Heat Sears Central US This Weekend as Hawaii on Flood Watch

Heat will continue to sear the Great Plains and central Mississippi Valley this weekend, as well as pushing into Texas, Oklahoma and even the eastern US, prompting the nation’s largest grid operator to call on customers to conserve energy. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is forecast to reach 100F (37.8C) Friday, after tying a daily record of 99F on Thursday. That was 11F warmer than normal, the US Weather Prediction Center said. In addition to testing daily highs in 82 places, overnight low temperatures are expected to be near or at record warm levels at 122 sites around the US through Monday, the center said. That includes a forecast 71F in New York’s Central Park late Friday, which would come within a degree of toppling a 1972 record for a warm night. The combination of high daytime temperatures and warm nights will lead to moderate to extreme heat risk — levels 2 to 4 on a 4-step scale — across large parts of the central US this weekend, the weather center said. Power grids serving more than 100 million North Americans are bracing for a demand surge as the unseasonable heat strains electrical equipment scheduled for repairs. PJM Interconnection LLC issued a level 2 energy emergency alert for three mid-Atlantic utility zones in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC, according to a website notice. PJM simultaneously asked consumers — mainly industrial and commercial — enrolled in demand-response programs to curtail usage. Storm Watch Turning to the Pacific, flood watches are up across the Hawaiian Islands through Friday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Norbert move west across the chain, the National Weather Service said. Norbert broke up about 780 miles (1,255 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii Tuesday, but it’s still pumping heavy rain into the region. Flooding may close roads and cause damage in urban areas. The US National Hurricane Center is also watching three other potential storms in the eastern and central Pacific. Two off Mexico’s southwest coast have a 80% chance of becoming a tropical system in the next seven days, while a third, east of the Hawaiian Islands, has a 30% chance. Copyright 2026 Bloomberg. Topics USA Flood