A late-summer blast of dangerous heat is gripping parts of Missouri and Kansas this weekend, with temperatures nearing triple digits and heat index values climbing as high as 105 degrees.
The National Weather Service in Springfield, Missouri, has a Heat Advisory in effect through 8 p.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 19, covering portions of southeast Kansas as well as central, east-central, south-central, southwest and west-central Missouri. Among the communities included are Springfield, Branson, Joplin, Lake Ozark, Rolla, Lebanon, Fort Leonard Wood and West Plains, along with Fort Scott and Pittsburg in Kansas.
Forecasters expect heat index values between roughly 100 and 105 degrees, while actual afternoon temperatures in parts of the Missouri Ozarks are expected to climb into the upper 90s. Springfield, for example, was forecast to reach around 97 to 98 degrees Saturday…