Texas-style heat to surge into north-central US, skyrocket by as much as 30 degrees

Following a taste of fall-like air across the Midwest, a return of mid-summer heat is in store by next week with temperature shooting upward by 20 to even 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

The heat will remain extreme for Texas into next week, but for people in the north-central United States who have enjoyed refreshingly cool conditions, it will be heating up substantially in the coming days, AccuWeather meteorologists advise. Thunderstorms will also be on the prowl into the end of the week in parts of the region.

A vast region from northern and western Texas to much of Oklahoma and portions of Louisiana and Arkansas has experienced frequent days of extreme heat even for southern U.S. August standards, with temperatures 5-10 degrees above the high historical average.

Even though some of the edge was taken off the heat in portions of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and northeastern Texas in the past couple of days, heat will build with a vengeance later this week to next week as high pressure strengthens.

"A storm charging into the West Coast late this week into this weekend with much cooler air will reorient and stretch the heat dome across a wide swath of the central United States this weekend to next week," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

Dallas has experienced highs at or above 100 F since Aug. 13, compared to a historical average high in the mid-90s. After a couple of days with highs in the upper 90s to near 100 into Thursday, highs in the low 100s will make a comeback from Friday to early next week.

The epicenter of the extreme heat will be over the southern High Plains, with highs remaining in the low 100s to perhaps as high as 110 through early next week, when daily record highs will be challenged.

AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will reach 110-115 degrees in many locations in Texas.

A shift of the jet stream will allow heat to build northward over much of the Plains and into more of the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes region this weekend to next week.

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Temperatures will trend upward from the September and October-like levels of 10-15 degrees or so below the historical average from the middle of this week to 6-12 degrees above the historical average by early next week.

"For example, Chicago's highs in the low to mid-70s on Monday and Tuesday will be swapped with highs in the low to mid-90s early next week. St. Louis can expect highs to trend upward from the mid-70s on Wednesday to the mid- to upper 90s early next week. Highs in the mid-70s at midweek in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Detroit will be replaced with highs near 90 by early next week," Buckingham explained.

How long the heat lasts once it settles in over the north-central region will depend on the lingering strength of the storm that will send much cooler air into parts of the West this weekend.

Should that storm remain strong, it could bring a fast-moving sweep of cool air from the northern Plains to the Midwest at midweek. Should the storm weaken while traveling toward the Canada border, then extreme heat may continue or only be trimmed slightly for the middle and latter part of next week over the north-central region.

Severe thunderstorms to roam the Plains, Upper Midwest

Thunderstorms are also in the offing for part of the region. Into the end of the week, pockets of thunderstorms, some severe, will affect areas from the eastern slopes of the Rockies and High Plains to part of the Upper Midwest.

Storms from Wednesday afternoon to Wednesday night will extend from just east of Interstate 25 to the plains of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Torrential downpours, hail and strong wind gusts will be the main threats.

On Thursday, the greatest severe thunderstorm potential will tend to split into two pockets. One pocket will focus from Minnesota to the eastern part of the Dakotas. The other patch of locally severe storms will tend to converge over a region from eastern Colorado to the western parts of Nebraska and Kansas.

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