Austin makes top 10 list of cities heating up--in the bad, climate change way

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin is getting hotter.

Not in the cultural sense, but in the actual average temperature way.

A new report from Climate Central, a group aimed at promoting awareness of climate change, ranks Austin at number 9 in its list of cities that have had increases in heat indicies 90 degree Fahrenheit or higher days in the last 40 years.

The group took data from the National Weather Service on how often U.S. cities hit a heat index of 90 degrees or higher since 1979. Out of 239 cities studied, 198 have seen a jump in the average number of those so-called “extreme heat days.”

The report says that extreme heat now extends well beyond the summer for cities like Austin, which had 126 extreme heat days on average over the last five years.

All told, Austin now has just under 22 more days that feel like 90 degrees or higher every year than it did before 1979.

Number one on the list is McAllen, Texas, which has an increase of 31.6 days that feel like 90 degrees or higher in the past 40 years.

To read the full report, click here.