Trifecta of rainy, hot, dry weather could be pattern of the future
Excessive rain in the spring followed by a hot, dry summer might be the weather pattern of the future. Experts point to atmospheric greenhouse gases that are higher than they’ve been in more than a million years for driving temperature changes. The abundance of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases...
Gabrielle becomes a hurricane in Atlantic waters southeast of Bermuda
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Gabrielle strengthened into a hurricane Sunday afternoon southeast of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Gabrielle’s maximum sustained wind increased to 75 mph, up 10 mph from hours earlier to become a Category 1 hurricane. The storm was centered...
Another beachfront stilt house collapses into the surf on the Outer BanksVideo
BUXTON, N.C. — A beachfront stilt home along the Outer Banks in North Carolina has collapsed into the surf, bringing the total number of houses claimed by the Atlantic Ocean to 12 in the past five years. The two-story, wood-shingled home at the north end of Hatteras Island collapsed Tuesday...
Tropical Storm Mario forms off Mexico’s Pacific coast, expected to bring rain and possible flooding
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Mario formed Friday off the Pacific coast of Mexico and was expected to bring wind, rain and possible flash flooding, forecasters said. Mario was described as “mini” in the National Hurricane Center’s morning advisory, but the storm packed maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was...
Heat and dry conditions mean no sweater weather yet in Western Pa.
The month of September usually brings falling leaves, pumpkin flavors and cooler breezes — but the weather this weekend and into next week is out of the ordinary. Sweater weather will have to wait. The National Weather Service report on Friday revealed that Pittsburgh and surrounding county residents should expect...
Waterspout watchers report over 2 dozen sightings on Great Lakes
Waterspouts appeared over the Great Lakes over the weekend, including Lake Erie, according to reports. The International Centre for Waterspout Research, a nonprofit that monitors the phenomenon, reported 23 waterspouts over Western Lake Erie and four over Eastern Lake Ontario on Sunday. A waterspout is a spinning column of air...
Will Western Pa. be able to see this weekend’s total lunar eclipse?
Stargazers might have come across recent online posts about the upcoming total lunar eclipse this coming weekend that will result in a blood-red moon shining in the sky. Depending on the time zone, the total lunar eclipse will occur between Sunday and Monday, USA Today reported. Will Western Pennsylvania be...
Tropical Storm Juliette forms in the Pacific as Fernand churns over open waters in the Atlantic
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Juliette formed Monday in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula as Tropical Storm Fernand churned in the Atlantic Ocean. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for either storm, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Juliette posed no immediate...
Wildfires expand in Oregon and California, threatening homes and prompting evacuationsVideo
Wildfires in California wine country and Central Oregon grew overnight, prompting hundreds of evacuations as firefighters worked Sunday to try to contain the blazes amid dry, hot weather. The Pickett Fire in Napa County had grown to more than 10 square miles and was 11% contained as of early Sunday,...
Forecasters see ‘taste of fall’ coming next week for Western Pa.
Ready for some heat relief? A “taste of fall” could be on the way, according to the National Weather Service in Moon. A map issued by the agency Tuesday shows Western Pennsylvania is likely to see temperatures cooler than usual, at least into Monday and possibly through next Friday. The...
Hurricane Erin stirs up strong winds and floods part of a N.C. highway as it slowly moves out to sea
RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm slowly began to move away from the East Coast on Thursday. Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and...
2 more beachfront homes near collapse as Hurricane Erin’s waves pound North Carolina’s Outer BanksVideo
Two homes on the North Carolina Outer Banks sit precariously in the high waves with their days seemingly numbered. Since 2020, 11 neighboring homes have fallen into the Atlantic Ocean. While the swells from storms like Hurricane Erin make things worse, the conditions threatening the houses are always present —...
Hurricane Erin picking up steam as it edges along the East Coast
RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday while creeping toward the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City. Forecasters expect the storm to peak going into Thursday and say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane. While...
Hurricane Erin forecast to churn up dangerous swells, wind from Florida to New EnglandVideo
RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin chugged slowly Tuesday toward the eastern U.S., stirring up treacherous waves that already have led to dozens of water rescues and shut down beaches along the coast in the midst of summer’s last hurrah. While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will...
Italy’s Ventina glacier has melted so much geologists now can only monitor it remotely
ROME — Italy’s Ventina glacier, one of the biggest in northern Lombardy, has melted so much due to climate change that geologists can no longer measure it the way they have for the past 130 years. After this year’s hot summer, geologists discovered that the simple stakes used as benchmarks...
Spain battles record fires even as end of heatwave brings lower temperatures
MADRID — Spain tackled several major wildfires on Tuesday in one of the country’s most destructive fire seasons in recent decades, despite temperatures dropping across the Iberian Peninsula. Thousands of firefighters aided by soldiers and water-bombing aircraft continued to fight fires tearing through parched woodland that were especially severe in...
Hurricane Erin forces evacuations on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, threatens dangerous rip currentsVideo
Holly Andrzejewski hadn’t yet welcomed her and her family’s first guests to the Atlantic Inn on Hatteras Island when she had to start rescheduling them, as Hurricane Erin neared North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Tuesday and threatened to whip up wild waves and tropical force winds. Although the storm is...
Outer Banks communities face evacuations as Hurricane Erin looms
With the threat of Hurricane Erin growing, a state of emergency was issued Sunday in portions of the Outer Banks, prompting evacuations. The Outer Banks is a popular summer vacation hub in North Carolina for many families in Western Pennsylvania. The state of emergency includes all of Dare County, North...
Hurricane Erin weakens to Category 3 as forecasters wait for northward turnVideo
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 3 hurricane Sunday as its outer bands continued to lash the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rain and tropical-storm force wind. While Erin’s maximum wind diminished, the storm’s overall size grew and forecasters issued tropical storm warnings for the Turks and Caicos...
Erin rapidly strengthens into a Category 5 hurricane as parts of the Caribbean brace for flooding
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Erin exploded in strength to a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm in the Caribbean on Saturday, rapidly powering up from a tropical storm in a single day, the National Hurricane Center said. While the compact hurricane’s center wasn’t expected to hit land, it threatened...
Spain, Portugal, and Greece battle wildfires as heatwave is expected to last for days
MADRID — Firefighters in Spain, Portugal and Greece continued to battle wildfires Friday on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes. Spain was fighting 14 major fires. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend. “Today will once again...
Heavy rains expected in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands as Tropical Storm Erin nears
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Erin was expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Friday as it approached the northeast Caribbean, prompting forecasters to warn of possible flooding and landslides. The storm is expected to remain over open waters, although tropical storm watches were issued for Anguilla and...
Caribbean officials warn of heavy rain and monster waves as Tropical Storm Erin nearsVideo
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Officials in the northern Caribbean warned Thursday of heavy rain and dangerous swells as Tropical Storm Erin approached the region. The storm is expected to remain over open waters and move north-northeast of islands including Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and...
Mother, father and child killed by fallen tree in Tennessee heavy rain, floodingVideo
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A mother, father and child were killed when a tree fell on their car during heavy rain and flooding in Tennessee, where submerged roads also led to dramatic rescues of people trapped in their cars, authorities said Wednesday. The three were killed when saturated ground caused a...
Pittsburgh region sees driest start to an August since late 1800s
After a spring and early summer that saw several damaging storms and floods, the precipitation well has run dry in August. The last time the Pittsburgh region saw no rain in the first 10 days of August, Grover Cleveland was serving his first term as president in 1887, according to...
