Heat warnings expand into more of Southeast, Midwest as temperatures and humidity soars

It's always hot in the summer in the U.S. Southeast, but even by the standards of Florida and the Carolinas, the steamy heat wave on tap for the region Saturday into the coming week is a little extreme.

The National Weather Service issued heat advisories for a large swath of the East Coast from central Florida to Virginia through much of the weekend. Highs in the upper 90s were forecast for central Florida, with heat indexes reaching 105 to 110 degrees. The outlook was similar up through Georgia and the Carolinas into Virginia.

Extreme heat warnings were out for much of eastern North Carolina, as far inland as Raleigh, and extending into a corner of South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach. Forecasters warned of dangerously hot conditions with temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 in some areas on Sunday and heat indexes up to 115 through Sunday evening.

The weather service said several major metropolitan areas in the Southeast — including Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina, Greenville-Spartanburg in South Carolina, and Atlanta in Georgia — were expected to face an extreme heat risk for several days, with minimal overnight relief. It said over 30 million people would likely be affected at the peak of the heat wave through midweek.

A hot, humid weekend was also in store for the Midwest. Extreme heat watches were out for eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and southern Minnesota. Heat indexes were expected to reach 96 on Saturday and go even higher on Sunday in Minnesota.

And an extreme heat warning was out for the St. Louis through Tuesday with highs around 99 and heat indexes around 110 forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

Parts of Iowa were hit by storms Saturday morning that dumped between 2 and 5 inches of rain in some areas and triggered flash flood warnings.