Posted: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 11:07 AM - 8,754 Readers

By: Karen Brooks

Severe thunderstorms are expected to drench much of the Midwest and eastern United States on Tuesday while the heat wave persists across the southern Plains and coastal Southeast, forecasters said.

A heat advisory remains in effect for much of Texas, including Dallas, which as of Monday afternoon had experienced 38 consecutive days of triple-digit heat.

With no relief to the extreme weather in sight, the city could soon break its 1980 record of 42 days in a row of 100-degree temperatures, AccuWeather.com said.

The National Weather Service also issued heat advisories in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and the Carolinas.

North Carolina farmers are used to heat, but this summer hasn't offered the intervals of cooler temperatures, said Brian Long, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture.

"The length of the heat wave is what is wearing on everybody," Long said. "It seems like the weather wants to tease us with a break, but then it yanks it right back again."

Rain showers are predicted in much of the East, with a few stronger thunderstorms possible from southern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey through Virginia and West Virginia, according to The Weather Channel.

Another round of violent thunderstorms could hit western Nebraska on Tuesday afternoon, before moving into Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on Wednesday, AccuWeather.com said.

Meanwhile, some residents of Kemp, Texas, a town of less than 1,500 people about 45 miles southeast of Dallas, were still without water on Tuesday after water tanks went dry.

The town shut down its water service on Sunday when the water tanks ran dry due to drought and water main breaks. According to the town website, officials expect full service to be restored on Tuesday afternoon.

Walmart had trucked in palettes of water, and city hall provided water that could only be used for non-drinking purposes.

Local cafe owner Cleo Brewer said crews were battling two more water leaks Tuesday morning. But Brewer was able to keep her cafe open because her water lines never emptied completely when the tanks shut down.

"Everybody in town is upset at me because I had running water," Brewer told Reuters. "I'm downhill, and I'm on the end of the line, so my water was still running.

*  Story Contributed by: Karen Brooks