Storms threaten one part of the country while a heat wave continues in another part.
Extreme weather — from devastating storms to extreme heat — continues to wreak havoc across the United States.
Since Monday, more than 850 reports of damaging storms have been reported across the country, and nearly two dozen tornadoes have been reported from Colorado to Massachusetts. Ten of those tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service, including an EF3 in upstate New York and an EF1 in eastern Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service currently uses the Enhanced Fujita Scale to rate tornado intensity based on wind speed and severity of damage caused. The scale has six intensity classes from zero to five (EF0, EF1, EF2, EF3, EF4, and EF5), representing increasing wind speed and damage scores. There is also an unknown category (EFU) for tornadoes that cannot be classified due to lack of evidence.
Thunderstorms also dumped 6 to 7 inches of rain in Massachusetts over a short period of time, causing major flash flooding that inundated roads and neighborhoods.
At least two people died due to severe weather Monday — a 28-year-old man in Florence, Alabama, and a 15-year-old boy in Anderson, South Carolina, according to local authorities.
Wednesday's weather forecast shows there is a new threat of severe thunderstorms, extending from Kansas to Georgia. Major cities like Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; And Birmingham, Alabama, could see damaging winds, hail and some tornadoes.
On Thursday, the severe weather threat moves east into the Carolinas, including Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The biggest threat will be damaging winds but an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out.
The same storm system is expected to bring more thunderstorms and heavy rain to the north, from New York, New York to Boston, Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, in the South, the record heat wave is expected to continue in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. Heat index values — a measure of how hot it feels when relative humidity is combined with air temperature — are expected to be around 110 degrees Fahrenheit this week.
On Tuesday, the heat index value reached 113 degrees in Miami, Florida, the highest temperature ever recorded in the city. Parts of the Tampa Bay metropolitan area in Florida reached a heat index of 123 degrees. Temperatures in Naples, Florida, reached 98 degrees, equaling the highest temperature recorded in the city during the month of August.
Lafayette, Louisiana, set a record for 10 consecutive days of temperatures at 100 degrees or more.
Higher than normal temperatures are expected to continue through the end of the week and next week.
The National Weather Service issued high temperature advisories Wednesday morning for about 50 million Americans in nine states, from New Mexico to Florida.
