The first half of summer was relatively mild across Texas, as an active weather pattern brought frequent rainfall, abundant cloud cover and near- to below-average temperatures across much of the state.
However, a stark shift in the weather pattern has occurred since the second half of July. A stagnant high-pressure system has meandered over the state for much of the past eight weeks, bringing intense heat and hardly any rain chances for most areas throughout Texas.
One area in particular has taken the brunt of an intense heat dome — the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In fact, DFW Airport has recorded no measurable rainfall since July 16. That amounts to 55 consecutive days without at least 0.01 inch of rain, ranking as the sixth-longest dry streak on record for the region.
DFW’s longest ever streak without rainfall occurred in 2000, when the region went 84 straight days without rain from July 1 through Sept. 22…