Five stories that have North Texas talking: it鈥檚 hot and dry out there; Tax-Free Weekend is here; Dallas is a dangerous red-light runner city; and more.
North Texas has gone 30 days in a row without rain, the National Weather Service says. We鈥檙e not close to breaking a record 鈥� the record for most consecutive days without precipitation was back in 2000 when we didn鈥檛 get rain for 55 days (July 30 to Sept. 22). Waco has gone 38 days without any measurable rain, the National Weather Service says.
The latest drought report shows the drought hasn鈥檛 returned to North Texas, but it has returned to some parts of East Texas. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly 5 percent of the state is considered to be in a moderate drought. And a small chunk 鈥� less than 1 percent 鈥� is classified as being in a severe drought. But about 28 percent of the state is now considered to be abnormally dry 鈥� and that includes parts of North Texas, including Dallas, Tarrant and Rockwall counties.
Just a few weeks ago, .
The forecast doesn鈥檛 call for rain this weekend. There is a chance of rain Tuesday. Temperatures should climb above 100 degrees for the next several days. A heat advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Monday as temperatures could reach 107 degrees in some parts.
- Tax-Free Weekend is here. The state鈥檚 annual sales tax holiday is Friday through Sunday. The law drops sales taxes on most clothing, school supplies, shoes and backpacks 鈥� as long as they鈥檙e under $100. The Dallas Morning News has Check out the
- Dallas is the seventh most dangerous city in the U.S. for red-light running. That鈥檚 according to , which looked at fatalities in cities from 2004-2013. Houston is the country鈥檚 worst city. Phoenix was No. 2 and Los Angeles was No. 3. This week is National . More than 7,000 people have been killed between 2004-2013 due to red-light running. The national coalition says more than 3.7 million drivers in the U.S. 鈥� and a large percentage of the violations happened during the summer.
- When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was arrested earlier this week in Collin County, he didn鈥檛 wear the traditional mugshot towel. The Dallas Morning News and Mike Drago with the newspaper . Drago , the statewide public radio newsmagazine. 鈥淚t was interesting that he was spared the indignity of the towel treatment鈥� that any of the rest of us would get if we were hauled in for, say, an unpaid traffic ticket,鈥� Drago told Texas Standard. Paxton has been indicted on felony securities fraud charges alleging that he . .
- Watch the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders re-create Dez Bryant鈥檚 infamous 鈥渘o-catch.鈥� 鈥淲hile distraught Cowboys fans spent weeks and over Bryant's overturned touchdown catch at a crucial moment in the team's divisional round to the in the playoffs [last January], it's good to know that their cheerleaders have a sense of humor about the historic .鈥� Here鈥檚 the video:
[h/t 四虎影院's Stephen Becker]
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