Look Before You Lock!

Dalhart Weather Review

by Aaron Graves

Temperatures across the Texas panhandle are forecast to reach the upper HOT! Although a 100 degree day is survivable, temperatures inside a parked automobile can be deadly, especially for children. A child dies from heatstroke about once every 10 days as a result of being left alone in a hot vehicle, according to the National Weather Service. 
90's to over 100 for the rest of this week. In other words: 

"Look Before You Lock!" is the slogan making the rounds to remind drivers to remove their children from the car, even if running a quick errand inside a building. Why? The following answers were found on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website www.safercar.gov.

Never leave a child alone in a parked car, even with the windows rolled down, or air conditioning on. Children’s body temperature can heat up 3 to 5 times faster than adults. 

Heatstroke can occur in temperatures as low as 57 degrees. On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside a vehicle can reach deadly levels in just 10 minutes. It does not matter if the sky is cloudy or clear. 

Place an item that you keep on you, like a briefcase or purse, in the back seat next to the car seat, so that you’ll always check the back seat before you leave the car. 

Of the 606 children who died between 1998 and 2013 in hot cars, 29% of those gained access to the car by themselves and became trapped. Therefore, always lock your vehicle doors and trunk and keep the keys out of a child’s reach. Teach them a vehicle is not a play area. If a child is missing, quickly check all vehicles, including the trunk. 

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In other weather news: three tornadoes were reported in the neighborhood last week. Two tornadoes occurred near Stratford and a third near Cactus on Wednesday, July 16. Both were rated EF-0 by the National Weather Service in Amarillo. Utility lines and a small outbuilding near Highway 287 were damaged by the second tornado, and corn stalks suffered the brunt of the one near Cactus. 

The city of Dalhart missed out on the all the excitement - and the rain - on Wednesday. However, Dalhart did enjoy rain on Monday, July 21, as a line of storms rolled through. A total of 0.16" was recorded at the airport by the NWS. We now have 1.14" of precipitation for the month. 

Farmland east of Dalhart and Hartley received up to an inch or more of rain on July 16th, according to Texaspivot.com. Monday's storm brought around 0.75" to farmland west of Dalhart between Highway 87 and Highway 54. 

High and low temps the past week:

July 15: 81, 64

July 16: 88, 61

July 17: 75, 61

July 18: 86, 61

July 19: 93, 63

July 20: 97, 64

July 21: 100, 68