The heat is on! This is when it peaks for the South

You’ve probably heard a lot about the big winter storms that affected California and the snow falling this week across the Northeast, but the heat will not budge across the South.

On Monday and Tuesday, temperatures across Texas and the southern Plains into the Southeast will be between 5 and 8 degrees above normal, with cities like Austin likely coming close to the 87-degree record and West Palm Beach, Fla., likely breaking the record and hitting 90 degrees. Of course, areas between Texas and Florida will also feel the heat, even if temperatures are not close to setting records.

The heat is ramping up and the peak heat, for many, will be on Wednesday afternoon as afternoon highs in the mid to high 80s will reign across Florida, southern Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and the southern half of Texas. There could be at least 17 stations that could break the heat records in the afternoon.

The afternoon heat is worrisome as many are out and about and perhaps even working outdoors. But the nighttime heat is especially concerning as there will likely be many minimum warm temperatures breaking records across the South.

There are at least 47 stations from the Mid-Atlantic to the Rio Grande Valley, including the entire Southeast, where temperatures will likely establish new warm records in the mornings. Low on Thursday morning will range from the low 60s across the Carolinas to the low 70s westward over Texas. Knoxville, Tenn., will likely break the old record of 57 degrees established in 1997 and only drop to 59 degrees. Atlanta’s record of 64, also established in 1997, will likely be broken too as temperatures will struggle to drop below 65 degrees.

This exceptional warmth to end February and to start March is courtesy of a dome of high-pressure system in the middle levels of the atmosphere that continues to dominate the Southeast’s weather. The heat will struggle to march its way out and will be dominating the Southeast and even parts of the Northeast through Saturday. By Sunday, a strong enough frontal system will finally be able to break in and allow the rain to move over the Southeast and bring a change of winds, which will bring cooler temperatures to end the weekend.