WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- If you don't have to be outside, today will be a good day to stay indoors. Most of central North Carolina will be under a heat advisory and later this evening there is a severe storm risk.
The risk starts this Wednesday and goes through Friday. By lunchtime we should still be dry. As we move into the afternoon hours our storm chance will increase. A level 2 of 5 risk is in place for strong to severe storms that could start forming around 8:00 p.m.
Those storms could bring damaging winds and hail. Heavy rain could also lead to street flooding.
A heat advisory will be in effect from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for most of central North Carolina on Wednesday. Temperatures could feel like 108 degrees in some areas because of the heat and humidity. Things will heat up quickly this morning because of a lack of cloud cover.
If you have to be outside you will want to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
With heat indexes expected to top 100 degrees this week Wake County is opening temporary cooling stations.
In total the county will open four cooling stations that will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:15 p.m.
1) The Wake County Human Services building on Swinburne Street in Raleigh
2) The Eastern Regional Center on Dogwood Drive in Zebulon
3) Northern Regional Center in Wake Forest
4) The Southern Regional Center in Fuquay-Varina
People can also find relief from the heat in any of Wake County's public libraries.