We were so close.
After 45 straight days of reaching at least 100° heat, the thermometer at Austin’s official weather reporting station, the one at Camp Mabry, topped out at 99°. Early-afternoon clouds and their accompanying uptick in humidity proved to be too much, and when the rain came, an unseasonable rain, it drenched any hopes of hitting 46. We shattered the prior record—2011’s 27 straight days—but we couldn’t double it, and that’s a shame, because it’s supposed to go above 100° again each of the next six days, the forecast peaking at 106° on Friday.
There’s still an angle here where we signed up for this. We agreed to live in Texas. Texas is known for being hot. But I have to say: It’s a lot easier to deal with 106° when you’re setting records. Once that motivation is gone, it gets pretty lame, and we have to start waiting for October, because for some reason there are two summers in this part of the state and the second one doesn’t fade until the Astros fans come out of the woodwork and make you wonder whether you should be mean to them or not. That one is hardest with the toddlers.
