HOUSTON—Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring was making an unwelcome visit the second week of May to a large portion of the U.S.—from the Dakotas to Texas and other parts of the South—and putting millions of Americans on alert for potentially dangerous temperatures.
In Austin, forecasters warned that the early heat wave could break a century-old record for May of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
“Definitely more like August this week than May,” said Cameron Self, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in the Houston and Galveston area.
It is not unusual to have temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) in May in Houston and other parts of Texas.
“But getting long stretches of temperatures well in the 90s that usually holds off till June,” Self said.
The extreme heat was predicted to have some Texas cities experiencing the longest string of triple-digit days they have ever had before in June, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist.
Several cities around North Dakota set record high temperatures in recent days, with some shattering highs that stood for well over 100 years. (AP)