Time to turn up the heat! Over the next week, significant heat carrying potentially record-breaking temperatures will begin to form in the south-central United States.
Ridging currently concentrated in north-central Mexico will begin strengthening and building northwards throughout the week. This will allow temperatures of three degrees to gradually rise north from South Texas into other parts of the south-central US over the weekend.
While the triple-digit temperatures themselves are miserable enough, a few other factors are at play that will add to the misery.
Overnight lows won’t drop below 75 degrees for much of the area during this period. When there isn’t enough cooling at night, the body struggles to “reset” from the daytime heat. This makes heat exhaustion/shock more likely if not given proper care.
Also, at least for the eastern part of the area in question, the dew point will be quite high. So while the actual temperature could fall between 95 and 110 degrees, it could “feel like” close to 120 degrees at some point this weekend.
We can already see rising temperatures across the south-central US. While air temperatures are often in the 90s lows across southern Texas and Louisiana, when you add humidity, the heat index, or “feels like” temperature, is approaching or rising to three letters. number.
Let’s talk about thermal safety:
- Reduce or rearrange outdoor activities to avoid exposure to the sun and extreme heat.
- Wear light, loose, light-colored clothing.
- Keep water. Drink water even if you don’t feel thirsty.
- Stay as cool as you can.
- Use air conditioning if available.
- Close the sunshade during the day to reduce the indoor temperature.
- Take a cool shower or bath if needed.
- Check up on your friends, family and neighbors – especially if they are older or sick. Make sure they stay calm and offer help if needed.
These tips and other heat safety tips can be found through National Weather Service. Stay calm and stay safe!
About the author
Meghan Gulledge
Meteorologist – ’22 Mississippi State Writer for Weather.us and Weathermodels.com. Focus on weather communication. BoyMom x1, CatMom ​​x5. Twitter: @MegGulledgeWX
