Forecasters Warn Oklahoma May See Tornadoes; Texas Could Bake In Triple-Digit Temperatures

Forecasters are warning people in south Texas they may experience triple-digit temperatures — with four weeks to go before summer starts.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Forecasters are warning of another day of heightened risk of dangerous tornadoes in the Midwest on Saturday and telling people in south Texas they may experience triple-digit temperatures — and that’s with four weeks to go before summer starts.

The weather service in Oklahoma compared the day to “a gasoline-soaked brush pile.” Forecasters aren’t certain storms will form, but any that do could explode with large hail, dangerous winds and tornadoes.

“There’s a small chance most of the matches are duds and we only see a few storms today. Still, that’s not a match I would want to play with. It only takes one storm to be impactful,” the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, wrote on Facebook.

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

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