Dangerous Southern US heat wave forecast conditions are pushing heat indices in Texas to feel like 110 degrees on Sunday, while warnings and advisories spread across a broad swath of the South. The heat is expected to last into the workweek, keeping the region under prolonged stress.
Extreme heat warnings cover a large part of Texas, and heat advisories reach from Amarillo to Oklahoma City and down to New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi. That puts residents across several cities in the path of the same hot, humid air mass, with little relief built into the day.
Texas and the South
The forecast points to record-breaking heat continuing on Sunday in the South, with the core danger centered in Texas and neighboring areas. The heat index there, which combines temperature and humidity, is expected to make the air feel like 110 degrees.
The broad spread of advisories from Amarillo to Oklahoma City and on to New Orleans and Jackson shows the heat is not confined to one corridor. For people working outdoors, commuting, or relying on cooling that cannot keep up, the practical issue is sustained exposure through Sunday and then again into the workweek.
Joe Lombardo also declared a state of emergency on Saturday for Washoe County as firefighters and emergency crews responded to the Hawk Fire. The fire ignited in the hills northwest of Reno and grew overnight to more than 10,500 acres, with numerous evacuations and hundreds of homes threatened.
West and Northwest
At the same time, dry and warm conditions are expected to persist Sunday in parts of the West and Northwest, where red-flag warnings are in effect in some areas. The West also faces a slight risk of severe storms, and those storms could bring damaging winds, large hail, lightning, and spotty flooding.
The fire risk is sharpened by dry conditions across the West, including extreme snow drought from this winter and a lack of appreciable rain over the spring and summer. That leaves plenty of dry fuel available for lightning to start new fires even as the fire threat is expected to be lower on Sunday than in the recent period.
Wind gusts of up to 30 mph were reported in the Reno area, and gusts up to 40 mph were reported on Saturday in the mountainous areas and on downslopes where the Hawk Fire is burning. The immediate question for residents is how long the heat warnings and advisories will remain in effect, and the forecast only says the stretch into the workweek will continue.
