoors could be dangerous and cause heat-related illnesses. This is the kind of Texas heatwave making news in other parts of the country.

Speaking of social media, the National Weather Service has spent a lot of Twitter energy driving home this awareness message: Do not leave a child or a pet in a car. Not with the window cracked, not for just a minute — never. Double-, then triple-check your memory to ensure you haven't gotten distracted and accidentally left a child or animal inside.

Remember to check on neighbors, friends and family during a heat wave like the one blanketing North Texas.

If you have to move about in this heat — life must go on, right? — wear light-colored clothing, try to stay inside between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. as much as possible, drink plenty of fluids and take more breaks than usual.

The weather service also warns that heat like this is even more dangerous when it lasts more than a day. Multi-day heat warms the nights in between to higher temperatures than normal, not giving our bodies time to cool down.

How are other parts of Texas faring? Houston only reached the practically chilly upper 90s on Thursday.

As WFAA meteorologist Pete Delkus said on Twitter, "Must be nice Houston. Must be nice."

Credit National Weather Service Fort Worth

  

Christy Robinson works with the KERA's Digital team managing the station's websites and platforms, focusing on content.