Dallas one day from tying heat wave record

Dallas residents were set for a 41st straight day of triple-digit temperatures on Thursday, a day short of tying their all-time record. What are the chances of topping that 1980 record? The forecast calls for at least two more days at 100 or above.

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Temperatures in Dallas have reached or exceed the 100-degree mark every day since July 2. The average temperature has been 103 degrees.

The city is on track to break the previous record, set in 1980, of 42 consecutive days of 100-degree heat.

1980 also set the record for the most days (69) in a single year with temps at 100 or above.

"Is there enough summer to clock in another 20 days of triple digit heat?" Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel posed. "Considering what?s forecast over the next couple of weeks and the fact that Dallas-Fort Worth has hit 100 as late as October 3rd, they could do it."

The heat is also taking a toll on local playing fields, hardening the ground and leaving fields pitted with clumps of dried up grass.

"It's dangerous," parent Amy Herzog told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. "We actually had an email just the other day from our coach saying that before our practice, he's going to have to get onto the field and decide what area, if any, on the field is going to be usable for the safety of the kids."

While the heat began to break and deadly storms came to the Central and Southern plains on Wednesday, most of Texas wasn't a beneficiary.

Deadly tornado in Oklahoma
Storms in Kansas, eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas on Wednesday brought rain and winds gusts up to 70 miles per hour in some areas in the early hours, according to Accuweather.com climatologists.

A tornado killed an 82-year-old woman early Wednesday in northeast Oklahoma as the line of severe thunderstorms swept through the state in the predawn hours.

The body of Beverly Reed was found 50 yards from her mobile home southeast of Locust Grove, Okla., police said.

The tornado "just tore it apart," said Mays County Undersheriff Joe Garrett said of the home. "There wasn't much left."

High winds also knocked out power, uprooted trees and damaged buildings in Edmond, near Oklahoma City.

Officials at the National Weather Service said several counties in western and central Arkansas had wind gusts of more than 50 mph on Wednesday morning. Some of the storms took down trees and power lines.

Stormy weather
Strong storms are expected Thursday in Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, all of which have experienced record heat and drought in the recent weeks.

Severe weather on Tuesday killed a UPS driver in Indiana, weather officials said. The driver in Auburn died after strong winds knocked a tree onto his truck.

Severe storms brought torrential rain and damaging hail throughout the nation's midsection Tuesday night, according to the weather service.

The weather turned moderate and sunny again in Indiana and Nebraska on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44104427/ns/weather/

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