HOUSTON — Sweltering heat more commonly seen in the throes of summer than in the spring was making an unwelcome visit this week to a large portion of the U.S. – from the Dakotas to Texas and other parts of the South — prompting forecasters to tell residents to be cautious when being outside.

“Definitely more like August this week than May,” Cameron Self, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in the Houston and Galveston area, said Tuesday.

It’s not unusual to have temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in May in Houston and other parts of Texas.

“But getting long stretches of temperatures well in the 90s that usually holds off till June,” Self said.

This week’s extreme heat was predicted to have some Texas cities like Austin and San Antonio experience the longest string of triple-digit days they’ve ever had before in June, said John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas state climatologist.

Several cities around North Dakota have set record high temperatures in recent days.

— The Associated Press