The unofficial start of summer feels more like its blistering peak in parts of the Deep South, where temperatures at or near 100 degrees are setting heat records during the Memorial Day weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Sunday for about 20 counties in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina. Weather service meteorologist Emily McGraw in Charleston, South Carolina, said a heat index of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.56 Celsius) was forecast in those areas.
Savannah reached 100 degrees (37.78 Celsius) Saturday, tying a record and marking the coastal Georgia city’s earliest triple-degree day since 1953. Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday also hit 100, just one degree shy of a record.
Heat records in the 90s were also set in Charleston; Nashville, Tennessee; Tuscalloosa, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida.
