Houston braces for intense summer heat after hot May
It's not just you. Houston was hotter than normal in May — and now braces for potentially an even hotter summer.
Why it matters: Summers are getting warmer in Houston and across the country, posing a health risk for vulnerable groups like children, pregnant women, the elderly and homeless people.
Driving the news: National Weather Service meteorologists give Houston and much of Texas a 50%-60% chance of a hotter-than-normal summer, per their latest seasonal outlook.
Threat level: Houston will start heating up this weekend, with highs forecast in the mid- to upper-90s for the metro and close to 100 in northern communities.
Humidity and sunshine will make Houston's heat feel well into the triple digits starting Friday, NWS Houston meteorologist Cameron Batiste wrote in a forecast discussion Tuesday.
What they're saying:"[We] may potentially flirt with the heat advisory threshold towards the end of the week," Batiste wrote.
Batiste added the low temperatures will be "equally as miserable."
"How do low temperatures in the upper 70s/low 80s sound? Yeah … not great."
Flashback: The Houston area's average high (+2.5 degrees) and low (+4 degrees) were warmer than in a normal May, according to NWS data.
The average high was 89.4 degrees in May 2025, compared to NOAA's 30-year normal average high for the region of 86.9 degrees.
The average low was 71.8 degrees in May compared to a normal average low of 67.8 degrees.
The big picture: Houston's average summer temperature rose 4.6 degrees between 1970 and 2024, according to a new report from climate research group Climate Central.
The analysis defines "summer" as June through August and uses NOAA data on normal temperatures.
Zoom out: Average summer temperatures rose 2.6 degrees in the same time period in 97% of the 242 American cities analyzed, according to the report.
Stunning stat: Over 60% of the cities analyzed now have at least two more weeks' worth of hotter-than-normal summer days compared to 1970.
Houston experienced above-normal temperatures for eight more weeks in 2024 than in 1970, the second-most days among the cities analyzed.
Context: Hotter summers are one of the most tangible ways we're experiencing climate change.
Between the lines: Many cities like Houston suffer from " heat islands" — areas of especially high temperatures caused by roads, parking lots, buildings and a lack of tree cover.
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