HOUSTON—Houstonians pride themselves on how they tolerate heat. This summer, the heat has become intolerable.

Businesses and residents in America’s fourth-largest city have moved much of life indoors, changing work and spending habits. Some residents say they are reminded of quarantining during the pandemic’s early days: ordering in groceries, avoiding social commitments and looking for ways to stay entertained from the couch.

The result is a dent to the local economy that could become an annual pattern if summers stay hotter for longer.

“This year is different, people are staying home,” said Barbara Stewart, a professor of human development and consumer sciences at the University of Houston.


An unrelenting heat wave in Texas is testing the state’s power grid as demand soars during a second week of triple-digit temperatures.

At Buffalo Bayou Brewing, a taproom and restaurant in the Heights neighborhood, fewer people are coming to the restaurant during the day, said Jonathan Horowitz, chief revenue and strategy officer. Earlier this month, the restaurant purchased two new portable cooling units to put behind the rooftop deck’s bar to better keep staff cool.

He estimates revenue during the heat wave is down roughly 10% compared with the same time in 2022.

“It seems like the time frame of this kind of heat has expanded beyond what it used to be,” Horowitz said. “We always had 100-degree days, but when you have 100-degree days for two months straight, that’s different.”


Employees at small- and medium-size businesses in the tourism, arts and entertainment and sports and recreation industries in Texas averaged 19.6 hours on the job a week between mid-June and mid-July, a 20% decline from the average during comparable weeks from 2019 to 2022, according to an analysis from Luke Pardue, an economist at payroll platform Gusto.
If the weather pattern so far this summer continues through August, Texas’ gross state product this year will be reduced by roughly $9.5 billion, making a small dent in the state’s growth rate, according to Ray Perryman, an economist and president at the economic research and analysis firm the Perryman Group. That estimate assumes average temperatures in the state this summer will be roughly 2.6 degrees above the long-term average since 1900, Perryman said.

Samuel Westry, a real-estate agent in the greater Houston area, said some of his clients have been reluctant to attend property showings in person. Technology, such as virtual visits, have helped business continue, but it is harder to get people to buy without a face-to-face visit, he said.

The weather has also made it tough to look presentable.

“God forbid the air conditioner is out at a house that I’m showing or the electricity is off,” he joked, adding that he has been keeping an emergency towel and deodorant in the car.

Darrell Ard owns the West Montgomery Auto Repair shop in the Northside neighborhood. He said he has been slammed with Freon top-offs and air-conditioner repairs.



Darrell Ard said more people are coming to his auto repair shop for Freon top-offs and air-conditioner repairs.

While many of his customers previously put off the expense of a fix for weeks or months to save up, “now they’re going to jump right on it,” said Ard, who started the business five years ago.

A 2019 research paper found that, on average, each one-degree Fahrenheit increase in the mean summer temperature in the U.S. leads to a 0.154 percentage-point decrease in the annual growth rate of gross state product. The decline is roughly double in Southern states, such as Texas, said Bridget Hoffmann, an economist at the Inter-American Development Bank and one of the paper’s co-authors.

Hoffmann and co-authors also found that higher summer temperatures negatively affect output growth in a range of industries, including agriculture, construction, finance and insurance, while boosting it in the utilities and mining industries.

The negative impact shows that “moving towards a service economy and moving some of your economy out of agriculture isn’t enough to insulate your economy,” Hoffmann said.

The Houston Health Department has given out air conditioners and set up manned cooling centers so people without air conditioning can take refuge from the heat. Danny Perez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the heat had caused two road buckles and some pavement failures in the Houston area. The cost to the state to repair the road buckles totaled roughly $400,000, according to data provided by Perez.



The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s electrical grid and in recent years struggled to perform during severe weather events, said peak energy demand has reached new highs five times so far this summer. Most recently, peak demand reached 82,592 megawatts on July 18, compared with the record before this summer of 80,148 megawatts in July 2022.



At Aire Serv of River Oaks, co-owner Hector Jimenez said service requests are up about 12% from this time last year. “We’re stretched to capacity,” he said.

The company has struggled to retain technicians as the prospect of working in blistering sun and 110-degree-plus attics collides with a shortage of skilled workers.

Repairs can run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, while new HVAC systems retail from $7,900 all the way to $18,000-plus. Across the U.S., HVAC repairs are 28% more expensive on average as of last month than they were in June 2021, rising to $1,401, according to data from management software firm Jobber.

Miguel Jimenez, whose parents own Aire Serv, said he is working 10- to 12-hour days with few days off. “A lot of people are counting on me,” he said.

On a recent Thursday in the East End neighborhood, the younger Jimenez fixed a leaking unit for the Blanding family, who was hunkered down in the living room with the curtains drawn.

“I usually enjoy the quiet and stillness of summer, but I don’t want to be here anymore,” said Benjamin Blanding, a 42-year-old math professor at San Jacinto College, who grew up just outside the city.

The family postponed a coming vacation to Goose Island State Park when they saw the heat index would reach 108 degrees. And they bailed on a visit to the public pool after less than an hour when the water felt hotter than the air.



Eleven-year-old Leila Blanding, who spent that morning reading, said she misses being able to go down to the bayou by the house and out skateboarding with her friends. “It can get boring,” she said.

After delivering the Blandings their $600 bill, Jimenez hopped back in the car for a quick unit tuneup at an Airbnb where Alvin Moore was staying. A lifelong Southerner, the 27-year-old Moore had planned to spend his time in Houston enjoying the golf courses and soccer fields.

Lately, he has been hard-pressed to find anyone willing to play.

“The course is mostly empty,” he said.

Write to Rachel Wolfe at rachel.wolfe@wsj.com and Amara Omeokwe at amara.omeokwe@wsj.com


Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All


link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/i...c-cost-of-houstons-h

Yeah, I lived in Houston. All that concrete retains the heat and makes the place an oven. And Hell, that was more than 35 years ago. I can only imagine what it's like with new construction since that time.

The Heat Island Effect can produce some wicked pop-up thunderstorms violent enough to make atheists reconsider their stance on the Almighty.

Our problem hasn't been the daytime highs. Our problems this summer have been:

we're setting records for overnight temps. One of the reasons our AC bills are high (just got mine this week and it's the highest I've seen in my 7 years in this house) is due to not cooling off at night, and you can't beat the heat by getting an earlier start since it's miserable much earlier in the day. Previous years, I could mow the lawn Saturday morning after the dew evaporated but before the heat index hit 100. This summer, the heat index is already a 100 and I'm still indoors eating bacon.

the number of hours we've spent with heat index over 105. See SCW chart. The south side (Hobby Airport) of Houston is being impacted more than the north side (Bush Airport), but it's certainly impacting my AC bill as well.


Through the end of May, we were ahead of average on rainfall, but that ended June 1. The coastal Houston Metropolitan Area is already in a moderate to severe drought, and the northern areas will likely be in a drought next week or the week after.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I grew up on the Texas/Louisiana border, 35 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and I tell people- I've had three lifetimes of tropical summers, and you can have it.

Somebody tells me "I love the summertime!" I'll tell him they should have their head examined.

I used to work with a guy who for many years did missionary work in Africa. No AC, no electricity. He said that at night, they used to drape wet towels on their bodies in order to be able to sleep. Man, oh, man. Jesus is just gonna have to get along without me!

I’m not an expert at anything. But I imagine that our area gets cooled by cooler air coming from the north. But our nights have remained hot; I’ve noticed because I’ve been trying to figure out if I’ve broken even on solar this year ahead of schedule - higher rates coupled with longer run times.

Are the fires in Canada indirectly keeping the air warmer than usual? Smoke cover, heat retention; less moisture so less cooling; whatever. If so, will this continue until the forests grow back?

quote:

the restaurant purchased two new portable cooling units to put behind the rooftop deck’s bar to better keep staff cool.

There's a genius business strategy for Houston. Let's invest in a rooftop deck bar in a climate people will use it 6 weeks a year:

nobody will come May until mid-October as it's miserably hot

native Houstonians won't use it November through March because it's too "cold."

That's a fact every year in Houston not just the last 2 years.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I grew up on the Texas/Louisiana border, 35 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and I tell people- I've had three lifetimes of tropical summers, and you can have it.

Did you grow up in Orange?

Is this people who move there who aren’t used to it that are complaining or long term people?

Other side

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Is this people who move there who aren’t used to it that are complaining or long term people?

Both. We're setting records for night time temps and it's making everybody miserable. Heat index is hitting 100 three or four hours earlier than normal because we're not cooling off at night.

AC's are running more hours so everybody is complaining about power bills too.

We also had an unforecast thunderstorm a few weeks back that surpassed record wind speeds by 15 miles per hour at Bush Airport (the northern part of Houston), and the previous record was from mammoth Cat 4 hurricane (Ike) in '08. Lots of trees grew up in the meat time, and the electric company cut back on tree trimming during COVID so the unforecast thunderstorm took out power for 400,000 people. They did a lot of temporary repairs to the electric grid in the north part of Houston, and now we're getting a lot of power outages and surges. People's ACs are getting fried from power surges. I just had whole house surge protector installed on my electric panel.

NTX, it’ll be 11pm, I’m in bed, and it’s 91 degrees. It’s ridiculous. Hope all the Californians that have invaded here are enjoying it

I’m with Para on this one. I freaking *HATE* the heat. We live in the DFW area of Texas but my in-laws are in Houston. Lord I hate going down there in the summer. I know I’m a puss, but it literally makes me feel ill. Headache and nausea are common during these dog days of summer. I day dream about moving to Wyoming or Montana a lot.

You got to visualize the cold, baby!

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You got to visualize the cold, baby!

Houston area almost my whole life [Houston & Beaumont, 2 years in Austin], this is the hottest I can remember outside of 2011. IIRC we had over 30 days over 100* [true temp] in 2011.

Between AC issues & the heat, we've had the highest electric bills we've ever seen in 11 years of home ownership across 3 houses.

I drove through Houston about 1.5 months ago. Now I have lived in the south for quite a number of years and have been in some really hot places but what I experienced in Houston back in June was ridiculous.

July of 2022, I even suffered through a rotation at JRTC at Fort Polk sleeping out in the field at nights and that was bad. Hell I was even stationed at Polk and that was just as bad. But Houston back in June was worse.

I was driving from El Paso to Tampa in a 26' box truck and slept in the truck both nights. Truck has some sort of fuel saving feature where if you're not driving, it turns the truck off so I slept with the windows open. Slept near Fort Stockton, TX and in Mississippi near some NASA place by the Louisiana-Mississippi border and it was absolutely miserable.

Wife has friends who just moved to the Houston area in the spring, they're from Chicagoland and they're absolutely miserable.

I've always prided myself as someone who can deal very well in the heat and humidity but even I was saying to myself "I need to get the fuck out of here!" Having patrolled in Afghanistan in 112 degree weather over 18 mile days, I've suffered my share.

I'll still take the heat and humidity over snow, though.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Houston area almost my whole life [Houston & Beaumont, 2 years in Austin], this is the hottest I can remember outside of 2011. IIRC we had over 30 days over 100* [true temp] in 2011.

I have not been keeping track, but this summer seems like there have been more than thirty 100+ degree days. Damn miserable.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Houston area almost my whole life [Houston & Beaumont, 2 years in Austin], this is the hottest I can remember outside of 2011. IIRC we had over 30 days over 100* [true temp] in 2011.

I have not been keeping track, but this summer seems like there have been more than thirty 100+ degree days. Damn miserable.

Definitely, heat index wise.
2011, they were consecutive, something like 34 consecutive days over 100

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Houston area almost my whole life [Houston & Beaumont, 2 years in Austin], this is the hottest I can remember outside of 2011. IIRC we had over 30 days over 100* [true temp] in 2011.

Last year was pretty hot in the DFW area. 47 days of 100+ temps.



2011- 71 days, further down the list, 1980 had 69 days.

Thank God we had our new AC system installed before the heat wave settled in. I hear AC guys are working around the clock. A good friend of ours had her's fixed earlier this week, the guy finished up at 10:30pm.

Just saw an article last night about the whole “heat island” thing and never really thought about how that was affecting things.

People say “how did they do it 100 or 200 years ago in these cities”? Well 100 or 200 years ago they didn’t have these huge expanses of black asphalt and concrete and all these other substances that soak up the heat and then radiate it back out.

I also read a while back during when that TV show Revolution was on that cities would basically be uninhabitable if we did lose electricity permanently like was portrayed in that show. Too many modern buildings are completely sealed ecosystems now, and no way to ventilate them naturally. It would simply be too hot to live in them in the summer without electricity.