'Immense misery': 'Dangerous' hot weather to continue across South this weekend amid heat wave
"Dangerous" heat will continue across much of the South through the weekend, the National Weather Service said, as high temperatures are forecast to soar into the upper-90s and low 100s from the southern Plains to the eastern Gulf Coast.
The heat is due to an intense "heat dome" that will remain parked over the southern U.S. into the weekend, increasing energy demands and, with the humidity, posing a significant risk of heat-related illnesses, AccuWeather said.
Heat advisories have been issued from central Texas to the western Florida Peninsula as heat indices potentially approach 115 degrees Friday.
Excessive heat warnings have been posted for parts of Louisiana and southern Mississippi as well, including New Orleans, which is on pace for its hottest June on record, the weather service said.
EXPLAINER: Record-high temperatures from heat dome affect millions
In all, more than 40 million Americans were under some form of heat alert Friday, mostly in the South but also in the Northwest, which is enduring its own heat wave.
Some daily record highs are forecast in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana to Texas over the weekend, AccuWeather said.
On Thursday, at least nine states hit 100 degrees and at least nine high-temperature marks were set or broken, according to the weather service.
In the Midwest, over 1,400 daily high-temperature records were broken or tied so far in June across the region, with most records falling from June 12-22, according to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.
“It’s easy to look at these figures and forget the immense misery they represent. People who can’t afford air conditioning and people who work outdoors have only one option, to suffer,” said Texas A&M climate scientist Andrew Dessler, who was in College Station, where the temperature tied a record at 102 degrees Thursday.
“Those of us with air conditioning may not physically suffer, but we are prisoners of the indoors,” he added.
In North Carolina, state climatologist Kathie Dello said, “in the southeastern U.S. many lack access to sufficient or stable cooling or cannot afford to use their home cooling systems. Heat morbidity and mortality is among our greatest public health risks in a changing climate.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat wave forecast to hit South this weekend, including Texas, Florida
