Weather category, Page 30
Relentless rain floods roads in Northeast, leads to evacuations, rescuesVideo
ARLINGTON, Vt. — Rescue teams raced into Vermont on Monday after heavy rain drenched parts of Northeast, washing out roads, forcing evacuations and halting some airline travel. One person was killed in New York as she was trying to leave her home. Mike Cannon of Vermont Urban Search and Rescue...
Solar storm on Thursday expected to make Northern Lights visible in 17 states
A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give skygazers in 17 American states a chance to glimpse the Northern Lights, the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere. Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, are most often seen in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia,...
Tuesday set unofficial record for hottest day on Earth — Wednesday may break it
The planet’s temperature spiked Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer, and Wednesday could become the third straight day Earth unofficially marks a record-breaking high, the latest in a series of climate-change extremes that alarm but don’t surprise scientists. The globe’s average temperature...
‘Orange’ air quality alert issued, sensitive groups warned
An air quality alert has been issued for Southwestern Pennsylvania on Wednesday. The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a “code orange” alert covering Armstrong, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties that will be in effect until 4 p.m. An orange alert means that air pollution concentrations in...
Excessive heat warnings remain in many areas of US through MondayVideo
Excessive heat warnings remain in place in many areas across the U.S. and are expected to last at least through Monday. In Arizona’s largest metro area, Phoenix and surrounding communities flirted with a high of 115 degrees on Sunday. The National Weather Service in Phoenix is forecasting 116 degrees for...
Here’s how to keep cool and stay safe during a heat wave
LAS VEGAS — Scorching heat across the U.S. already has caused more than a dozen deaths in Texas alone and led to mounting misery for millions of people from the Pacific Northwest to the South. And the official end of summer is still months away. Here’s a guide on how...
Smoky air in Western Pa. improving, still unhealthy for some
The air quality in the Western Pennsylvania region is still rough, but it’s getting better as winds push smoke from Canadian wildfires toward the eastern seaboard. Despite the improvement, it’s still not good for some people to breathe outside. On Friday, with air quality improved slightly, the National Weather Service...
‘It’s unhealthy for everyone’: Lingering wildfire smoke affects more than just at-risk groups
Air quality advisories in response to lingering smoke from Canadian wildfires have focused on at-risk groups — young children, the elderly and people with existing pulmonary and heart issues. But, on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates delayed the start of an early afternoon game by 45 minutes while they reviewed weather...
Expect a hot, smoky American summer — and here’s why you’d better get used to it
The only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smoke from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly, forecasters say. And then the smoke will likely come back to the Midwest...
Smoky haze from Canadian wildfires expected to linger over Western Pa. for rest of the week
Young children and those with respiratory ailments are being urged to stay indoors for a second straight day as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to shroud Pittsburgh in a fog-like haze. A Code Red air quality alert for fine particulates was issued Thursday for 13 Western Pennsylvania counties by the...
A blistering heat wave is turning up the pressure on Texas’ power gridVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — On another 100-degree day in Texas, Sean Whitaker lingered outside a Dallas cafe after polishing off an iced coffee, having switched off the power to everything back home except his refrigerator. “That’s the reason I’m out,” said Whitaker, 52, finding shade at a patio table. As an...
Canadian wildfires are causing unhealthy air quality again in Chicago and other parts of the U.S.Video
CHICAGO — Drifting smoke from the ongoing wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns throughout the Great Lakes region, and in parts of the central and eastern United States. In Minnesota, a record 23rd air quality alert was issued Tuesday through late Wednesday night...
Indiana tornado kills 1 as severe weather causes damage and power outages
SHOALS, Ind. — A tornado struck a home, killing one occupant and injuring another as severe weather hit parts of Indiana, Tennessee and other states, an official said. The tornado that struck the home Sunday evening was part of a storm system that pushed through Martin County, Indiana, WXIN-TV reported....
Tornadoes, hail and hurricane-force winds tear through west Texas, killing 4 people in small townVideo
A line of severe storms produced what a meteorologist calls a rare combination of multiple tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and softball-sized hail in west Texas, killing at least four people, injuring nine and causing significant damage around the town of Matador, a meteorologist said Thursday. The storms produced strong winds that...
Summer solstice in Pittsburgh region delivers over 15 hours of daylight
Fifteen hours, 4 minutes. That’s how much daylight the Pittsburgh region will see Wednesday during the summer solstice — the official start of summer and longest day of the year, when the sun takes the northernmost path through the sky. The result is short nights, early dawns and late sunsets....
Sweltering heat tests Texas’ power grid and patience as thousands in South still without electricity
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ power grid operator asked residents Tuesday to voluntarily cut back on electricity due to anticipated record demand on the system as a heat wave kept large swaths of the state and southern U.S. in triple-digit temperatures. On the last day of spring, the sweltering heat felt...
Tropical Storm Bret spins toward eastern Caribbean as forecasters warn of heavy rainfall
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Bret chugged toward the eastern Caribbean on Tuesday as the region prepared itself for an unusually early storm and the torrential rains that are forecast. Bret had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving across the Atlantic Ocean at 18 mph,...
Tropical Storm Bret forms in Atlantic, with possible hurricane threat to Caribbean islands
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Bret formed in the central Atlantic Ocean on Monday, with forecasters saying it could pose a hurricane threat to the eastern Caribbean by Thursday and the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the weekend. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Bret had maximum...
1 dead, nearly 2 dozen injured after multiple tornadoes sweep through MississippiVideo
LOUIN, Miss. — Multiple tornadoes swept through Mississippi overnight, killing one and injuring nearly two dozen, officials said Monday. State emergency workers were still working with counties to assess the damage from storms in which high temperatures and hail in some areas accompanied tornadoes. The death and injuries were reported...
Air quality alert issued for Pittsburgh region
The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued a code orange air quality alert for the greater Pittsburgh area on Monday. The alert is in effect until 4 p.m. for Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The code orange alert means that air pollution concentrations within the...
Heat wave triggers big storms, power outages in the Southeast, raises wildfire concerns in SouthwestVideo
Forecasters warned people celebrating Father’s Day outdoors to take precautions as triple-digit temperatures prompted heat advisories across much of the southern U.S., triggered thunderstorms that knocked out power from Oklahoma to Mississippi and whipped up winds that raised wildfire threats in Arizona and New Mexico. A suspected tornado struck early...
Air quality warning issued for Mon Valley
Young children, elderly people, and people with respiratory problems were advised by the Allegheny County Health Department to limit outdoor activities Sunday due to poor air quality. The health department issued an Air Pollution Warning for the Mon Valley for Sunday and all of Monday. According to the department, the...
Heat wave has U.S. South sweltering, from tornado-ravaged West Texas town to Florida beaches
Communities from Houston to New Orleans opened cooling centers to bring relief as steamy hot temperatures settled across a broad swath of the U.S. South on Saturday, and beachgoers fled a water spout that swept ashore on a Florida beach. Gov. Greg Abbott meanwhile visited Perryton in the Texas Panhandle,...
Punishing wind, possible tornadoes inflict damage as storms cross the SouthVideo
ALBANY, Ga. — Damaging winds and possible tornadoes toppled trees, damaged buildings and blew cars off a highway Wednesday as powerful storms crossed the South from Texas to Georgia. The National Weather Service issued numerous tornado warnings, mainly in southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia, and cautioned that gusts of hurricane-force...
Quarter-inch of rain breaks 3-week dry spell; more coming
The nearly quarter-inch of rain that fell across the Pittsburgh region since Sunday night broke a three-week dry spell that had caused drought-like conditions in Western Pennsylvania. Officials at the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said another half-inch of rain is expected Tuesday. “We still need more, but every little...
