Do Summers Actually Get THAT Hot In Austin Texas?? Thoughts From A Local…
You’re planning a trip to Austin, and you’re thinking about all the free time in your schedule at the beginning of August. It’s just before everyone goes back to school and a new semester begins, and it just so happens to be a great time to squeeze in one more trip at the end of the summer. But…everyone says to avoid Austin at all costs in August/September because of the wicked awful heat waves. And so you’re asking yourself: does the summer actually get THAT hot in Austin Texas?
A Bit About Me
I was born and raised in Texas, and I’ve been living in Austin for more than a decade. After 30+ Texas summers, I feel pretty qualified to tell you all about them!
I’ll go into depth about what Austin summers actually feel like, whether you should try to book the tickets to Austin in the middle of the summer or wait until the cooler fall months (which are also more $$ touristy months…), and what it’s like living in the Austin area in the hottest part of the year.
Do Summers Actually Get That Hot In Austin?
If you want to skip all of this and just get to the quick recap, scroll to the very bottom for too long;didn’t read the recap. But if you want to know everything about how hot the Austin summers get, read on.
How Hot Do Austin Summers Get?
Ok, everyone talks about how brutal it is in the Austin summers. And as our world enters the global boiling point and climate change is gradually increasing the thermostat, the summers are getting longer and hotter. Which isn’t great for anyone.
In 2023, we had our hottest summer ever with more than 40 days over 100 degrees fahrenheit. Yowza.
We all joke about the ridiculous seasons in Austin, and that summer is basically 75% of the year.
How Hot Does 100 Degrees Feel In Austin?
100 degrees in Austin isn’t the same as 100 degrees in Vegas. Dry, desert heat is a little bit better, but the hot and humid weather in Austin makes it feel much, much hotter.
That’s because when it’s humid, the moisture in your body, aka sweat, can’t escape because there’s already so much moisture in the air. So your body can’t use its natural cooling system as effectively in humidity… which makes it feel a lot hotter than 100 degrees when it’s really humid.
So Texas heat (and any humid heat) is REALLY really hot. 100 degrees doesn’t look so bad on paper, but it can feel absolutely brutal when it’s 98% humidity, sunny, and hot.
A Very Un-Scientific Look At Austin’s Summers
I’m not a meteorologist, so if you’re looking for data and graphs and all of that official stuff, look on a weather site.
But I think that stuff isn’t as helpful as talking to someone who has actually lived in Austin most of her life and lived through these summers.
So, here’s exactly what an Austin summer feels like, in case you’re thinking of moving here and wondering if you can handle the Austin heat.
April: it starts getting humid (lots of rain!) and we might get a few days in the 90s…which always makes us local Austinites start thinking, “Too soon! Too soon!”
May: May feels like the start of summer. This is what I call “bearable heat” because it’s typically in the mid-90s (we might start hitting 100 degrees), but it cools down a bit at night. This means that if you want to go on a run at 6 am, you can do it and the pavement won’t be scalding and you can actually breathe a bit. It’s hot enough to swim, rent a boat and go out on the lake, and hit up all those awesome Austin swimming holes. But it’s also cool enough to enjoy patio weather in the evenings (with lots of mosquito repellent!), go running in the morning and actually enjoy it, and maybe ride bikes in the afternoon with the kids on those rare cooler days in May.
June: June is still “bearable heat.” It’s always weird when we get the “first official day of summer” on June 20 because by then we’ve been living in summer weather for about 3 months already. And we still have a long way to go…
July/August/September: I’m just going to be honest: these three months are pretty brutal. And as a woman who has a home with air conditioning and works an indoor desk job, it’s annoying but do-able. But to all of the folks who work outdoors (lawn maintenance, roof repair/replacement, car washers, etc. etc. etc.), these months are absolutely devastating.
And, quite frankly, it’s been heartbreaking to watch climate change make it nearly impossible for an entire group of workers to even do their job. A lot of people who work in construction/roofing will literally have to take entire weeks off of the year now (and not making any money during that time) because the weather gets too hot.
July, August, and September are just the “put your head down and get through it” months. More and more Austinites are escaping the city in late July and early August because we all know these months are really, really long.
(For reference, for all of you who live in cold states: I lived in Chicago for a stretch, and July-September for us here in Austin are the equivalent of March-May in cold weather states. You know when you’re already 3 months into winter, you still have 3 months to go, and everyone is going “is it EVER going to stop being cold and windy and miserable??” That’s what Austin summers feel like.)
School starts back in mid-August, and teachers will often have students go outside early in the morning and avoid the afternoon heat.
A lot of outdoor workers will work in the morning and avoid the hottest part of the day. Quite simply because it’s just not safe to work on a hot roof that reads 150 degrees to the touch.
Football fields in Texas with synthetic turf measure temperatures of 140+ degrees when football season starts.
If you try to go swimming, it’s too hot to be in the sun. You have to swim in the mornings and stay in the shade, and then go inside from 1 - 6 pm.
Basically, it’s HOT. And it stays hot through the end of September.
October: this is when everyone expects it to cool off, and we might get some cool days. But the first half of October can still be in the upper 90s during the afternoons.
Is It Too Hot To Visit Austin In August?
If you’re thinking of visiting Austin during the hottest months of the year, I actually think it’s not a bad idea! Sure, the heat is brutal when you live here and have to survive it month after month.
But if you’re visiting and just need to make it through a long weekend, it’s not so bad.
And since August isn’t the prettiest weather we have to offer here in Austin, you might have good luck booking cheap flights, finding good hotel deals, and easily booking the best restaurants in the city.
You can still enjoy the best of Austin in August! You’ll just have to be smart about taking care of yourself (and you pets and kids) in the hot weather, especially if you’re coming from a cooler climate and you’re not accustomed to the heat.
5 Ways To Manage The Heat In Austin Summers
If you’re going to try to visit Austin in August, here are 5 ways to survive the heat and take care of yourself so you can enjoy Austin.
- Plan your outdoor activities in the mornings and evenings. Go walk the shops on South Congress in the morning. Go swimming at Barton Springs at 10 am. Book a patio reservation at 8:30 pm. Basically, do all of your outdoor stuff in the cooler mornings and evenings and avoid going outside from about noon - 6 pm.
- Drink more water/electrolytes than you think you need. Dehydration is REAL here, and it can hit you really hard if you’re not prepared. Always carry an excellent insulated water bottle with you (like a Yeti), and keep it full of ice-cold water at all times. And if you’ve been outside and sweating a lot and you need an extra “oomph,” use these LMNT hydration sticks. When I’ve been sweating a lot and I’ve lost a lot of salt and feel a headache coming on, I’ll just drink a bottle of water with LMNT in it and I can instantly feel a difference. In fact, if I have a dehydration headache, I’ll often just drink one of these instead of reaching for ibuprofen.
- Don’t go swimming in the afternoon. I know that it seems to make sense to plan pool time in the afternoon, but in all honesty, no one here in Austin does it. it’s just too hot to swim in Austin at 3 pm during the month of August! Plan your pool time in the morning, and stay out of the UV rays in the afternoon. I swear, it doesn’t feel good to swim in the afternoons here.
- Light, cool, sweat-whisking clothes. People in Austin don’t wear a lot of clothes in the summer. Haha. It’s just a fact! Shorts, little crop top/bralettes/tank tops, and sandals. That’s about it. If you’re wearing athleisure, go for sweat-whisking clothes because you will sweat in Austin. Just facts.
- Plan ahead for activities to do during the hours of 2-5 pm. It’s hot every day at that time. For those of us who live here, we start to get a bit stir-crazy a few months into this routine, but you really have to find indoor things to do in Austin in the summer afternoons. So if you’re visiting Austin, plan to go to an indoor happy hour, visit a museum, go see a movie, or just take a nap in the air conditioning.
TL;DR
Yes, Austin summers are that hot (mostly because they just go on and on and on, and because they’re also so humid so it feels even hotter.)
It’s not so bad if you’re just visiting for a few days. You can use a few tips and tricks (mentioned above) to make it through the hottest part of the summer and still have a great time in Austin.
But if you’re planning on moving to Austin, just keep in mind that the summers go from about May-September, and most of that time will have highs near or above 100 degrees. And yeah, it’s brutal.
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