ERCOT Heat Alert!

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Highlight: Heat Alert for ERCOT! High wind days 6-10!

Fig. 1-4: ECM maximum temperature forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Also, the percent potential wind production forecast for a windy 6-10-day period

Discussion: The problem with drought is the inevitability of early season anomalous heat (which intensifies the drought). The Rio Grande Valley heat late this week expands northward across much of Texas by Saturday when 100+ covers about half of the state including 97F risk in Houston (Fig. 1). The heat is similar on Sunday, possibly slightly hotter (Fig. 2). On Monday, the extreme heat repeats with hottest readings west and south Texas but just as effecting in the east due to higher humidity (Fig. 3). The extreme heat eases slightly next Tuesday. In the 6-10-day period a period of high wind is expected leading to 80-855 wind generation potential (Fig. 4).