ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — There were seven reports of tornadoes in Illinois Thursday along with widespread scattered severe storms that produced damaging winds and large hail from Texas to the Carolinas as well.
In the last seven days, 6 to 8 inches of rain fell in Kansas City, and Thursday’s downpour produced flash flooding in the city, where dozens of water rescues were performed.
Part of the same storm system and a cold front will move into the Northeast Friday, producing severe weather. Damaging winds, hail and an isolated tornado are possible from Virginia to Vermont.
Meanwhile in the Southwest, parts of the region are sizzling and setting heat records. The temperature reached 120 degrees Thursday in Death Valley, which is the hottest temperature in the country so far this year.
A record high was broken in Hanford, California, where temperatures reached 106 degrees. In Phoenix, the city reached its warmest temperature of the year at 109 degrees.
Sacramento, California, reached 102 degrees Thursday, which was the fourth day in a row at 100 degrees or higher. This has never happened in the month of May in Sacramento.
Major cooling is occurring Friday in northern California, but the heat remains in the southern part of the state and into Nevada and Arizona where heat warnings continue. The hottest day of the year is expected in Phoenix Friday, with a temperature forecast of 111 degrees.
Some of that cooling from northern California will eventually spill into the Southwest and temperatures there will be slightly cooler this weekend.
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