The Record for the Hottest Temperature in Texas Has Been Set Twice

Summer is a favorite time for many, sunny afternoons beside the pool or at a water park, cookouts in the evening under a full moon or just relaxing on the porch with a nice breeze blowing through. The other part of summer, however, is the brutal heat we can experience in any part of Texas, including East Texas. While it's not unusual to see temperatures go above 100 degrees for a couple of hours, it is unusual to experience temperatures above 110 degrees or higher. The highest recorded temperature in Texas has actually occurred twice and it was way above 110 degrees.

Heat Wave of 2011

Many of us remember the heat wave of 2011. It was brutal in East Texas. It didn't matter what you had your air conditioner set at, it never got cool enough to be comfortable inside your home. There were several days where the low never got out of the 80's. Tyler, Texas had two days in a row of temperatures at 110 degrees and Longview had one. Tyler had a 46 day streak of of temperatures above 100 degrees while Longview had two 19 day streaks.

Temperature Graphs from weather.gov for Tyler and Longview in the Summer of 2011

As Hot as That Summer was, it's Been Hotter in Texas

The hottest recorded temperature in Texas has happened twice. On August 12, 1936, it got up to 120 degrees in Seymour, Texas, roughly 50 miles southwest of Wichita Falls. Then on June 28, 1994, the thermometer read 120 degrees in Monahans, Texas, about 35 miles southwest of Odessa.

We're already seeing some high temperatures this month. Summer officially begins Thursday, June 20. That means we're in the pre-heating stage of summer. Better make sure those home and car air conditioning units are serviced and ready to go.

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