Extreme Heat Warning Covers Longview and Marshall as Bertha Moves West

By the Real Ryan Nichols Editorial Team
Last verified: July 22, 2026, 9:30 a.m. CDT

Gregg and Harrison counties are under an Extreme Heat Warning until 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, with the National Weather Service warning that heat-related illnesses rise significantly during extreme heat and high humidity.

For Longview, the National Weather Service forecast calls for a high near 102°F and a heat index as high as 111°F. Across the southern ArkLaTex, the Shreveport forecast office says “feels like” temperatures may reach 110°F to 115°F and that the danger is not limited to people normally described as heat-sensitive.

At the same time, Tropical Storm Bertha is moving west along the northern Gulf Coast. Bertha deserves attention, but the official record does not establish a direct tropical-storm threat to Longview or Marshall right now. The immediate local hazard is the heat already in place.

Here is what is confirmed, what remains uncertain, and what East Texans can do today.

What the official forecast establishes

The National Weather Service Shreveport office says Heat Advisory and Extreme Heat Warning headlines remain active across most of the ArkLaTex on Wednesday. Its morning forecast discussion places heat-index values across the region in the 105°F to 115°F range.

The office’s July 22 forecast products list an Extreme Heat Warning through 8 p.m. for the East Texas zones that include Gregg and Harrison counties. The same forecast projects:

• Longview-East Texas Regional Airport: high near 102°F Wednesday, low near 76°F Wednesday night, and high near 96°F Thursday.
• Tyler Pounds Regional Airport: high near 103°F Wednesday.
• Lufkin: high near 103°F Wednesday.
• Little or no rain for those reporting points Wednesday.

The Gregg County zone forecast gives Longview a heat index as high as 111°F. Conditions can vary by neighborhood, cloud cover, shade, wind, pavement, and the exact humidity at a given hour, so the forecast is not a promise that every thermometer will show the same number.

The warning is also not just about the afternoon’s highest temperature. Humidity limits the body’s ability to cool through sweat, and pavement, vehicle interiors, attics, shops, kitchens, construction sites, and other poorly ventilated spaces can become more dangerous than the official air temperature suggests.

Who is most affected

Anyone without reliable cooling or hydration can be affected, but today’s conditions deserve particular attention from:

• construction, landscaping, utility, delivery, agricultural, and road crews;
• older adults and people living alone;
• infants and young children;
• people with health conditions or medications that affect heat tolerance;
• people in homes, apartments, vehicles, or workplaces without dependable air conditioning;
• athletes, coaches, band programs, camps, and outdoor-event organizers;
• pet owners and anyone transporting children or animals.

Employers and supervisors should not treat a scheduled shift as proof that conditions are safe. Work pace, shade, water, rest breaks, acclimatization, and the condition of each worker matter.

Know the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke

The CDC’s heat-illness guidance lists headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, irritability, thirst, heavy sweating, elevated body temperature, and decreased urine output among the signs of heat exhaustion.

Heat stroke is a medical emergency. If a person becomes confused, loses consciousness, has a seizure, or appears severely overheated, call 911, move the person to a shaded or cool area, remove outer clothing, and begin rapid cooling while help is coming.

Do not leave children or pets in a parked vehicle, even for a short stop. The National Weather Service specifically warns that vehicle interiors can reach lethal temperatures within minutes.

What Bertha does — and does not — mean for East Texas today

The National Hurricane Center’s 7 a.m. advisory placed Tropical Storm Bertha about 45 miles northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving west at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph.

The tropical-storm warning covered part of the northern Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Morgan City, Louisiana. A tropical-storm watch extended west from Morgan City to Sargent, Texas, including the upper Texas coast.

That coastal watch does not automatically place Gregg or Harrison County under a tropical-storm watch. The National Hurricane Center directs inland residents to follow products from their local National Weather Service office.

Bertha was forecast to move near or along the northern Gulf Coast through the next couple of days and gradually weaken. The National Hurricane Center also said the system could produce 1 to 4 inches of rain, with isolated totals to 6 inches, along parts of the central and western Gulf Coast through Thursday.

For the Longview and Marshall area, the Shreveport forecast office expected only limited rain opportunities Thursday and Friday and area rainfall generally below one-quarter inch in its seven-day discussion. That is the best local forecast available Wednesday morning, but tropical tracks, moisture, and inland effects can change. Readers should use the newest advisory, not a screenshot or forecast copied hours earlier.

What remains uncertain

Several points cannot be stated as settled:

• Bertha’s exact track and strength later Thursday and Friday.
• Whether its moisture reaches farther inland than the current local forecast suggests.
• How much temporary relief Thursday’s weaker temperatures will provide in individual neighborhoods and workplaces.
• Whether dangerous heat returns early next week at the exact intensity now projected.
• Whether a dedicated cooling center will be announced locally later today.

Do not drive to a cooling-center address from an old social post without confirming that it is open today. 2-1-1 Texas lets residents search for extreme-heat cooling resources; Texans can also dial 2-1-1 or 877-541-7905 to ask what is available nearby.

What readers can do now

1. Change the timing. Move strenuous outdoor work and exercise away from the hottest part of the day when possible.
2. Build in water, shade, and breaks. Do not wait until someone looks sick.
3. Check on one person. Call an older neighbor, relative, employee, or friend who may be alone or without dependable cooling.
4. Check the back seat every time. Put a necessary item in the rear seat if that helps force a final check before locking the vehicle.
5. Protect pets. Provide shade and water, and test pavement before walking an animal.
6. Verify help before traveling. Use 2-1-1 Texas or the relevant city or county’s current official channel.
7. Watch the forecast, not rumors. Use NWS Shreveport for inland warnings and the National Hurricane Center for Bertha.
8. Call 911 for signs of heat stroke. Begin cooling while emergency help is on the way.

Ryan’s Take

This section is editorial opinion based on the verified public record above. It is not a claim of firsthand involvement in the forecast or emergency response.

East Texas knows heat. That familiarity can become its own risk.

When the official warning says the heat may be dangerous to anyone without adequate cooling or hydration, the right response is not panic. It is respect. Respect the worker on a roof, the lineman in heavy gear, the elderly neighbor whose air conditioner is struggling, the child in the back seat, and the dog standing on pavement that is hotter than the reported air temperature.

Bertha will get the bigger headline because it has a name. But for Longview and Marshall today, the danger already outside the door is the heat.

The most useful thing many of us can do is also the simplest: change one plan, make one call, hand somebody water, or give a crew more time in the shade. A warning only helps if people act on it.

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