San Antonians are bracing for sticker shock on their June electric and water bills as air conditioners hum to cool homes and sprinklers whirl to prevent lawns from dying.
Record and near record heat continues across South Texas and the Hill Country as a high-pressure system sits over northern Mexico.
The dome over the region continues to trap heat, humidity, and little breeze inside.
Just this past weekend, San Antonio tied record highs of 102 on Friday and Saturday, and while the temperature hit 102 again on Sunday, it fell shy of the record for the date by just one degree. The week ahead looks just as scorching with highs of 103 each day through Thursday and even higher heat indices.
Del Rio has broken record highs for nine days in a row and a tenth may fall on Tuesday.
Accuweather's long term forecastreports the high on the Fourth of July may not break 100, which still sounds terrible but is an improvement over several days of 100-degree or hotter weather in San Antonio.
The National Weather Servicefor the entire latter half of June has issued heat and excessive heat advisories to prevent heat-related illnesses and death.
There is no relief until this weekend, when the weather pattern may break down and allow daytime heating to generate a few showers, mostly likely on Sunday.
CPS Energy said it's trying to assist customers pay their energy bills.
"The total number of customers on installment plans is 74,000 which is more than 50% of past-due receivables. As a reminder, as is consistent with CPS Energy terms and conditions, CPS Energy will not disconnect throughout and two days after a weather advisory, such as the heat advisories the San Antonio area has been experiencing," read a statement from CPS Energy on Monday.
San Antonio and New Braunfels are under Stage 2 water restrictions, which allow residents to water lawns from automatic sprinklers just once a week based on street address. The Edwards Aquifer Authority reported it would likely declare Stage 3 restrictions for permitted water pumpers from the aquifer — such as cities, farms, and ranches — as early as Monday.
The San Antonio Water System, however, has been able to use other water sources to replace any water pumping reductions required by the authority, allowing its customers to continue to follow Stage 2 restrictions.
No burn ban is expected in Bexar County for the Fourth of July, primarily because of the rainy June that reduced drought conditions across most of the county.
Roadside fireworks booths also dot the edges of San Antonio where the county begins and where fireworks are legal to use.
