The heat dome over Mexico is moving and will avoid Houston. That doesn’t mean we’re safe from drought – Houston Public Media

A heat dome over northern Mexico that has brought record temperatures to Florida and parts of the Gulf Coast is underway.

“This strong area of ​​average high pressure has been moving northwest over the past few days. So right now the heat wave is focused over the southwest,” said Brad Pugh, a meteorologist at the Forecast Center climate of College Park, Maryland.

While this is good news for Houston and Southeast Texas, a La Niña will make it drier and more drought-prone. Warmer Gulf waters also lead to a more active hurricane season.

Meanwhile, the southwest United States through California’s Central Valley will feel the effects of above-normal temperatures and could set new heat records.

For Houston, that doesn’t necessarily mean a break from the sweltering temperatures, according to Pugh. “For all seasonal temperatures, June, July and August, we expect temperatures above the seasonal average.”

RELATED: A Heat Dome Can Bring Dangerously High Temperatures. What is this?

The Climate Prediction Center tracks drought conditions.

“The US Drought Monitor is not a forecast, it is a snapshot of current drought coverage and intensity across the country,” Pugh said. “We use a number of indicators to monitor drought. Including precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, snowfall, and we also consider impacts.”

Pugh said it involves modeling and trends to get an accurate picture of changing drought conditions. “If you experience a persistent drought, for example in California, during the summer, which is generally dry, you would expect that drought to persist over the next few months.”

What Houstonians seek to avoid are extremely hot days. During the last drought, heat indexes rose and temperatures spiked, putting Houston on par with weather conditions in more arid, hot places like Phoenix, Arizona. This includes melting asphalt on streets and buckling of roads. In Phoenix, bridge expansion can become so extreme that bridges can buckle and train tracks buckle as they expand and push the other rail out of alignment.

Water pipe breaks are also a problem when the heat is at its highest.

For now, the heat dome is heading northwest, toward West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. But that doesn’t mean things will really calm down over the next few months.