Memphis and the surrounding Mid-South are in the middle of a dangerous, multi-day heat wave, with the hottest stretch still ahead. The National Weather Service’s Memphis office issued an Extreme Heat Warning Monday, Aug. 17, covering parts of West Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas, warning that the heat index — how hot it actually feels once humidity is factored in — would reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit before the warning expired at 8 p.m. that day.
Two neighboring warnings covering nearby counties ran even hotter:
- Up to 111 degrees — Alcorn, Itawamba, Prentiss, Tippah and Tishomingo counties, Mississippi
- Up to 113 degrees — Lee and Phillips counties, Arkansas, plus Calhoun, Coahoma, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tunica and Yalobusha counties, Mississippi
The Tennessee side of Monday’s warning was described only broadly, as covering “portions of West Tennessee,” without a published county-by-county list.
An Extreme Heat Warning like this one is issued when the heat index is expected to reach 110 degrees or higher, or when the air temperature itself climbs above 105 degrees.
Key facts
- Extreme Heat Warning issued Monday, Aug. 17 for West Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas — heat index up to 110 degrees
- Neighboring warnings ran hotter: up to 111 degrees in parts of Mississippi, up to 113 degrees in parts of Arkansas and Mississippi
- Hottest days ahead: Tuesday (heat index up to 103) and Wednesday (heat index up to 110)
- Possible break Thursday: high of 94 degrees, about a 50% chance of thunderstorms
- Memphis hit 100 degrees on Saturday, Aug. 15 — its first 100-degree day since July 21
- Shelby County heat-related ER visits reached 304 for the year through late July
- About 3,200 Shelby County households, and 49,700 statewide, have no air conditioning
- Memphis’s all-time record high is 108 degrees, set in July 1980 — this week’s numbers refer to heat index, not air temperature
The hottest days are Tuesday and Wednesday
Forecasters expect little relief through midweek. Tuesday brings a high of 97 degrees with a heat index up to 103; Wednesday climbs to a high of 101 with a heat index reaching 110 — the same threshold that triggered Monday’s Extreme Heat Warning. These warnings are issued one day at a time and reissued as conditions warrant, so whether a new formal warning covers Wednesday specifically depends on the next update. Thursday should bring a break: a forecast high of 94 degrees and roughly a 50% chance of thunderstorms that could knock the heat down further. Temperatures are expected to settle into the low-to-mid 90s heading into the weekend. No full end date has been forecast for this pattern, though a further, slight risk of extreme heat is flagged for southwest and southern Middle Tennessee Aug. 22-27.
Overnight has offered little recovery of its own. Forecasters have said urban parts of the region may not cool below 80 degrees even after dark, leaving little nighttime relief between one hot day and the next.
The weekend was already brutal
Memphis hit 100 degrees on Saturday, Aug. 15 — its first 100-degree day since July 21 — and the heat index climbed past 110 degrees on Sunday. Local television meteorologists, not the National Weather Service, marked Sunday a First Alert Weather Day — a station-level designation, separate from any official NWS warning. The maximum heat index for the Memphis area has stayed at or above 107 degrees since around Aug. 13, according to the National Weather Service’s forecast discussion as reported by the Memphis Flyer and Tennessee Lookout, and has held there for days running.
The heat isn’t limited to the Memphis area. The same ridge of high pressure has been baking a wide stretch of the country, from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri through Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, with forecasters putting the highest risk window from Wednesday through Friday across the central and southern Plains, the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. That regional window runs a little later than Memphis’s own hottest stretch of Tuesday and Wednesday — locally, Thursday’s storm chances are still Memphis’s best shot at a break, even as neighboring parts of the region stay at risk into Friday. In Little Rock, Arkansas, forecasters have said this stretch could turn into the hottest since 2012, when the region logged nine straight days of 100-degree heat.
The same heat and lack of rain are also raising the risk of a fast-developing drought across the region by the end of August, the National Weather Service’s Memphis office has warned. In Mississippi, cattle producers report drying pastures, falling pond levels and reduced hay production that could threaten winter feed supplies.
Who’s most at risk, and the warning signs
Heat stroke is the most serious danger. Warning signs include:
- Skin that’s red, hot, and either moist or dry
- No sweating
- A pulse that’s strong and rapid, or weak and slow
- Nausea
- Confusion or acting strangely
Anyone showing confusion, losing consciousness, or running a high body temperature needs emergency care right away — staying hydrated is one of the simplest ways to avoid getting to that point.
Shelby County was already seeing heat-related emergency room visits climb well before this latest warning:
- April: 16 visits
- May: 42 visits
- June: 176 visits
That climbing monthly trend reached a cumulative total of 304 visits for the year through late July, according to county health data. Those figures predate this specific warning period. There is no separate tally yet for this specific warning period, and no deaths or hospitalizations have so far been confirmed as tied specifically to this August heat wave. Statewide, Tennessee ranks 14th nationally on a Heat Risk Index — a ranking reported by WSMV in late July — and recorded about 108 heat-related deaths from 2018 through 2022, a rate higher than warmer states such as Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
An estimated 3,200 Shelby County households have no air conditioning at all, based on Census data cited in local reporting — part of roughly 49,700 households statewide in the same situation.
Where to get help
The City of Memphis, through the Hospitality Hub, has been opening an Emergency Cooling Center at 590 Washington Ave. on high-heat days, aimed primarily at people experiencing homelessness. It offers air-conditioned space and sack meals while supplies last, and the Memphis Area Transit Authority has offered free rides there — call 901-486-0939 to arrange transportation. The center opens on a day-by-day basis rather than continuously, so residents should call ahead or check that day’s status before heading over. That leaves an open question for the roughly 3,200 households that have housing but no air conditioning at all — no cooling-center or shelter program specifically for that group turned up in the reporting behind this article.
Households struggling to pay power bills have another option. Shelby County’s Community Services Agency has partnered with the local utility, MLGW, on a $9.4 million program to help with utility bills, funded through a federal program known as LIHEAP. It is expected to help roughly 18,000 eligible households. Applications are processed through the Downtown Community Office. MLGW has said it does not disconnect service during dangerously high temperatures.
Where this heat wave ranks
Memphis’s all-time hottest day on record is 108 degrees, set in July 1980. This week’s warnings are about the heat index — the actual air temperature has stayed below that record mark. But with one more triple-digit heat-index day expected Wednesday, and Thursday’s thunderstorm chances the first real shot at relief, forecasters say the danger isn’t over yet.