Category Archives: US weather

Powerful snow storm with high winds headed toward western US

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Blizzard warnings issued for Wyoming and Nebraska and 2ft of snow expected in Colorado over the weekend

A powerful spring snow storm was expected over the next three days to blanket parts of the US Rockies and central high plains where forecasters warned of whiteout conditions, power outages and avalanches.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued blizzard warnings for parts of Wyoming and western Nebraska, where quickly accumulating snowfall of up to 2ft (61cm) and fierce winds reaching 65mph (105km per hour) could cause dangerous conditions from Saturday through Monday.

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‘Shivering under a pile of six blankets, I finally lost it’: my week in frozen Texas hell

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February was the peak of my pandemic depression – and then came the ‘Arctic blast’

As for so many, February was the peak of my pandemic depression. It nearly marked the first anniversary of the Covid lockdown, and the demise of my social life. But quarantining in San Antonio, Texas, brought an entirely new set of challenges.

My breaking point was around midnight last Tuesday, during the “Arctic blast” which, prior to last week, sounded like a refreshing juice-box flavor for children. Our house was 40F (4C). My father was outside boiling water on the grill so we could have a hot drink to get us through the night. My only link to the outside world was a horrendous internet connection, so I couldn’t even doom-scroll my way out of this frozen hellscape.

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Biden approves major disaster declaration over Texas deep freeze

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Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Texas, which has suffered widespread power blackouts and water shortages during a deep freeze, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said on Saturday.

Related: Why the cold weather caused huge Texas blackouts – a visual explainer

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Millions of Texans struggle for drinking water following deadly winter storm

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Record low temperatures damaged infrastructure and froze pipes, disrupting services and contaminating supplies for 12 million

Millions of Texans are facing water shortages after the deadly winter storm ravaging the state caused pipes to burst and treatment plants to back up, disrupting services and contaminating supplies.

Texas officials ordered 7 million people – a quarter of the population of the nation’s second-largest state – to boil tap water before drinking it following days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes.

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Anger mounts over Texas power blackouts as cold maintains its grip

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At least 20 people have died across the country as more than 100m people remain covered by winter weather warning

Anger over Texas’s power grid failing in the face of a record winter freeze is mounting, as millions of residents remained shivering, with no assurances that their electricity and heat – out for 36 hours or longer in many homes – would return.

Related: The California mothers fighting for a home in a pandemic – photo essay

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Texas sees one of its coldest winters in decades as temperatures drop

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Greg Abbott, the governor, issued a disaster declaration for every county in the state as conditions continued to get colder

Texas is experiencing one of its coldest winter in decades , with temperatures expected to drop to as low as 11F (-12C) in Houston and 9F (-13C) San Antonio under a winter storm warning.

The governor, Greg Abbott, issued a disaster declaration for every county in the state on Friday, as conditions continued to get colder over the weekend.

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Among the storm chasers: witnessing the terrifying power of tornadoes

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Witnessing the destructive power of a tornado can be exhilarating. Now some amateur enthusiasts are helping scientists predict these awesome weather events

Eight years ago on 20 May – a Monday afternoon – the most destructive category of tornado, known as an EF5, touched down just outside the town of Newcastle, Oklahoma. For 37 minutes, with winds estimated at 210mph, it snaked its way northeast towards the city of Moore, forging a catastrophic path. More than 1,000 homes were destroyed, 24 people were killed and 377 were injured. The damage was estimated at $2bn.

Late that same night I drove from my then-home in Austin, Texas, the five-and-a-half hours to Moore to report on the aftermath. On the way into town the following morning, I passed abandoned cars that told their own story of panic and terror. I saw houses that had been ripped from their foundations.

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‘Blinding snow’ storm batters New York City and US north-east– video

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A powerful winter storm has engulfed the US north-east, blanketing much of the region in heavy snow. The storm is expected to bring nearly 2ft of snow to New York, Boston and several other cities. ’This is a dangerous, life-threatening situation,’ New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said while declaring a state of emergency in 44 counties and New York City. Mayor Bill De Blasio also declared a local state of emergency - suspending in-person classes, restricting non-essential travel and putting coronavirus vaccination appointments on hold. ‘You're going to see two to four inches of snow per hour. That is extremely intense snow. That's blinding snow’

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First major snowstorm of season blankets US north-east and sets records

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Hazardous conditions reported in multiple states as regions in Pennsylvania and New York saw accumulations in double digits

The first major snowstorm of the season left the north-east blanketed in snow, setting records in some areas.

“Williamsport regional airport made history,” the National Weather Service in State College said, reporting 24.7in of snow. Forecasters said that was the most snow in that location from a single storm on record, breaking the previous record of 24.1in set there in January 1964.

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US Covid vaccine shipments face delay as storm expected to pummel east coast

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Treacherous storm set to hit states from Virginia to Massachusetts today as 3,019 people die in the last 24 hours

Continued shipments of the vital coronavirus vaccine around the US face delay as a monster winter storm is set to pummel states from Virginia to Massachusetts later Wednesday, even as the US suffered its third deadliest day of the pandemic.

A total of 3,019 people died because of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the third highest total since the first cases were recorded in the US as far back as January.

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Tropical storm Eta aimed at Florida could hit with hurricane force

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Hurricane and storm surge warnings have been declared for the keys with the storm expected to hit Sunday night or early Monday

A strengthening Tropical storm Eta sliced across Cuba on Sunday and was aimed at the tip of Florida, where officials braced for a storm that could hit at hurricane force after leaving scores dead and over 100 missing in Mexico and Central America.

The US National Hurricane Center in Miami declared hurricane and storm surge warnings for the keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay, with the storm expected to reach that area by Sunday night or early Monday.

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California: over 50,000 without power amid extreme wildfire risk

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PG&E began shutting off power Wednesday evening to customers in portions of 24 counties as a ‘last-resort option’ amid high fire risk

Thousands of people in northern California were without power on Thursday amid an autumn heatwave that brought another round of extreme wildfire danger.

The utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) began shutting off power Wednesday evening to about 50,000 customers – about 100,000 people – in portions of 24 counties, mainly in the Sierra Nevada foothills and the San Francisco Bay Area. Another 20,000 people were expected to lose power later on Thursday.

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US wildfires: Oregon has ‘never seen this amount of uncontained fire’, governor says – live

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Washington state’s governor, Jay Inslee, said today that the fires in the state have burned nearly 937 sq miles (2,426km).

“We’ve had this trauma all over Washington,” Inslee said, KHQ-TV reported. The governor was touring the farm town of Malden, which is 35 miles south of Spokane: “But this is the place where the whole heart of the town was torn out.”

Stunned residents of the small Oregon town of Phoenix walked through a scene of devastation Thursday after one of the state’s many wildfires wiped out much of their community, including a mobile home park, houses and businesses, the AP reports on the ground.

There were flames across the street from me, flames to the right of me, flames to the left of me. I just watched everything burn.”

Burned out cars, charred lawn ornaments, rubble. That’s what’s left of this Phoenix mobile home park, which covers abt 20 acres. Flames and smoldering embers still visible here. Everything is blackened by fire.

This was home to abt 300 people. pic.twitter.com/DrDobLKVev

Mayor Chris Luz talks about the loss of Puck’s Donuts. pic.twitter.com/4qz2gLy9Jb

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California wildfires: helicopter rescues firefighters as blaze advances – video

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Dramatic footage shows the moment a helicopter rescued two stranded firefighters from advancing wildfires in California. 'Had it not been for that helicopter, those firefighters would certainly have perished,' the Sonoma county sheriff, Mark Essick, said. Firefighters have been battling blazes that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to flee across the state since 15 August

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Marco and Laura could hit US coast as hurricanes, forecasters say

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  • Louisiana in path of two tropical storms now in Gulf
  • Mississippi governor heralds ‘unprecedented times’

Tropical Storm Marco was swirling over the Gulf of Mexico early on Sunday, heading for a possible hit on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane, while Tropical Storm Laura knocked utilities out as it battered Hispaniola, following a track forecast to take it to the same part of the US coast – also as a hurricane.

Related: Could the US and Caribbean be heading for their worst hurricane season?

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Death Valley temperature rises to 54.4C – possibly the hottest ever reliably recorded

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US National Weather Service’s automated station at Furnace Creek in California hit extreme high at 3:41pm on Sunday

A temperature of 54.4C – or 129.9F – has been recorded in Death Valley, California, in what some extreme weather watchers believe could be the hottest reading ever reliably recorded on the planet.

The United States National Weather Service’s automated weather station at Furnace Creek near the border with Nevada hit the extreme high at 3:41pm on Sunday afternoon, a statement said.

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Hurricane Isaias drenches Bahamas as Florida braces for storm

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Storm expected to produce 4-8in of rain in Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands and remain hurricane for few days

Forecasters declared a hurricane watch for parts of the Florida coastline on Friday, as Hurricane Isaias drenched areas of the Bahamas devastated by Dorian last year, on track for the US east coast.

Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 75mph and was expected to remain a hurricane for a few days, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

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