Weather category, Page 31
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...
Air quality alert issued for region
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a Code Orange Action Day for air quality on Friday in Western Pennsylvania because of smoke from wildfires in Canada. The orange alert indicates unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people. Young children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems such...
Smoky haze blanketing U.S. and Canada could last into the weekend
NEW YORK — On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange. And with weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky...
Photos: Northeastern cities experiencing smoky skies because of Canadian wildfiresVideo
Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New York City...
Western Pa. air quality worsens as Canadian wildfires continue to burn
Air quality in Western Pennsylvania dropped to unhealthy levels Wednesday and could remain that way until at least Sunday as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to pollute the Northeast. Pittsburgh’s air quality index, or AQI, hit 155 around 3 p.m., according to the government website AirNow.gov. The reading had dropped...
Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern U.S.Video
Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New...
Code Orange air quality warning issued amid Canadian wildfires
Smoke from Canadian wildfires will cause a decline in the region’s air quality on Tuesday. A Code Orange Air Quality Action Day was declared by the state Department of Environmental Protection for Tuesday because of fine particulate matter in the air, in part from wildfires in eastern Canada, the DEP...
Dry conditions expected to continue in Western Pennsylvania
Wildfire season in Pennsylvania typically runs from March to May, when the lack of tree canopy means more dry brush on the ground. But with a forecast that contains barely any rain over the next 10 to 14 days, the dry season is getting an extension in the Greater Pittsburgh...
Forecasters: Early heat wave precedes cooling off this weekend
Summer doesn’t officially arrive for another few weeks, but don’t tell that to the sun. Friday is expected to be the crest of the mini heat wave that’s blanketed the region this week, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Bill Modzelewski. “So far we’re at 87 degrees in Pittsburgh,” Modzelewski...
Cruise ship passengers left terrified after ship sails through rough seas on return to CharlestonVideo
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A cruise ship that navigated rough seas off the South Carolina coast over the Memorial Day weekend has resumed sailing on its next cruise, Carnival Cruise Lines said. Terrified passengers on the Carnival Sunshine took to social media to post video of water pouring through a flooded...
Pittsburgh area can expect more dry, hot days
The Pittsburgh area has seen several days of warm, dry weather, and that won’t be ending anytime soon, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks. So far in May the region has received 1.73 inches of rain, less than half of what is typical. Hendricks added that about 75%...
Super Typhoon Mawar passing over Guam as Category 4 storm with strong winds, rain
HONOLULU — Typhoon Mawar rumbled through Guam as a powerful Category 4 storm on Thursday, relentlessly lashing the U.S. Pacific island territory with heavy rain, powerful winds, and a dangerous storm surge and knocking out power to many communities where frightened residents hunkered down for the night in homes and...
Guam residents shelter, military sends away ships as Super Typhoon Mawar closes inVideo
HONOLULU — President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration as an intensifying Super Typhoon Mawar approached Guam, where anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere and emergency shelters began to fill ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S....
UN agency: 2M killed, $4.3T in damages from extreme weather over past half-century
GENEVA — The economic damage of weather- and climate-related disasters continues to rise, even as improvements in early warning have helped reduce the human toll, the U.N. weather agency said Monday. The World Meteorological Organization, in an updated report, tallied nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events over the...
Memorial Day weekend weather could go in 2 different directions, forecasters say
Pittsburghers might want to wait a few days before solidifying their Memorial Day plans. The forecast for the next few days shows highs reaching 79 degrees and sunny skies, but there is some uncertainty for what direction the weather will head for the Memorial Day weekend. The Pittsburgh office of...
Spain plans to ban outdoor work in extreme heat
MADRID — Spain says it plans to ban outdoor work during periods of extreme heat. Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz told reporters Wednesday that the government will modify legislation covering occupational risks to prohibit outdoor work when the state weather agency, AEMET, issues red or orange alerts. The agency...
Gloomy week giving way to sunshine, warmer temperatures in Pittsburgh area
Mother Nature is bringing nicer weather to Western Pennsylvania, just in time for the weekend. “Anything’s got to be better than what we’ve had the past few days,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Lee Hendricks. “We’ve had a series of two upper-level low-pressure systems that sat over Ontario and just...
Takeaways about heat deaths and vulnerable older people
SUN LAKES, Arizona — Heat waves fueled by climate change are arriving earlier, growing more intense and lasting longer, creating higher risks of illness and death for older people who are especially vulnerable to hot weather. In America’s hottest big metro, older people accounted for most of the people who...
Severe solar storm creates dazzling auroras farther south
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An intense solar storm has the northern lights gracing the skies farther south than usual. A blast of superhot material from the sun late last week hurled scorching gases known as plasma toward Earth at nearly 2 million mph (3 million kph), the National Oceanic and...
Extreme weather is nearly universal experience: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — An overwhelming majority of people in the United States say they have recently experienced an extreme weather event, a new poll shows, and most of them attribute that to climate change. But even as many across the country mark Earth Day on Saturday, the poll shows relatively few...
Tornadoes kill 3 in central U.S.; new storms possibleVideo
DALLAS — Strong storms with tornadoes that plowed across the central U.S. killed at least three people in Oklahoma and left thousands without power Thursday as forecasters warned of potentially more severe weather. Authorities were still unsure of the full scale of injuries and destruction in Oklahoma, the storms produced...
Morning Roudup: Pitt student governments to host town hall on safety
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, April 17, 2023: Pitt student governments to host town hall on safety University of Pittsburgh’s student governments are hosting an in-person student town hall on campus safety from 6-8 p.m. Monday in the WPU Assembly Room. About 100...
Rain threat remains in water-logged South Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast to develop across inland portions of South Florida and move toward the east coast during the afternoon and early evening hours of Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said Sunday that areas hit hard by last...
Damaging wind gusts possible with afternoon, evening storms
Damaging wind gusts are possible with storms in the Pittsburgh area this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said it is anticipating isolated severe storms this afternoon. Strong and potentially damaging wind gusts are the main threat with the strongest of them. Wind gusts of 40...
