TOPSHOT – Traffic warden Rai Rogers mans his street corner during an 8-hour shift under the hot sun in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 12, 2023, where temperatures reached 106 degrees amid an ongoing heatwave. More than 50 million Americans are set to bake under dangerously high temperatures this week, from California to Texas to Florida, as a heat wave builds across the southern United States. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, although the season does not officially start for another four weeks, people in some parts of Texas can expect triple-digit temperatures over the long holiday weekend.
SEVERE STORMS SATURDAY
The National Weather Service's office in Norman, Oklahoma, compared Saturday to “ a gasoline-soaked brush pile.” Forecasters said any storms that form could explode with large hail, dangerous winds and tornadoes.
“There’s a small chance most of the matches are duds and we only see a few storms today. Still, that’s not a match I would want to play with. It only takes one storm to be impactful,” the office said via Facebook.
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In North Texas, seven people are dead, including two children, after a tornado warning in Cooke and Denton counties Saturday night.
SCORCHING TEMPERATURES SUNDAY
Excessive heat, especially for May, is the danger in South Texas, where the heat index was forecast to approach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some spots during the weekend. Actual temperatures will be lower, although still in triple-digit territory, but the humidity will make it feel that much hotter.
The region is on the north end of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico to South America, National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor said.
Taylor said Sunday looks like the hottest day, with record highs for late May forecast for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, and San Antonio.
Brownsville and Harlingen near the Texas-Mexico border already set new records Saturday for the May 25 calendar date — 99 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively — according to the weather service.
RED FLAG FIRE WARNINGS IN FIVE STATES
Red Flag fire warnings were also in place in West Texas, all of New Mexico and parts of Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado. Humidity was very low, under 10%, and wind gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) were recorded.
“We’ve got very dry air, warm temperatures and strong winds creating a high fire danger over a wide area ... that can lead to rapidly spreading or uncontrollable fires,” Taylor said.
WEATHER WREAKS HAVOC ON UNITED STATES
Meanwhile, several inches of snow fell Friday into early Saturday in Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Canadian border.
April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Climate change is heightening the severity of storms around the world.
April saw the United States' second-highest number of tornadoes on record. So far for 2024, the country is already 25% ahead of the average number of twisters, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman.
Iowa was hit hard this week, when a deadly twister devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage elsewhere in the state.
The storm system causing the severe weather was expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay the Indianapolis 500 auto race Sunday in Indiana and more severe storms in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The risk of severe weather moves into North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.
