Excessive heat warnings will likely extend into the weekend

NORTH  TEXAS — The tally for 100° days sits at 16 now, thanks to the high of 101° at DFW Thursday. There's plenty more where that came from.

Friday begins a stretch of weather alerts: six to be exact. High temperatures will build into the weekend and the heat index truly moves into the dangerous category.

For the metroplex and counties north and east, an Excessive Heat Warning will go into place at noon Friday and continue into the evening. The First Alert Weather Team expects the warning will be extended through the weekend, and some counties may be added to it.

Another thing to keep an eye on Friday and into the weekend is the elevated grass fire threat to the west.

With high heat index values, low relative humidity, plus very dry conditions thanks to the heat and lack of rain, the risk of a spark spreading quickly will be higher.

It's been a while since we've had this much red on our First Alert 7-Day forecast. Temperatures could potentially drop back to heat advisory criteria by Tuesday and Wednesday, and we may be able to drop the alerts then, but for now, we'd rather everyone be prepared to take extra precautions as we get through this stretch of dangerous heat.