Severe Weather with flooding in West Virginia; residents told to seek higher ground

Tornado Hart County Kentucky

Important Takeaways:

  • A life-threatening situation unfolded across portions of West Virginia on Thursday morning as powerful thunderstorms moved across the region
  • The National Weather Service office in Charleston said between 2 and 3 inches of rain has fallen across portions of the region, and emergency officials are reporting numerous high-water rescues in Huntington
  • Flash flooding has washed out numerous roads and bridges, and high-water rescues have been reported.
  • Residents in Huntington, West Virginia, area told to shelter in place or seek higher ground immediately.
  • Flash flooding has been ongoing all morning, and forecasters have warned that additional flooding is likely in Huntington, Chesapeake, Barboursville and Pea Ridge.
  • Tornado Watch issued for portions of Kentucky as severe weather threatens Kentucky and West Virginia.

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Just as wildfires are getting under control red flag warnings are going back up as high winds expected to return

Important Takeaways:

  • Los Angeles County is facing “critical fire conditions” after firefighters have for days battled deadly wildfires that have razed entire neighborhoods, and the situation is expected to worsen this week.
  • The National Weather Service issued a rare “Particularly Dangerous Situation” Red Flag Warning that’s due to start early Tuesday into Wednesday for parts of L.A. County and Ventura County, warning that winds will be high enough to cause “explosive fire growth.
  • The death toll rose to at least 24, per the L.A. County medical examiner’s Sunday evening update. Another 16 have been reported as missing, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a Sunday briefing.
  • More than 100,000 residents remain under evacuation orders and over 12,000 structures have been destroyed.
  • The Kenneth, Sunset and Lidia fires have been 100% contained, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Sunday update.
  • The Hurst Fire was at 89% containment Sunday evening, per Cal Fire.
  • The Palisades and Eaton fires, the biggest of the blazes, were 13% and 27% contained, respectively.
  • Newsom announced he’s deployed a further 1,000 California National Guard personnel to the Los Angeles area, taking the number assisting in firefighting efforts to 2,500.

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Atmospheric River? How about Atmospheric Blow Dryer: Yes, Southern California to experience a wind storm bringing danger of wildfires

Mountain Fire

Important Takeaways:

  • Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the windstorm will affect Los Angeles and Ventura counties and peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph (129 kph), the National Weather Service said Monday. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills.
  • The weather service warned of downed trees and knocked over big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Powerful offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts of Orange County and LA, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.
  • Public safety power shutoffs are being considered for nearly 300,000 customers across the region, according to Southern California Edison’s website.
  • Beginning Tuesday afternoon, the windstorm will affect Los Angeles and Ventura counties and peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph (129 kph), the National Weather Service said Monday. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills.
  • The weather service warned of downed trees and knocked over big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Powerful offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts of Orange County and LA, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.
  • Public safety power shutoffs are being considered for nearly 300,000 customers across the region, according to Southern California Edison’s website.
  • Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there’s been very little rain so far this season.
  • Southern California hasn’t seen more than 0.1 inches (0.25 centimeters) of rain since early May. Much of the region has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, up north, there have been multiple drenching storms.

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Prepare for temperatures to plunge in the new year: Experts say coldest in a decade

TWITTER Weather map

Important Takeaways:

  • According to the National Weather Service, the arctic blast will affect a large swathe of the country, arriving in the northern Rockies and expected to have spread to the East Coast by New Year’s Day.
  • ‘A significant pattern change is expected across much of the country as an Arctic Outbreak is forecast to spread form the Northern Plains to the south and east, leading to exceptionally high probabilities of below-normal temperatures expected across much of the East’, the NWS said.
  • The plunge will bring wind chills across the Midwest with temperatures dipping below zero in at least 30 states.
  • ‘The coldest air of the season to date and dangerous wind chills are likely across many areas of the Southeast’, the NWS warned.
  • In some areas, temperatures are forecasted to reach an average of around 20 degrees, while freezing conditions in the Gulf coast and even Florida could be expected.
  • Snowfall is also possible across parts of the Southern Plains and the Southeast with the potential for heavy snowfall expected in the Appalachians, Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes and the Northeast.
  • A further drop in temperatures is expected next week, and below normal temperatures are predicted to affect central and eastern US during much of January.

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Wild waves as high as 3 story building could reach Bay Area coastline

Santa Cruz Pier collapsed

Important Takeaways:

  • The National Weather Service is predicting waves twenty to thirty feet high through December 29.
  • As a result, a high surf warning is in effect, just days after dangerous surf caused the collapse of the Santa Cruz Wharf.
  • While the larger waves may be further off the coast, the churning can quickly hit rocks and beaches, pulling people out to sea.
  • First responders warn: never turn your back on the ocean.
  • Pacifica Pier was closed on Thursday due to the dangerous surf.

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Widespread impacts of slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby

Rainfall-Debby

Important Takeaways:

  • Threat level: The National Weather Service forecast office in Charleston, S.C., summarized the threat in a discussion Monday night: “Historic and catastrophic flooding through mid-week.”
  • Forecasters are calling for this storm to meet or beat past four-day rainfall totals from the biggest events, which would mean upward of 17 inches in the Charleston area.
  • Tropical Storm Debby moving at five miles per hour or less at times
  • The storm’s center is forecast to move back over the ocean, allowing the system to re-intensify to some extent over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream Tuesday and Tuesday night.
  • The center is forecast to then slingshot back over land in northeastern South Carolina on Thursday morning
  • How it works: The storm is moving slowly in an area without much upper-level wind, so it’s not being pushed by anything. It’s spinning around like a top, waiting for something to move it again.
  • What they’re saying: “[Storm] Impacts will be widespread and severe, likely including numerous flooded homes and structures, damage to roadways including washouts, and unprecedented flooding along creeks and streams,” forecasters at NWS Charleston stated Monday evening, continuing the drumbeat of similar wording from earlier in the day.

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Five radar-confirmed tornadoes hit New York

Tornadoes-in-New-York

Important Takeaways:

  • Only way to know strength would be through storm surveys by the National Weather Service offices in Binghamton and Albany
  • NBC5 meteorologists were able to use long-established radar technology to identify where tornado debris signatures occurred.
  • One tornado was in Rome, Oneida County, where significant damage was reported. Pictures show a church destroyed and a B-52 bomber literally moved from its position.
  • After that, there was a brief tornado between Old Forge and Inlet, just south of New York Route 28.
  • Then, another tornado hit Hamilton County in a remote area near Morehouse.
  • Two more hit in the vicinity of Wells, in both Hamilton and Warren counties.
  • There may have been a sixth tornado near Edinburg, but the radar data was not beyond a reasonable doubt.
  • Separate from these five radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service in Albany found evidence of two other tornadoes that did not produce debris on radar.
  • Most tornadoes locally are not strong enough, or located near enough to a radar, to produce a debris signature, which makes the five listed above special cases.

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Nearly 50% of Americans under heat alerts as temperatures skyrocket

Central-USA-Heat-Temps-map

Important Takeaways:

  • It’s uncomfortably hot nearly everywhere this week.
  • The National Weather Service issued an Excessive Heat Watch for cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New York, where feels-like temperatures could hit 110 through Tuesday.
  • Heat advisories are in place for the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Florida, where dew points will increase the moisture in the air, making it harder for your body to cool.
  • The central U.S. joins in on the sweaty situation with triple-digit feels-like temperatures forecast as the West continues to swelter in deadly conditions.
  • “Basically, anytime you see dew point temperatures in the 60s and 70s, it means it is sticky, muggy and humid. It almost feels like after you get done taking a hot shower and you step outside of the shower, right, you feel all of that moisture. That’s what it feels like when dew points are in the mid and upper 70s. And then we have what’s called a heat index or what it feels like to exposed skin,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Michael Estime said.

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Dangerous high temps creating real threat for wildfires in California as homes seen burning

Thompson-Fire-California

Important Takeaways:

  • California is hit by ‘dangerously high temperatures’ of up to 117F as 13,000 are evacuated from fierce wildfires and 90million are under heat alert across country
  • California is sweltering under ‘dangerously high temperatures’, with the mercury set to rise to 117F and thousands of people evacuated as raging wildfires grip the state.
  • The severe heat is only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States, with nearly 90 million people placed under heat alerts across the country.
  • The torrid conditions have been caused by a ridge of high pressure just off the West Coast and a separate ridge that spawned heat warnings and advisories from Kansas and Missouri to the Gulf Coast states, according to the National Weather Service.
  • California’s capital, Sacramento, is under an excessive heat warning expected to last until Sunday night, with temperatures forecasted to reach between 105 degrees and 115 degrees (40.5 and 46.1 Celsius). Meanwhile, Palm Springs is set to see 117F.
  • The heatwave has created perfect conditions for wildfires, with red flag fire warnings issued across the state, with pictures showing the blazes tearing through forests and homes leaving a trail of destruction.
  • About 70 miles (113km) north of Sacramento, crews have been working in scorching conditions to battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced the evacuation of about 13,000 people in and around Oroville.
  • The blaze, dubbed the Thompson Fire, broke out before noon yesterday and sent up a huge plume of smoke as it swiftly grew to more than 3 square miles (7.7 square kilometers) by evening, with zero containment.
  • Firefighters lined roads, trying to keep the flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on the fast-moving blaze.
  • California has had a spate of spring and early summer wildfires feeding on abundant grasses spawned by back-to-back wet winters. The largest current blaze, dubbed the Basin Fire, was 17% contained after charring more than 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County since it was sparked June 26.

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Rare flash flood emergency, NWS’s highest flood alert category, issued for parts of Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania-Flood

Important Takeaways:

  • Heavy, relentless rains flooded Pittsburgh-area streets and prompted water rescues Thursday night, as a severe storm system threatened parts of the eastern U.S. into Friday.
  • The heavy rains were triggered by the same storm system that unleashed tornadoes and heavy rains across much of the South and Southeast this week, with flood emergencies declared in three other locations.
  • The National Weather Service received over 200 reports of severe weather from Tuesday night to Thursday evening — with reports of at least 14 tornadoes striking Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
  • Flood watches were in effect in northern New Hampshire and central Maine due to the threat of flash and river flooding.

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