The US National Weather Service on Thursday forecast persistent heavy to excessive rainfall and flash flooding risks in the Midwest and Ohio Valley for a couple of days due to the presence of an active pattern.
Meanwhile, continued dangerous heat is expected in the central/southern Plains and Southeast US into next week with the potential for record-tying/breaking temperatures. Several places could likely record their hottest temperatures for the year thus far, the agency said.
The NWS early Friday issued a red flag warning for Washington's Ellensburg and Yakima, primarily served by Puget Sound Energy and PacifiCorp's Pacific Power.
A similar warning was issued for Oregon's Burns, Ontario, John Day, Jordan Valley, Monument, Fossil, La Grande, Ontario, Baker City, Enterprise, primarily served by Pacific Power and Idacorp's (IDA) Idaho Power.
In Idaho, affected areas include McCall, Boise, Mountain Home, Jerome, Twin Falls, Caldwell, and Shoshone, which mostly fall under the service area of Idaho Power.
The NWS issued an extreme heat warning for most of Missouri, except for Macon, Chillicothe, Kirksville, Trenton, St. Joseph, Bethany, Maryville, Grant City, and Rock Port. Evergy (EVRG), Ameren's (AEE) Missouri unit, and Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) subsidiary Liberty are the major service providers in the state.
In Kansas, where Evergy is among the major service providers, affected areas include Russell, Lincoln, Ellsworth, Salina, Great Bend, McPherson, Hutchinson, Newton, Kingman, Anthony, Leavenworth, Atchison, Olathe, Ottawa, Topeka, Wellington, Arkansas City, Wichita, Manhattan, El Dorado, Emporia, Eureka, Howard, Sedan, Fredonia, Iola, Concordia, Lawrence, and Paola.
Also placed under an extreme heat warning watch were Oklahoma's Bartlesville, Grove, Tulsa, Muskogee, and Ponca City. OGE Energy (OGE) unit Oklahoma Gas & Electric and American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary Public Service Co. of Oklahoma are the major service providers in Oklahoma.
In Arkansas, extreme heat warnings were issued for Mountain Home, Little Rock, Conway, Brinkley, Searcy, Batesville, and Jonesboro, which primarily fall under the service area of Entergy's (ETR) Arkansas unit.
The NWS also issued heat warnings for Mississippi's Clarksdale, served by Entergy's Mississippi unit; Florida's Panama City, Apalachicola, and Tallahassee, served by Duke Energy (DUK) and NextEra Energy (NEE) unit Florida Power & Light Company; Georgia's Hinesville, Savannah, where Southern Company's (SO) Georgia Power is the primary service provider; and South Carolina's Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Charleston, Summerville, and Moncks Corner.
South Carolina primarily falls under the service areas of Dukes Energy and Dominion Energy (D).
In Illinois, a similar warning was raised for Carbondale, Carmi, Mount Vernon, and Chester. A flash flood warning was issued for Galesburg, Peoria, Bloomington, while Champaign and Danville were placed under a severe thunderstorm warning watch. Ameren's Illinois unit and Exelon (EXC) subsidiary ComEd are among the major service providers in Illinois.
A flash flood warning was also issued for Indiana's Muncie, Kokomo, and Crawfordsville, while a flood warning was raised for Terre Haute, Marion, Greensburg, Seymour, parts of Muncie, and the areas bordering Illinois. Evansville and Petersburg were placed under an extreme heat warning watch. NiSource (NI) unit Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Duke Energy, and the Indiana unit of AES (AES) are among the major service providers in Indiana.
Also covered under an extreme heat warning watch were Kentucky's Mayfield, Paducah, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, and Owensboro. Meanwhile, a flood warning was raised for areas near Jackson and Pikeville. Kentucky is primarily served by PPL (PPL) subsidiary Louisville Gas and Electric & Kentucky Utilities, AEP unit Kentucky Power, and Duke Energy among others.