Meteorologists warn Oklahoma could see tornadoes; Texas can bake in triple-digit temperatures

OKLAHOMA CITY — Forecasters warned of another day of increased risk for dangerous tornadoes in the Midwest on Saturday and told people in South Texas they could experience triple-digit temperatures — and that’s with four weeks to go before the start of summer.

The Oklahoma Weather Service likened the day to “a pile of gasoline-soaked brush.” Forecasters aren’t sure which storms will form, but any that do could explode with large hail, dangerous winds and tornadoes.

“There is a small chance that most matches will be failures and we only see a few storms today. Still, this is not a game I want to play. All it takes is one storm to make an impact,” the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, wrote on Facebook.

Excessive heat, especially in May, is the danger in South Texas, where the heat index is forecast to approach 120 degrees F (49 degrees C) over the weekend. The region is at the northern end of a heat dome that stretches from Mexico to South America, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zack Taylor.

Sunday looks like the hottest day, with record highs expected in late May for Austin, Brownsville, Dallas and San Antonio, Taylor said.

The temperature was approaching 90 degrees F (32 degrees) and the heat index was 104 F (40 C) in Brownsville, on the U.S.-Mexico border, mid-morning Saturday, according to the National Weather Service .

Red flag fire warnings are also in effect in West Texas, throughout New Mexico and in parts of Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado, where very low humidity, below 10%, wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 km) /h) combine with high temperatures. .

“We have very dry air, warm temperatures and strong winds creating a large fire danger over a wide area… which could lead to uncontrollable or rapidly spreading fires,” Taylor said.

Meanwhile, several inches of snow fell from Friday into early Saturday morning in Rolla, North Dakota, about 10 miles from the Canadian border.

April and May were busy months for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest. Climate change is increasing the severity of storms around the world.

April had the second highest number of tornadoes ever recorded in the country. And by 2024, the U.S. is already 25% ahead of the average number of tornadoes, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Iowa has been hit the hardest so far this week. A deadly tornado devastated Greenfield. And other storms brought flooding and wind damage to other parts of the state.

The storm system causing the severe weather is expected to move east as the Memorial Day weekend continues, bringing rain that could delay Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 auto race in Indiana and more thunderstorms. severe in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.

The risk of severe weather hits North Carolina and Virginia on Monday, forecasters said.