A dangerous heat wave that helped spawn deadly tornadoes in Texas and Florida threatened on Friday to bring more extreme weather to the South, prompting the National Weather Service to warn Americans to limit time outdoors over the long Juneteenth weekend.
At least four people were killed in twisters that touched down on Thursday in the panhandles of Texas and Florida, where flooding also forced almost 150 people out of their homes, officials said.
Power was out to nearly 500,000 customers in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi on Friday, according to Poweroutage.us.
A mix of high humidity and temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) could push heat index values above 115 in some parts of the South this weekend, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mosier said. The combination could cause atmospheric instability and create conditions ripe for more destructive storms….