South Texas is expected to feel the most severe heat threat next week.
Spring could be short-lived in the South, with the first major heatwave of 2024 expected to hit southern states from Texas to Florida next week.
After a year of frigid cold snaps, atmospheric rivers, and destructive tornadoes across the United States, forecasts for the upcoming season are predicting an intense heat wave that could affect Americans across the country. Masu.
Long-range weather forecasts from May 7 to May 11 predict that cities from Houston to Tampa to Atlanta will experience significantly warmer-than-normal temperatures.
By mid-to-late next weekend, many daily high temperature records will be broken across the South and Southeast, with highs likely in the 90s.
With temperatures rising for the first time across the southern region, the National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting heat risk levels ranging from Level 2 ('Moderate') to the highest level of Level 4 ('Extreme') depending on location. There is. .
South Texas is expected to feel the most severe heat threat next week, with the NWS forecasting a Level 4 heatwave to begin Tuesday and continue through the weekend.
The NWS notes that “this level of rare heatwave provides little relief overnight, and without effective cooling and adequate hydration, anyone can be affected,” and that the effects “will affect most health care systems.” It added that the effects could be felt in “heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.”
By next Wednesday, Level 2 moderate heat will blanket Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and southern Georgia, extending into parts of the Carolinas and Virginia.
The NWS says moderate heat levels “will affect most people who are heat-sensitive, especially those without effective cooling systems or adequate hydration,” and the effects will “affect some It could also occur in medical systems and heat-sensitive industries.”
Extreme heat could become an increasingly dangerous reality this summer after 2023 became the hottest year on record, according to a report last year from Copernicus, the European climate change service.
Last summer saw unprecedented triple-digit temperatures across the southern United States, with El Paso, Texas experiencing a record 44 consecutive days of temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in June and July.
Phoenix, Arizona has had 31 consecutive days of temperatures above 110 degrees, beating the previous record of 18 consecutive days.
Last year, temperatures in California's Death Valley National Park exceeded 120 degrees for 17 consecutive days from July 14 to July 30, according to the National Park Service.
Around the world, the planet recorded four consecutive days of record average global temperatures in July.
ABC News' Julia Jacobo and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.