It’s been no secret recently that Austin has undergone something of a heatwave. In fact, that would be putting it quite mildly. Obviously, heatwaves can cause problems such as melting specific items or water shortages, however – phone signal is typically not one of the first problems that springs to mind when thinking about heat.

Nonetheless, many Austin locals recently took to social media to moan about their terrible phone signal – and this led to everyone saying the same thing, that the blistering heat was to blame. And, based on the image that recently circulated below, they may well be on to something.

So, how does heat affect phone signal, or is it just an urban myth? Well, it’s true that mobile phones, like any electronic devices, generate heat during operation. Excessive heat can affect the performance and functionality of the internal components, including the antennas and radio frequency (RF) circuitry responsible for transmitting and receiving signals. With this in mind, yes – the heat may genuinely be an issue.

Apparently, this caused issues with both texts and calls, with one local saying, “Yes. More Verizon issues here. 5-7 second dead times during a call. Multiple occurrences. Very irritating” whilst another added, “Yeah, mine’s been noticeably worse this last week too.” Based on this, hopefully this is a short-term issue that will be resolved once the heat returns to normal.