More than 300,000 school age children continue to head back to school this week and next in scorching temperatures, including those in the fourth largest school district in Texas, the Northside Independent School District.
More than 100,000 students will head back on Monday with the high forecast to hit 103 degrees by the last bell of the day. Even the wait for the morning school bus will be miserable in the days ahead with temperatures around 80 and humidities in the 80% range at 7 a.m.
Highs of 100 or more are in the forecast each day through at least Monday with heat indices as hot as 105 to 112 degrees on some of those afternoons.
The National Weather Service reports a subtropical weather pattern is keeping skies mostly sunny and keeping winds low.
After showing some minor improvement in the drought with July rains, this heatwave is exacting a toll on lawns and waterways and the Edward's Aquifer level, which can drop a foot a day in weather like this like it did between Monday and Tuesday this week.
The water level in the aquifer—the area's main source of water—stood at 631 feet on Tuesday or 19 feet below the mark where water conservation levels are first triggered.
San Antonio Water System customers remain under Stage 3 water restrictions and may only water once a week by automatic sprinkler based on street address.
Big water users in August will see it reflected under a new surcharge to encourage both residential and commercial water conservation.
SAWS officials said earlier this summer only the top five percent of water users will be impacted by the surcharge. For single family accounts, the Stage 3 surcharge of $10.37 per thousand gallons will take effect for water use above 20,000 gallon a month. Under a Stage 4, that threshold drops to 12,000 gallons.
Commercial surcharge amounts will vary by meter size.
