Heat-related illnesses rising in Austin as summers become hotter - Austin American-Statesman

Heat-related illnesses rising in Austin as summers become hotter

Heat-related illnesses rising in Austin amid climate change, officials say

Austin officials warned at a Tuesday press conference that the city is already seeing a high number of heat-related illnesses this summer.

The culprit? Austin’s sunny months are becoming hotter due to climate change.

“This is Texas,” Mayor Kirk Watson said, “and yes, Texas has always been hot — but climate change is causing more extreme heat.”

Heat-related illnesses this May outpaced the number in May 2023, which was the beginning of Austin’s hottest summer in 126 years of recorded history.

Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services responded to 125 heat-related illnesses last month, according to data from the organization. That’s a 150% increase from the 50 incidents the agency saw in May 2023.

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Over Memorial Day weekend alone, EMS responded to 54 heat-related illnesses over three days, up from just eight in 2023.

Hospital visits for heat-related illness have also blasted last year’s figures out of the water.

Austin-area emergency rooms saw 123 heat-related illness visits last month — a marked increase from just 48 during the same time frame last year, said Ken Snipes, Austin’s director for Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

“It's important that we take heat-related illnesses very seriously,” EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said, “both for ourselves and for those that are around us.”

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Higher temperatures and fewer reprieves

Forecasts from the National Centers for Climate Prediction echo the city’s recent heat, said Monte Oaks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service: Austin is going to get hot this summer.

In previous decades, cool, low-pressure systems called tropical waves brought a reprieve from Central Texas’ brutal summers. But according to Oaks, those cooling weather patterns are becoming less common.

“No relief,” he said, laconically. “Every day another hot one.”

Before, cold fronts salved hot days; now, when heat comes to Austin, it comes to stay.

On Tuesday, parts of Central Texas saw their heat index rise to 115. In previous decades, Austin might see between five and 10 days in which the heat index rose above 111, Oaks said. Now, that figure is more like 15-20 days a year.

As to why — the meteorologist said he didn’t have a good explanation. But climate scientists do.

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Climate change is making Austin’s summers hotter

Austin’s climate has warmed on average by 0.4 degrees every decade since 1938, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Now maximum temperatures are projected to rise by 10 degrees by the end of the century, according to the UT-City CoLab, a partnership between Austin officials and University of Texas scientists.

Hotter summers are a function of overall higher temperatures, but the cooling effects of rainfall also play a part in how the city handles heat.

When it rains, the ground absorbs water, and water-rich soil can stave off heat through evaporation — similar to the way evaporating sweat cools the body.

“That’s why people talk about cool summers after wet springs,” said Mahmoud Mbarak, a UT graduate researcher studying how soil moisture can be incorporated into climate change models.

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May is typically Austin’s wettest month with an average of 5 inches of rain, but the city only saw 3.9 inches of rain this May, according to the NWS.

That means, on top of hotter-than-normal temperatures, the cooling effects of soil moisture may also have less potency this season.

“As you heard from Mayor Watson, the climate is changing,” Snipes said at the city’s Tuesday press conference. “And as a result, we are seeing an increase in the number of cases related to heat illness.”

Just hours later, the National Weather Service issued a high temperature advisory for the area, and Austin’s Tuesday heat index climbed to a peak of 111.

“I guess, in some instances,” Watson said in the first moments of the presser, “the best word is that our temperatures soar.”