Extreme heat, tropical storm threat wrap up wild weather week

Jun 18, 2021

Alex Peebles Reporter

By Alex Peebles (Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer)

After millions of Americans had to deal with extreme, record-breaking heat this week, now some are bracing for a tropical storm threat.

Parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are under a tropical storm warning for what is expected to be Tropical Storm Claudette.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a state of emergency Thursday night.

“The expectation as this weather event will be focused on rain, not so much on the wind,” Gov. Edwards said. “Although 35 to 40 mile an hour wind when you have saturated ground can easily uproot trees and so forth. So that hazard is still there.”

Up to 20 inches of rain is expected for parts of the Gulf Coast region.

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season got off to an early start for the seventh straight year. However, experts don’t believe it will be as busy as the record-breaking 2020 season.

The weekend storm threat wraps up a week dominated by a heat wave hitting much of the Western United States.

About 40 million Americans had to deal with triple-digit temperatures. 50 million were under excessive heat warnings.

Death Valley was the hottest spot, hitting 128 degrees Thursday. That broke the previous daily record set more than 100 years ago.

Las Vegas also hit a record, reaching 114 degrees.

Gwen Baumgardner: WITH STORMS AND RECORD BREAKING HEAT — IT DEFINITELY FEELS LIKE WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER, BUT THAT DOESN’T START FOR A FEW MORE DAYS.
ALREADY THIS WEEK — ABOUT 40 MILLION AMERICANS ENDURED TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPS.
DEATH VALLEY WAS THE WORLD’S HOT SPOT… OFFICIALLY HITTING 128 DEGREES THURSDAY.
SOME THERMOMETERS READ EVEN HIGHER.
IT BROKE THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD… SET MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO.
LAS VEGAS ALSO BROKE RECORD TEMPS, AT A NOT-SO-COOL 114 DEGREES.
IT’S A DIFFERENT BEAST ALONG THE GULF COAST.
PARTS OF LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA ARE UNDER A TROPICAL STORM WARNING…EXPECTING HEAVY RAIN – AS MUCH AS 20 INCHES- TO FLOOD THE REGION.
LATE LAST NIGHT — LOUISIANA GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS ISSUED A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
Gov. John Bel Edwards “The expectation as this weather event will be focused on rain, not so much on the wind, although 35 to 40 mile an hour wind when you have saturated ground can easily uproot trees and so forth. So that hazard is still there.”
Gwen Baumgardner: THE 20-21 HURRICANE SEASON GOT OFF TO ANOTHER EARLY START.
BUT THANKFULLY, IT’S *NOT EXPECTED TO BREAK RECORDS LIKE LAST YEAR.