Extreme heat will make it feel more like August than May for Texas, parts of southeastern US

HOUSTON AP Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring was making an unwelcome visit this week 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 degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius Definitely more like August this week than May announced Cameron Self a meteorologist with the National Weather Function s office in the Houston and Galveston area It is not peculiar to have temperatures above degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius in May in Houston and other parts of Texas But getting long stretches of temperatures well in the s that usually holds off till June Self mentioned This week s extreme heat was predicted to have various Texas cities experiencing the longest string of triple-digit days they have ever had before in June commented John Nielsen-Gammon the Texas state climatologist Several cities around North Dakota set record high temperatures in contemporary days with certain shattering highs that stood for well over years While cooler air is expected to provide particular relief for the northern part of the country Texas and states in the southeastern part of the U S were likely to suffer through this heat for at least the next week or so What s causing the unseasonably high temperatures A very strong ridge of high pressure over the south-central United States that is centered over the Gulf of Mexico is responsible for the extreme heat For the next six to days much of south central and the southeastern United States will be warmer than normal with the highest temperatures occurring over parts of Texas and Florida Self announced The same weather system heating up Texas and other southern states was also the same one that helped spike temperatures in the Dakotas Minnesota and parts of the Midwest Nielsen-Gammon disclosed Heat in the Dakotas Minnesota breaks records boosts wildfire conditions In the last limited days the Dakotas Minnesota and southern parts of Canada have seen unusually warm temperatures for this time of year as much as degrees above normal disclosed Mindy Beerends meteorologist-in-charge for the National Weather Institution in Grand Forks North Dakota This is very early for this type of heat she explained Fargo on Sunday hit degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius surpassing the previous high of degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius set in Bismarck on Monday reached degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius latest the record of degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius set in The unseasonably high temperatures along with very low humidity and spreading drought conditions have created unusually dangerous fire conditions in northern Minnesota Gov Tim Walz and other state representatives declared at a briefing Tuesday Weather conditions were expected to improve Thursday when rain and cooler temperatures should give firefighters a break the functionaries disclosed But this is going to be an ongoing battle presumably throughout the majority of the summer Walz commented Minnesota usually experiences a little over wildfires covering about acres per year but the state is already up to covering more than acres including over since Sunday the officers noted Fires have been explosive in nature due to the dry conditions announced Brian Galvin fire chief of the Goodrich Rural Fire Department in central North Dakota About to firefighters farmers and other people responded on Saturday to a fast-moving fire near Lincoln Valley that burned acres Parts of Texas could see triple digit temperature for days Areas like Houston that are closer to the Gulf of Mexico could have their temperatures modified somewhat because water temperatures are still cool enough but parts of Texas farther west of the Gulf are going to see temperatures well over degrees Self mentioned In San Antonio the National Weather System announced high temperatures were expected to rise above degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius through the weekend The Texas Department of Masses Safety petitioned residents to follow various safety tips including staying hydrated and limiting outdoor sessions to stay safe Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America The order only carries authority within the U S Other countries and international institutions continue to use the name the Gulf of Mexico Hotter temperatures earlier in the year is the new normal Sylvia Dee an assistant professor of earth environmental and planetary sciences at Rice University in Houston explained with temperature records being broken somewhere every month and every year heat waves like the one impacting Texas and other parts of the country should not be seen as out of the ordinary Setting change is likely expanding the summer season meaning that hotter temperatures will start earlier and end later Dee stated I think that this is our new normal for sure I think we should be prepared as Texans but also across the country for these changes higher temperatures more persistent heat events Dee revealed Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in St Paul Minnesota and Jack Dura in Bismarck North Dakota contributed to this review Follow Juan A Lozano https twitter com juanlozano Source