oregon and the state of washington. so 80% of the u.s. is abnormally dry now. 46% of the u.s. is currently if a severe drought which is pretty much the largest area in drought since basically 1956. so very dry year here across the lower 48 for us. again, we do have that ongoing heat wave across parts of the central plains. triple digits in dallas. 102. 96 in kansas city. the other concern is that when you factor in the humidity, it feels even hotter. we have a number of heat advisories in place across missouri, kansas, oklahoma, northern parts of texas. we re talking about heat index values in excess of 100 degrees up to 115 degrees. what a heat index value of 115 means is that when you head outdoors, it feels like 115 degrees, very dangerous stuff. as we head into the next couple of days, we re not really going to be seeing much relief as far as those top temperatures, triple digits for today. into tomorrow, 108 could be your high temperature in tulsa, oklahoma. kansas city, 102 for t
94 in stick. triple digits across parts of the planes 105 is the high temperature we are expecting in kansas city. you factor in the humidity of course it feels even worse. dc you could see the heat index value of 106 degrees 101 nashville and 104 in new york city. as we head into the afternoon hours we will see sours and storms coming up that will be bringing in relief from the hot temperatures very shortly. before it does so showers and storms across parts of the northeast, philadelphia, dc we will be seeing some of the showers and storms later on today. some could produce large hail and damaging wind gusts. keep that in mind if you have warnings issued across the area especially in the yellow zone make sure to seek shelter immediately as we could see strong storms rolling through. otherwise the frontal boundary will bring in the hot temperatures. by friday some areas could be below average this time of year. big relief philadelphia friday
carolina in through parts of also, florida so, again, continuing to see the heatwave in place and if we click ahead take a look at high temperatures for today. we could see more records being set. 104 in atlanta. 104 this afternoon in the city of nashville, st. louis, whew, 103 this afternoon and even in columbia, south carolina looking very hot with a high temperature at 106. the other big problem is that you factor in the humidity and it feels even hotter, so today s heat index value in the next graphics, shows we re going to be dealing with triple digit heat temperatures or values for a large area of the country. south carolina, north carolina, d.c. could feel like 101 degrees could you ve got to be make sure to high hydrated and worry light colored or loose fitting clothing, should help you out and try to stay in a.c. head to your shelters if you don t have any power this afternoon. as we head into tomorrow, heat
jenna: happening now prntion still no relief unfortunately for folks in the central plains, the dangerous heat continues with dallas seeing its 38th consecutive day of more than 100-degree temps, at this point, maria, when is this going to stop? unfortunately, not any time soon. yes, today will mark the 38th day of consecutive days of 100-degree weather for dal a. texas, and the forecast is for more 100-degree days coming up through the end of this weekend. take a look at some of our current heat index value, it feels like 104 in new orleans when you head out the door, 98 in memphis. that s extreme heat and it s early in the day. those temperatureless continue to climb, with dallas expecting a high of 106 degrees. there are, of course, more excessive heat warnings across the region, as well as heat advisories and some advisories across the carolinas and the state of georgia.
it s going to continue as we head into most of next week, and it s just a big high pressure system across central portions of the u.s. and why it s so hot and going to continue to be so and it s not just the hot temperatures, but how humid it is out there and makes things worse. so when you factor in the humidity into the temperatures and you ve got the heat index value and take a look at values out there right now. and 111 in kansas city and 104 in minneapolis and it s dangerous so you have a number of excessive heat warnings as well as heat advisories across portions of the u.s. and we could see values up to 115 and many of them will remain in place as we head to next week, as we mentioned dallas, texas 30 days in a row of temperatures of 100 degrees or more, the second largest 100 degree streak on record. the largest 42 days and we re on the way to breaking that one. triple digits most of next week and a the lot of sunshine, the other problem