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With fall just a week away, dangerous heat continues for much of the I-35 corridor, including San Antonio and the coastal plains to the east of the city, according to the National Weather Service.
The federal agency posted a heat advisory for those areas for Monday from noon to 7 p.m. and report additional heat advisories, during the same hours, may follow for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Highs continue to push 100 all week, and heat indices due to high humidity make it feel even hotter. The heat index on Monday was expected to go as high as 111 in some spots.
The advisories are a reminder for area residents to take precautions to prevent heat-related illnesses, like heat stroke, which is an emergency situation. Forecasters said residents must stay hydrated and wear light colored clothing and reduce extreme exertion outdoors. Anyone who must work outdoors is advised to stay very well-hydrated and to take frequent breaks in air conditioning or the shade.
Even indoors, heat-related illnesses are possible if air conditioning is not available. Forecasters stressed a simple fan to cool indoor spaces is not enough this week, so check on friends and neighbors, especially seniors, and others who may not have air conditioning or try to get by without.
Symptoms of classic heat stroke include a body temperature of 103 or more, and skin that is red, hot, and dry, with a lack of perspiration, and with confusion and fainting, according to guidance from the City of San Antonio. Rapid breathing and rapid heart rates are also symptoms. Victims should be moved immediately to a cool location and be either immersed in cool water or be cooled with wet compresses to the neck, forehead, armpits and groin before calling 9-1-1 or getting them to an emergency center fast.
An upper-level ridge is moving from over northeast Texas in southeastern states, keeping the sky mostly sunny and hot and blocking the development of any sort of rainmakers for the region. Any showers that do break out through mid-week will hug the Texas coast, forecasters said.
But there is a chance some showers could fall on Thursday and Friday over about a third of the San Antonio area as two upper-level disturbances move towards the area, one moving west across Gulf states and the other coming down from the Southern Plains. The highs on Thursday and Friday may be in the mid 90s.
Fall arrives in Texas on Tuesday of next week, but real fall-like temperatures remain weeks away. The first noteworthy cold front usually does not arrive in the Alamo City until around Halloween, or a week or two on either side of trick-or-treat day.
