(NEW YORK) — Thirty million Americans are on alert for severe weather as tornadoes slam the South on Wednesday.
A tornado watch is in effect for Georgia and Alabama, where two tornadoes have already been reported, and severe thunderstorm watches have been issued for much of central Mississippi.
Wind gusts up to 90 mph and huge hail are also in the forecast.
The bull’s-eye will be from Jackson, Mississippi, to Montgomery, Alabama, to Albany, Georgia.
But the severe weather could stretch as far west as Dallas and as far east as Savannah, Georgia.
On Thursday, the threat for hail and winds will be in two pockets: one in Kansas and Oklahoma, and another along the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Florida.
The South is also facing dangerous heat.
On Tuesday, McAllen, Texas, hit a record high of 103 degrees.
On Wednesday afternoon the heat index — what temperature it feels like with humidity — could soar to 104 degrees in San Antonio, 105 in Houston and a scorching 114 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
By Saturday, the heat index is forecast to climb to a dangerous 108 degrees in Dallas and 111 degrees in San Antonio and Houston.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.