It's no secret here in Wichita Falls that this summer has been excruciatingly hot, dry and miserable. I bet you can't even count the number of times you burned your hand on your car door handle, and I'm pretty sure we have all mastered the art of steering with one finger.

All this record-shattering heat and brutal drought conditions have earned Wichita Falls, Texas the #1 spot on The Weather Channel's top five worst summer cities - as chosen by The Weather Channel's Sr. Meteorologist, Jonathan Erdman.

Erdman explains, "In our rankings, I not only considered the magnitude and severity of the impacts, but also the longevity."

That longevity factor is what sealed the deal for Wichita Falls. As of September 13th, we have had  100 days of triple-digit heat, with a record-setting 52 of those days running consecutively.  Wichita Falls broke the previous triple-digit temperature record weeks ago, which was 79 days set in 1980.  An average summer in Wichita Falls normally only sees about 28 days of 100+ temperatures.

ncdc.noaa.gov
ncdc.noaa.gov
loading...

There was no easing into these miserable temperatures either, our first 100-degree day came on April 6th - over two months before summer's official arrival date of June 21st.

Adding insult to injury this summer was the worst drought Wichita Falls has seen since the 1950s. According to The Weather Channel, through mid-September, Wichita Falls had yet to receive 4 inches of total precipitation (rain/melted snow) for the entire year-to-date, a mere 18% of our average precipitation-to-date.

Erdman concludes that "The day-in-day-out extreme, miserable heat coupled with an exceptional, billion-dollar drought bumped Wichita Falls, Texas to the #1 slot."

The other four cities on this list of worst summer cities are:

#5 - Seattle, Washington
#4 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
#3 - Indianapolis, Indiana
#2 - Binghamton, New York

BONUS: Things Everyone From Wichita Falls Knows

More From Newstalk 1290