Weather in Dallas in August

A hard month. August asks something of you. Go in knowing what. Daytime highs average 36.5 °C and the afternoon is not negotiable — outdoor plans move to early morning or evening.

August ranks 12 of 12 — near the bottom of Dallas's year. November is the month that works, and the swing between the two is 47 points, which is a different holiday rather than a slightly better one.

Rain on 9 days, 2 of them heavy. Enough to need a plan B, not enough to need a plan around it. Pack for heat management rather than style: shade, water, and a schedule that gives up on the middle of the day.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 20 days of the month clear 35 °C — that is not a heatwave, it is the month. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest August day reached 45.2 °C and the coldest night fell to 16.1 °C, and the wettest single day dropped 43 mm — roughly 69% of the month's rain in one day.

August is moderately variable: 14 mm in the driest year against 141 mm in the wettest, around an average of 62 mm. Roughly two Augusts in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 9 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and humidity is unremarkable at 58%.

How August sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 36.2 °C in July, 36.5 here, 32.4 in September. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in August

13.4 hours of daylight, losing 0.9 hours across the month. That is between Dallas's extremes of 14.3 and 10 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 35.1 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage.

How busy it gets

Off season. The genuine off season: cheapest by a distance, with the caveat that some tours and restaurants close entirely.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

August in Dallas versus nearby

If Dallas is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Shreveport is close enough to be a coin toss — within a degree on temperature, 2 days more rain. Oklahoma City is close enough to be a coin toss — 2.5 °C cooler, 1 day more rain.

So: August is a compromise. November is 47 points better and is what Dallas is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Dallas

See all twelve months in Dallas, or where else to go in August.