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NWS Warns of Continued Heat Wave in Central US

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The US National Weather Service on Tuesday said the central US region will this week continue to experience dangerous and extreme heat spread across mid-to lower Mississippi Valleys, Gulf Coast, Southern Plains and parts of Texas.

In the southwest, a heatwave is likely to intensify later in the week, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the region stretching from the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are likely to face severe thunderstorms and flash flooding over the next few days.

The NWS early Tuesday issued an extreme heat warning for Mississippi's Cleveland, Greenville, Grenada, Greenwood, Vicksburg, Jackson, Brookhaven, Clarksdale, Oxford, Tupelo, and parts of Gulfport. Southern Co (SO) unit Mississippi Power and Entergy's (ETR) Mississippi subsidiary are among the major power suppliers in the state.

A similar warning was raised for Fort Smith, Russellville, Batesville, Jonesboro, Searcy, Conway, Little Rock, Brinkley, Pine Bluff, and Monticello in Arkansas, which primarily falls under the service area of American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power and Entergy's Arkansas unit.

Affected areas in Missouri include: Rockport, Grant City, Maryville, Bethany, Kirksville, Trenton, St. Joseph, Plattsburg, Chillicothe, Macon, Carrollton, Moberly, Kansas City, Warrensburg, Boonville, Harrisonville, Sedalia, Butler, Clinton, Centerville, St Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Joplin, Springfield, Branson, West Plains, Rolla, St Louis, and Farmington. The state is primarily served by Evergy (EVRG), Ameren's (AEE) Missouri unit, and Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) subsidiary Liberty.

The NWS also issued extreme heat warnings for Oklahoma's Bartlesville, Grove, Tulsa, Muskogee, and Ponca City; Tennessee's Clarksville, Lawrenceburg, Centerville, Memphis, Jackson and Dyersburg; Kentucky's Mayfield, Paducah, Hopkinsville, and Madisonville; and Chester, Carbondale and Mount Vernon in Illinois.

OGE Energy (OGE) subsidiary Oklahoma Gas & Electric and AEP's Public Service Co. of Oklahoma are the major service providers in Oklahoma, while Tennessee is primarily served by Tennessee Valley Authority. Kentucky is primarily served by PPL (PPL) subsidiary Louisville Gas and Electric & Kentucky Utilities, AEP unit Kentucky Power, and Duke Energy (DUK) among others, while Ameren's Illinois unit and Exelon (EXC) subsidiary ComEd are among the major service providers in Illinois.

Also placed under an extreme heat warning watch were Louisiana's Hammond and New Orleans, served by Entergy's local subsidiaries; and Florida's De Funiak Springs, Marianna, Apalachicola, and Pensacola, primarily served by NextEra Energy (NEE) subsidiary Florida Power & Light and Duke Energy; and Florence and parts of Mobile in Alabama, which falls under the service area of Southern Company unit Alabama Power.

Atchison, Paola, Olathe, and Leavenworth in Kansas, where Evergy is among the primary service providers, were also covered by an extreme heat warning watch.

In California, a similar warning was issued for Twentynine Palms, El Centro Imperial, Blythe, majorly provided electricity by Edison International's (EIX) Southern California Edison.

An extreme heat warning was also raised for Arizona's Yuma, Parker, Ajo, Gila Bend, Phoenix, Wickenburg, Dateland, Prescott, Globe, Casa Grande, Tucson, Sells, San Carlos, Oracle, Oro Valley, Green Valley, Nogales, Sierra Vista, Willcox, Benson, Safford, Bisbee, Page, and Grand Canyon Village. Flash flood warning was raised for parts of Nogales and Sierra Vista. Arizona is The state is primarily served by Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) unit Arizona Public Service Company, and UNS Energy subsidiaries Unisource and Tucson Electric Power.

Flash flood warnings were also issued for small pockets of Pennsylvania and New York, while a flood warning was raised for Cotulla and George West in Texas.

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