Rain Snaps a 29-Day Streak of Triple-Digit Heat Baking Texas

Showers and thunderstorms rolled through north Texas on Tuesday, lowering the temperature to 94 degrees and snapping the 29-day streak of triple-digit heat that has plagued the region.

“It feels like springtime,” said one resident, Jay Eagle.

The rash of storms that blew through the region late Monday stuck around another day, ending the area’s second-longest heat streak. During the infamous summer of 1980, there were 42 consecutive days of 100-degree heat.

Highs the rest of the week are forecast in the upper 90s.

The rain also cooled things off in Oklahoma, which has been grappling with one of its driest, hottest summers in 18 years.

In Altus, Tuesday’s afternoon temperature was 78. Monday was the first day since July 5 that it had not reached at least 100 degrees in Altus, although the high was still 99.

Oklahoma National Guard convoys have been crisscrossing the state this week delivering hundred of bales of hay to desperate ranchers fearful of losing their herds.

The hardest-hit are farmers and ranchers, who have little or no grass left to feed their cattle. Many have already been forced to sell off their livestock at drastically depressed prices.

“It’s a tragic situation,” said Oklahoma Agriculture Commissioner Dennis Howard, who estimates agricultural losses in the state at more than $2 billion. Another $1.5 billion in losses have been estimated for Texas.