STORY: About 35 mln people in U.S. South brace for heat wave
DATELINE: June 17, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:14
LOCATION: HOUSTON, U.S.
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of streets scenes of Houston

STORYLINE:

From the U.S. south-central state of Texas to southeastern Florida, about 35 million people are bracing for a widespread heat wave that is expected to last for days, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) forecast on Thursday.

The heat wave in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Florida is likely to break records and raise the risk of wildfires and heat-related illnesses, the weather service warned.

"It wouldn't be an active summer weather pattern without oppressive heat and much of Texas and the Deep South will have plenty heading into the beginning of the holiday weekend," the NWS said in its forecast.

A record-setting June heat wave is building up in many parts of Texas. The weather service said that high temperatures in the area could hit triple digits by early next week, earlier than average for the region.

In Austin, the capital city of Texas, the hottest June 14-20 period is on record with an average high temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit over the next week, the First Warning Weather team predicted.

A new tool developed by Climate Central, known as the Climate Shift Index, attributes the heat wave to manmade climate change by showing fingerprints of climate change on day-to-day weather at a particular location.

Later this week or early next week, the heat index in southern and western Texas could climb up as high as 120 degrees, according to the NWS, warning health risks for people working outdoors or living indoors without air conditioning.

Amid the heat wave, electricity demand is expected to rise in Texas, the second most populous state in the United States, later this week, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas which manages about 90 percent of the state's electricity load, said in a statement on Wednesday night.

However, power supply will be enough to meet the demand and an "energy emergency" is not expected, said the council.

Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 90s to potentially the lower 100s in parts of Louisiana, but heat index values will be between 108 and 115 degrees due to the humidity over the weekend and potentially into next week.

The weather service also warned of the chance of strong thunderstorms and possible tornadoes for the southern U.S. region.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Houston, U.S.
(XHTV)