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It comes as a surprise to me that the record high in Texas is only 120 F. I would expect it to me somewhat higher, and thought it would be around 125 F or so. Which brings up the question, what prevents record temperatures in Texas (Specifically west Texas) from rising above 120 F. Almost all of Arizona, New Mexico, and Interior California covered by the desert has record highs greater than 120 F. What weather system usually prevents regions in west Texas from attaining the same.
West Texas is semi-arid but still not removed enough from the Gulf to not have tempetature to some extent moderated by moisture content from the east (green shrubs). Arizona is true arid desert (pure sand).
Also west Texas is relatively flat and heat tends to build in valleys (Death Valley, the Colorado river valley(
It comes as a surprise to me that the record high in Texas is only 120 F. I would expect it to me somewhat higher, and thought it would be around 125 F or so..
120 isn't enough??? lol. It's hard to pass 110°F itself unless you're near the equator.. or desert.. l
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adi from the Brunswicks
Which brings up the question, what prevents record temperatures in Texas (Specifically west Texas) from rising above 120 F. Almost all of Arizona, New Mexico, and Interior California covered by the desert has record highs greater than 120 F. What weather system usually prevents regions in west Texas from attaining the same.
I believe comparing the desert to western Texas is your answer. Wind direction (or less wind) might also be.
Keep in mind... when we look at extreme max temps it's not an occasional occurance, it happened once or twice.....what we should do is find that max number you see and look at the weather and flow from that particular day to see how that max temp was achieved.
For instance.. July 28, 1995 Phoenix Arizona Record July Max 121°F. Look where the center of the Ridge was. 850mb temps at 30-35C! Ground conditions (dry) also helped the extreme. 0 precip all month that month.
So even if it's dry that particular day, Texas could have more ground moisture which evaporates and cools the surface more than a desert.
120 isn't enough??? lol. It's hard to pass 110°F itself unless you're near the equator.. or desert.. l
I believe comparing the desert to western Texas is your answer. Wind direction (or less wind) might also be.
Keep in mind... when we look at extreme max temps it's not an occasional occurance, it happened once or twice.....what we should do is find that max number you see and look at the weather and flow from that particular day to see how that max temp was achieved.
For instance.. July 28, 1995 Phoenix Arizona Record July Max 121°F. Look where the center of the Ridge was. 850mb temps at 30-35C! Ground conditions (dry) also helped the extreme. 0 precip all month that month.
So even if it's dry that particular day, Texas could have more ground moisture which evaporates and cools the surface more than a desert.
Desert yes, near the equator not too sure about.
Contrary to perception, most places in the deep tropics have "cool" record highs, usually below 38C / 100F
Interesting trivia fact...coolest state record highs are:
Alaska and Hawaii, both have record high 100F / 38C
Here is a list of hottest record high states...
California 134F
Arizona 128F
Nevada 125F
New Mexico 122F
North Dakota 121F
Kansas 121F
South Dakota 120F
Oklahoma 120F
Arkansas 120F
Texas 120F
Great Plains can get extremely hot, most of those record were set back in the
1930s Dust Bowl years when the Great Plains were in an extended drought.
Texas and New Mexico state record highs were set on same day, June 28, 1994.
122F for New Mexico at Waste Isolation Pilot Projection weather station, located in SE NM,
120F in Texas was at Monahans, less than 100 miles away,
Monahans is known for sand dunes (it's a state park) and is in the Chihuahuan Desert.
A temperature above 120F has probably occurred in Texas but no weather station
to "capture" the data, weather stations are few in the sparsely populated "Big Bend"
area of the Texas section of the Chihauhuan Desert.
Good point. are there deserts near the equator that gets abov 110 regularly?
Near the equator is too wet for desert, you'd need to go at 15 degrees in most places. The equator has... the equatorial rain belt. There are a few exceptions. The Pacific Coast of South America has a low latitude desert, but it's not very hot due to cold ocean currents. Low latitudes aren't very variable.
We get extreme high temps in mid-summer, and a high builds over north-central Texas. The rotation does not pull Gulf moisture in and the high creates 'pressure' heating as the high intensifies. We have that high virtually every year, but the strength of it determines the high temps.
No. right near the equator doesn't reach extremely high temperatrures.
Yeah, when compared against average highs, the tropics have extremely low record highs. This is due to the abundant cloud cover and high humidity. So body of water is not the only temperature moderator. That's why they have low diurnal ranges.
Record highs for equatorial cities are only about 98-100 while the average is about 90.
Here's a summary about (sea-level) tropics: it's always hot, but never very hot. I live 6 degrees south and where I am, about 200 days see above 90 degrees every year but only once every few years does it rise over 95, and when it does it's only 96 or 97.
High temperatures are mainly caused by high pressure and the ITCZ guarantees equatorial areas low pressure.
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