One of the cruelest aspects of summertime in Houston is that it lasts so late into “fall.” When considering the average high temperature, the peak of summer for most of the United States comes in July—on average July 23rd for the lower 48 states. This is understandable, as the Sun reaches the highest point of the sky in late June. However this is not the case for much of Texas, and especially the Texas coast, where the peak of summer typically comes during the second week of August (see map below).
The primary driver of this latent heat, of course, is the Gulf of Mexico, which takes a little longer to warm up in late spring and early summer, and therefore takes a lot longer to cool down in August and September due to slightly shorter days and, eventually, cool fronts from the north. As a result Houston “enjoys” peak heating well into the month of August while the rest of the country begins to cool down.
This is a good day to discuss peak heating because some areas of Houston this week will have an outside shot at hitting 100 degrees for the first time this year.
