Dallas, Texas – Drivers, outdoor workers and anyone spending time outside across much of the South face escalating heat beginning this week as temperatures climb into the upper 90s and low 100s, with heat index values topping 110 degrees in many communities. Overnight temperatures are also expected to remain unusually warm, offering little relief and increasing the risk of heat-related illness.
According to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center, a prolonged heat wave is expanding from the Southeast into the Central and Southern Plains, with widespread highs between 95 and 105 degrees through next weekend. Forecasters warn that several consecutive days of dangerous heat, combined with overnight lows of 75 to 80 degrees, will create major to locally extreme HeatRisk across portions of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas.
Major metropolitan areas including Dallas, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Birmingham and New Orleans are expected to experience the greatest impacts. While tropical moisture near the Gulf Coast could keep some locations slightly cooler at times, humidity will drive heat index values above 110 degrees in parts of the region.
Residents should avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the afternoon, drink plenty of water, seek air-conditioned spaces whenever possible and check frequently on older adults, children and anyone without reliable cooling. Pets should also have constant access to shade and fresh water.
The Weather Prediction Center also indicates the dangerous heat will gradually expand farther west into the Desert Southwest and north into the Plains later this week. Additional heat advisories and warnings are likely as this prolonged stretch of extreme temperatures continues.
