Right now in Dallas, the air is about 87°F, but the model estimates the asphalt under your dog's paws is closer to 87°F — the surface and air have nearly converged because the pavement is shedding the day's stored heat after dark. That reading puts Dallas in the caution range, where short, shade-hugging walks are the most a paw should take. Air temperature alone would have told you none of this — the pavement, not the forecast, is what your dog actually stands on.
Across the 19 hours left today, the pavement in Dallas is projected to top out near 153°F around 1 PM, when the air will be about 106°F — a 48°F gap between the forecast your weather app shows and the surface your dog walks on. The surface is holding roughly flat over the next three hours, so there is no meaningfully cooler hour coming soon — choose shade and grass rather than waiting it out.
In an average August, Dallas sees highs around 96°F and overnight lows near 78°F. At highs like that, sun-baked pavement can easily top 120–130°F by early afternoon, so the walkable hours cluster around dawn and after sunset. As a seasonal rule of thumb, the safest windows are before about 9:00 AM and after about 6:00 PM.
Dallas loses its all-day safe window in 5 months of the year — May through September — and August is one of them. The year peaks in August at an average high of 96°F against 57°F in January, a 40°F swing that decides how much of the day belongs to your dog.
Dallas sits about 9 miles from Irving, close enough that the two usually run within a degree or two of each other — if your walk crosses between them, either page answers the question. Street-level conditions still differ more than city-level ones do: a shaded side street and an open parking lot half a block apart can be twenty degrees apart underfoot.
Whatever the number says, confirm it with your hand: press the back of it flat on the pavement for seven seconds. If you can't hold it there, neither can your dog. On a day reading this warm in Dallas, flat-faced breeds like pugs and bulldogs, plus seniors and young puppies with thinner pads, should sit out the heat entirely — subtract about 10°F from any safe threshold for them. If you must cross hot ground, protective booties or a quick coat of paw wax are the only real barrier between paw pads and the asphalt.