A sprawling “heat dome” is tightening its grip on Texas—and forecasters warn it’s about to unleash a rare, early-season surge of dangerous heat from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.
National Weather Service meteorologists say the setup is both powerful and unusual for this time of year, locking in a pattern more typical of peak summer than early spring.
Forecasters say the high-pressure pattern currently building over Texas resembles a “heat dome”, a setup where air sinks and compresses near the ground, warming rapidly. The system acts like a lid on a pot, trapping the hot air over the region and preventing it from escaping…