Category Archives: US weather

Weather tracker: Tropical Storm Sara and Super Typhoon Man-yi wreak havoc

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Powerful storm systems bring heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides to Central America and Asia

Tropical Storm Sara has caused significant disruption across Central America in recent days after forming in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday afternoon. It is the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the third this month. The large number of tropical storm and hurricane formations this season can be attributed to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico being warmer than average, thus providing more energy for the development and intensification of these systems.

Since its formation, Sara has affected Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize and Guatemala, bringing heavy rainfall, widespread flooding and landslides. The slow-moving nature of the storm has exacerbated the damage, prolonging the duration of its impact. However, Sara is losing strength; initially it had sustained winds of 45mph on Thursday but weakened slightly after moving inland, with winds dropping to 40mph by Sunday. According to the National Hurricane Centre, Sara is expected to dissipate into an area of low pressure as it moves north-west toward the southern region of the Yucatan peninsula on Monday.

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Florida threatened by another major late-season tropical storm

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Meteorologists track disturbance in Caribbean Sea predicted to become storm named Sara

Florida is at risk of being hit by yet another major tropical storm only weeks after Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated towns across the state.

Meteorologists are currently tracking a new disturbance predicted to evolve into a storm in the Caribbean Sea. The storm, to be named Sara, will form in the western Caribbean later this week and may make a turn towards south Florida as a powerful hurricane next week if wind patterns change, according to the Hurricane Tracker App.

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Nearly all of US states are facing droughts, an unprecedented number

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More than 150 million people and 318m acres of crops are affected by droughts after summer of record heat

Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor.

A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts.

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Tropical Storm Rafael triggers hurricane warning for Cayman Islands

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Storm expected to bring heavy rain to US Gulf coast later this week

Forecasters posted a hurricane warning in the Caribbean on Monday afternoon after a late-season disturbance south of Cuba strengthened into Tropical Storm Rafael and set its sights on the US Gulf coast.

The 17th named storm of an overactive Atlantic hurricane season will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and probably hitting Cuba, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

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Deaths expected to rise as Florida begins to assess Hurricane Milton destruction

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State battered by category 3 storm overnight, leaving more than 3.4m homes and businesses without power

The death toll from Hurricane Milton rose to at least nine on Thursday as Florida began to assess the damage from the category 3 storm that caused extensive property damage across the state and left more than 3.4m homes and businesses without power.

Authorities said four fatalities were in a senior community in St Lucie county that was struck by a tornado formed in Milton’s outer bands. The tornado happened before the hurricane made landfall near Sarasota on Florida’s western coast on Wednesday evening.

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Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Florida as category 3 storm

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Powerful cyclone slams into coast, bringing deadly storm surge to Sarasota, Tampa, St Petersburg and Fort Myers

A weakening but still tremendously powerful Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida’s west coast on Wednesday night as a category 3, pushing ahead of it a massive and potentially deadly wall of water from the Gulf of Mexico, as well as “catastrophic” winds likely to cause significant property damage.

The cyclone, described earlier in the day by Joe Biden as “the storm of the century”, made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, just after 8:30pm ET, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said. The storm was bringing deadly storm surge to much of Florida’s Gulf coast, including densely populated areas such as Tampa, St Petersburg, Sarasota and Fort Myers.

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Hurricane Milton intensifies to category 5 as Florida braces for ‘major impacts’

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Storm could make landfall on Wednesday as state prepares what could be biggest evacuation since 2017

Hurricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a category 5 hurricane, just two days before it is due to make landfall in Florida.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami issued the updated forecast on Monday after saying the storm had become a category 4 hurricane more quickly than initially expected.

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US south-east reels from ‘catastrophic’ devastation from Hurricane Helene

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Communities are stranded, over 200 people have died with more expected, and more than 700,000 are without power

Rescue crews in parts of the south-eastern US were still searching on Friday for those missing as they entered the eighth day since Hurricane Helene roared ashore in Florida and became the deadliest mainland hurricane in the US since Katrina in 2005.

The death toll could grow higher, having surpassed 200 on Thursday, while the sheer scale of the devastation from wind and floods has slowed efforts to find many people’s loved ones and also get supplies to stranded communities and restore power to more than 700,000 people.

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Hurricane Helene: more than 200 dead as search for missing people continues

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Hurricane that made landfall as category 4 last week is described as one of deadliest storms in US history

A week after Hurricane Helene made landfall in the US, search-and-rescue teams continue to look for missing people in parts of the south-east that were devastated by the storm, and nearly a million people in the region remain without power.

Officials have reported at least 215 deaths across six states, and have warned that the toll is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue. A separate NBC News tally found that at least 202 people have died, including at least 98 in North Carolina, 19 in Florida, 33 in Georgia, 39 in South Carolina, 11 in Tennessee and two in Virginia.

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At least 40 people killed by Hurricane Helene in US south-east – latest updates

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Death toll continues to rise in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas; Helene downgraded to tropical depression

The National Hurricane Center has said Helene is now a tropical storm as it moves farther inland over Georgia. It noted that “life-threatening storm surge, winds, and heavy rains continue.”

In a 4am update, the National Hurricane Center said “Helene continues to move inland over central Georgia and is producing hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall.”

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Biden declares emergency as Florida braces for Tropical Storm Helene

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Storm developing over Caribbean could become category 4 hurricane by Thursday as evacuations ordered in Florida

Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Florida on Tuesday afternoon as the state braced for the prospect of Tropical Storm Helene swelling into a powerful hurricane heading for the state’s Gulf coast.

The US president ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local responses. The action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate hardship and suffering, the White House said.

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Hurricane Francine makes landfall in Louisiana as category 2 storm

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Officials warn of life-threatening storm surge and flooding as evacuation orders in place in some parishes

Francine made landfall in south Louisiana on Wednesday as a category 2 hurricane as officials warned of life-threatening storm surge, flooding and 100mph winds.

There were evacuation orders in some parishes, as communities braced.

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Tropical depression, a type of cyclone, may form in Gulf of Mexico next week

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The system by Saturday had been dousing Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains for days

A tropical depression may form next week in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.

In a forecast on Saturday afternoon, the NHC said that an area of low pressure had formed over the Bay of Campeche in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico. It had been producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

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Corn sweat: crop moisture amplifies humidity and heat in US midwest

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Moisture from crops drives up already high humidity in areas where 55 million are under extreme heat alerts

You won’t believe your ears, but corn is making the extreme heat the US midwest is battling feel more intense, according to experts.

The moisture – or “sweat” – that corn and other crops release in high temperatures is contributing to the humidity in the air in the midwest US, where 55 million people have been under alerts for extreme heat in recent days. The increase in moisture pushes up dew points, making it harder for water vapor to condensate – and for it to feel cooler.

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Heat-related deaths have increased by 117% in the US since 1999 – report

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More than 21,500 US deaths over last two decades were connected to heat, top medical journal finds

As record-breaking heatwaves continue across parts of the US, a new report shows that heat-related deaths in the country rose by 117% between 1999 and 2023.

The report, released on Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama), found that from 1999 to 2023, there have been more than 21,500 heat-related deaths recorded in the US.

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Residents of Illinois town evacuate as officials warn of ‘imminent’ dam failure

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Nashville and surrounding areas have been hit by severe storms and flooding, overwhelming city’s infrastructure

Residents in Nashville, Illinois, are evacuating their homes after emergency management officials warned the failure of the city’s dam was “imminent”.

Nashville, a small city in Illinois with a population of nearly 3,000 people, and surrounding areas have been hit with severe storms which have caused flooding, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure. More than 5in of rain fell in the region within six hours on Tuesday.

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Tornado reported at Chicago airport as storms blow through midwest

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Multiple twisters reported in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana as weather service warns of damaging winds

A tornado apparently touched down outside Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Monday as storms spawned multiple reports of twisters blowing through Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.

The turbulent weather knocked down trees and power poles, cutting electricity to more than 460,000 customers and businesses. A woman in Indiana died after a tree fell on to a home, authorities said.

The Associated Press contributed reporting

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Las Vegas sets record for number of days over 115F amid its ‘most extreme heatwave in history’

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City hits all-time high of 120F as officials set up emergency cooling centers at community centers across south Nevada

Las Vegas set a new record on Wednesday as it marked a fifth consecutive day over 115F (46C), amid a lingering hot spell that will continue scorching much of the US into the weekend.

The blazing hot temperatures climbed to 115F shortly after 1pm at Harry Reid international airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days above 115F set in July 2005.

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Three dead and millions without power as Tropical Storm Beryl hits Texas

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Man, 53, and woman, 74, killed by fallen trees and third person drowns amid howling winds and torrential rain

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall in south-east Texas on Monday with howling winds and torrential rains, causing the deaths of at least three people, closing oil ports, and knocking out power to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.

Before making landfall in Texas, the storm had already carved a path through the Caribbean as a category 5 hurricane, where it killed 11 people. It continued on to Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula as a category 2, temporarily dropped in intensity to a tropical storm but again strengthened to a hurricane over the weekend.

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US heatwave tied to four Oregon deaths as temperature records are shattered

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More than 146 million Americans under extreme heat alerts as dangerous weather fuels outbreak of new wildfires

A fierce heatwave has shattered temperature records across the US west and has been tied to at least four deaths in Oregon, with more heat on the way as dangerous weather fueled the outbreak of new wildfires.

Oregon faced triple-digit temperatures and saw several records toppled over the weekend, including in Salem, where on Sunday it hit 103F (39.4C), topping the 99F (37.2C) mark set in 1960. Authorities in Multnomah county – home to Portland, where temperatures broke daily records over the weekend – said they were investigating four suspected deaths tied to the heatwave.

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