It might have only been late February, but it felt like the middle of summer in southern Texas on Thursday as temperatures soared to record levels. Triple-digit heat was reported in several Texas cities, and more records are expected to fall this weekend.
La Puerta, Texas, around 80 miles northwest of Brownsville, hit an incredible 104 degrees Fahrenheit, tying the hottest winter temperature on record for the U.S. Laredo, Texas, matched its all-time hottest February high on record when it hit 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures across several southern states climbed to as much as 20 to nearly 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
Nearly 15 million people in southern California, from San Luis Obispo through Los Angeles and all the way south into San Diego, were facing moderate to major heatrisk, levels two and three out of four, respectively, according to the National Weather Service.
"High pressure aloft and weak offshore flow will bring record-setting heat today," noted the San Diego National Weather Service (NWS) office. "A return of onshore flow on Saturday will begin to spread cooler marine air inland but with record-setting heat continuing for many areas on Saturday."
The Los Angeles NWS office advised people on Friday to "stay hydrated" and "limit outdoor activities during the afternoon hours."
This warm late-winter weather is par for the course in Texas so far this season. The period covering the first two months of meteorological winter has been the eighth-warmest such period on record for Texas, more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above average. Most of the state's major cities are trending well above average for February. As of Friday, Austin was around 7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, Houston was around 6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, and Dallas was nearly 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal.
The amount of record warm temperatures across the U.S. so far this year has more than doubled the amount of record-low temperatures, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
The forecast for at least the next few days will continue to favor record warmth outpacing record cold. The National Weather Service expects record highs this weekend to be set across at least nine states stretching from Iowa south to Texas and west to California.
Friday marked the second straight day of numerous record highs being set in the central and southern U.S. Records were broken as far north as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where Hancock hit 52 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking a record that had stood for 131 years. Records were also broken in Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Arizona, and California.
A few monthly record highs for February were tied or broken, including Los Alamitos U.S. Army Airfield, where the high hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit, and Davis-Monthan AFB, where the temperature topped out at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It was toasty again in Texas as Houston's high of 86 degrees Fahrenheit tied a record for the date.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 This late-winter "heat wave" could be a harbinger of what is to come this summer. After recording the world's fifth-warmest January on record, scientists say there is a 99.9% chance 2026 will rank among the top 10 warmest years on record.
"With every additional increment of global warming, changes in extremes continue to become larger," cautioned a World Meteorological Organization report. "For example, every additional 0.5°C of global warming causes clearly discernible increases in the intensity and frequency of temperature extremes, including heatwave intensity, frequency and duration."
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