Hawaii on alert for Tropical Storm Hone, extreme heat travels across country

(NEW YORK) — Hawaii is on alert for Tropical Storm Hone while extreme heat is expected to expand from the South to the Midwest, leaving 25 million Americans under heat alerts this weekend.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Big Island of Hawaii as Tropical Storm Hone passes by to the south of the islands.

While it won’t be a direct hit, the storm is still close enough to deliver some potentially dangerous impacts.

The main threat is for heavy rain that could cause flash flooding and landslides, especially on the eastern side of the Big Island where rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches are possible. For the smaller islands, scattered rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is possible this weekend from Hone’s outer bands.

In terms of wind, tropical storm force winds are forecast to begin this evening and throughout the overnight hours into Sunday morning. Gusts will generally be in the 25 to 40 mph range, but there could be some gusts of over 50 mph in some of the higher elevations on the Big Island.

Swells from Hone will also generate high surf and dangerous rip currents for all the islands beginning in the Big Island on Saturday and spreading west to the rest of the islands over the weekend.

Hone may reach hurricane status for a short period of time as it passes south of Hawaii, but it is forecast to stay over open water and eventually weaken back into a Tropical Storm.

Heat alerts for 25 million Americans

This weekend, sweltering heat continues for much of the southern plains, but it will ease up a bit in Texas as the weekend goes on.

The extreme heat drifts north over the next few days, heading through the central plains and into the upper Midwest.

An excessive heat watch is in effect for parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, including Minneapolis on Sunday and Monday.

The heat index could be approaching 110 degrees for several cities in the plains and Midwest on Sunday and Monday.

Extreme heat slides eastward for the beginning to the middle of next week, moving into the Great Lakes and into the south by Tuesday and Wednesday.

Cities like Chicago, Louisville, and Atlanta could be approaching some record high temperatures up to 95 to 100 degrees for the middle of the upcoming week.