Hi there, I'm meteorologist Maria Reese.
We are giving you an update just because
we have had ERCOT ask Texans to conserve
energy starting at 2:00 this afternoon.
It's not just from today's heat,
it's not just from North Texas heat.
It's from the heat across the entire state.
The last several days.
Currently we do have a heat
advisory across the Metroplex.
This is for temperatures
that will pass 100 degrees.
Heat index over 105.
That's what it feels like for the afternoon.
Excessive heat warnings extend across our
Western counties towards Central Texas.
That's a part of the big problem.
It's not just the area of North Texas.
This extends into central and portions
of South and East Texas areas like Austin
seeing record heat the last several days.
This is a look at the current temperature 99
right now at DFW 104 in Waco 103 in Austin.
And that's just the actual
temperature what it feels like.
Out is closer to about 108 in Austin,
111 in Waco 101 at DFW,
so again all of the Texas region dealing
with above normal temperatures and this
just incredible heat that we're witnessing
with temperatures closer to the mid
to upper 90s for the Texas Panhandle,
everyone really wanting to crank
up the AC for obvious reasons.
At DFW we are reporting 99 degrees.
It currently feels like 101 when
you factor in that humidity.
That's another part of the problem.
And across the area,
a lot of locations already making it into
the triple digits with 100 in Dallas,
Terrell walks a Hachi 101 for
Granbury Mineral Wells 100 for
Graham and Breckenridge,
as well as an Eastland 102 degrees for
Stephenville and and Brown up wood.
So a lot of locations like I mentioned
already in that triple digit heat and
will likely stay there for several hours.
This afternoon.
We still have time to warm up,
so we are definitely going to see
that number climb here in the next
couple of hours this afternoon.
The forecast heat index.
Expected to be close to about 1:10
and some locations for Central
Texas closer to about 105106 across
portions of the Metroplex.
And we're not looking at a lot of.
Relief here, not in the next several days.
We're not cooling much overnight.
Our temperatures expected to be in the
triple digits over the next several days,
and that is why we have to be very
careful with our energy use and what I
am going to send it over to aerial placencia.
She has been monitoring our grid here,
so how's it looking like
right now? Maria, thank you so much.
You're exactly right,
so we keep an eye on what's called
arcots supply and demand grid and
actually let me take a second and just
remind you maybe you're new here.
Or perhaps you just need a refresher.
Earcon is the Electric Reliability
Council of Texas, and so they essentially
operate the state's power grid.
Think of them kind of like an air
traffic controller that moves
energy around the state, right?
So when things get very hot or very cold,
we keep a close eye on where things
are and where we stand, right?
So this blue line is going to be demand.
That's what we need.
The purple is going to be capacity.
What we have.
Typically you want plenty of
space in between the two, right?
And so this is where we have more
or less stayed throughout the day.
But this updates in real time, right?
So look at this vertical line here.
This is where we are at 233.
Notice these lines get awfully close.
The issue now is moving forward,
right looking into the afternoon.
It's continuing to get hot.
Of course, people are coming home from work.
They want to crank down that
C notice where we stand now.
This blue line if you look closely,
gets awfully close to the top
of this fat purple line,
which is that forecasted range of capacity.
That's why there's a little
bit of concern here,
and so if you follow me over here,
that's why ERCOT has asked residents
and businesses to conserve
energy from 2:00 to 8:00 PM.
This Half Moon is usually all green
and filled all the way across.
You'll notice now it is Yellow Orcutt
asking you to please reduce power
and so basically they're asking
you to not run your dishwasher.
Don't do the laundry crank that
thermostat to 78 because again,
they're trying to reduce power use
in this conservation alert here.
Now look at this number right here.
This is going to be about.
3400 If this number drops below 1000
and if we are not expected to recover
those operating reserves within 30 minutes,
then according to Ercot's website
there could be controlled outages.
So again, we're at 3400 right now.
If this drops below 1000,
that's we're going to be keeping
a close eye on moving forward,
especially into this afternoon.
So again, one more close look at here we are.
This is where we are right now at 2:34 PM.
Awfully close here.
You want that purple line,
obviously higher than the blue one,
but Mario.
This is exactly what we're
going to be looking at.
Moving forward and I'm gonna
have updates on our newscast
starting at 5:00 o'clock.
That is such a great explanation,
Ariel. Thank you so much.
And of course she's going to
be keeping a close eye on that.
The remainder of the day.
A few more energy saving tips for you.
Make sure to set that thermostat as high
as you're comfortable with every degree.
Believe it or not,
is 6 to 8% energy conservation.
Set the thermostat higher
if your family's not home.
I mean, if you're not going to be home,
you don't need your house to be cool, right?
And you want to make sure to wash.
Watch the windows,
close the windows and the shades,
turn the fans on.
That's going to help out quite a bit.
It's going to help get some
circulation in the house.
And like Ariel mentioned,
appliances only use those larger appliances
after 8:00 tonight and early in the morning.
So that's another reason to
put off the laundry, right?
We're going to send you all.
Of course,
all of these updates will be on wfa.com,
and we'll keep it here.
Keep it on WFA.
We've got the latest update
coming up for you at 4/5 and six.