Category: Posts EN

Scorching Heat for the USA on Independence Day

Written by Team Morecast

 

Searing triple-digit heat affected much of the southern and western USA on the nation’s Independence Day, July 4th. Outdoor activities ordinarily associated with the holiday were hampered by the life-threatening temperatures. It’s part of a pattern of extreme heat that will persist well into next week.

 

Death Valley, CA Four-Day Forecast

 

Extreme heat advisories and warnings were issued for much of the western and southern USA. In the West, temperatures on Thursday soared well into the 40s (105-115 deg F) over the lower elevations. A few traditionally hot spots reached the upper 40s to near 50 degrees (117-122 deg F). Death Valley, international record-holder for warmest temperature, could approach the mid-50s (near 130 deg F) in the next week (see forecast above). That would threaten the highest temperature mark ever recorded since modern record-keeping began.

 

 

Temperatures further east have been lower, generally peaking in the middle to upper 30s (95-102 deg F). However, high humidity has pushed heat index values well into the dangerous range in the lower and middle 40s (105-115 deg F). Either temperatures or heat index values in this range drastically increase the likelihood of heat stroke, a potentially lethal condition.

Dangerous Hurricane Beryl Rolling Westward After Ripping Through the Windward Islands and Jamaica

Written by Team Morecast

 

Category four Hurricane Beryl continues to move west-northwest over the Caribbean tonight. Hours earlier the storm raked southern Jamaica with damaging winds and flooding rains (see first video below), leaving most of the island without power. Earlier in the week the storm tore through the Windward Islands. Grenada was among the hardest hit (second video), with numerous homes leveled by winds up to 150 mph (240 kph). At least seven people lost their lives in the Windward Islands. By Tuesday morning, Beryl was a Category Five, the earliest a hurricane has ever achieved that maximum intensity.

 

 

 

Fortunately, as of Wednesday night Beryl is on a significant weakening trend due to interaction with land and increasing shear aloft. Beryl is expected to make landfall along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday morning. Beryl could reemerge over the western Gulf and threaten southern Texas by next weekend.

Two Days of Twisters Roll Across the Plains

Written by Team Morecast

 

A series of strong springtime storm systems has moved out of the Rocky Mountains in the past few days. These systems have tapped into warm Gulf moisture, sparking intense supercells from Texas up to Nebraska and Iowa. Tornadoes have ravaged several towns, leveling homes and businesses and claiming at least one life so fart.

 

 

Much of the strongest tornadic activity on Friday struck portions of Nebraska and Iowa. Tornadoes affected densely-populated suburbs of major metropolitan areas like Lincoln and Omaha. The town of Elkhorn (population 6,062) was particularly hard hit by a massive wedge tornado (see video below). This tornado has been rated an EF3 with winds up to 165 mph (265 kph).

 

 

The tornado threat shifted a bit further south on Saturday towards Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Many of these twisters struck after dark, the most dangerous kind of tornado activity. The town of Sulphur, Oklahoma (population 5,065) was largely demolished by not one but two tornadoes. The second struck just as emergency personnel were starting rescue operations for the first. The startling video clips below show the extent of the devastation. They also reveal the tornado’s power, with winds strong enough to embed small branches into concrete pillars. Lead photo courtesy Flickr user rbeard113.

 

 

Otis Explodes Off the Mexico Coast, Slams Acapulco as a Category Five Monster

Written by Team Morecast

 

Residents of the central Mexican Pacific Coast left for work on Tuesday morning with Tropical Storm Otis meandering offshore. By mid-evening, Otis had strengthened faster than almost any hurricane in history.  Otis roared into the tourist hot spot of Acapulco Tuesday night as a Category Five, wreaking havoc with only hours of warning.

 

 

The tropical cyclone season in the Pacific and Atlantic Basins is typically winding down by late October. However, a pocket of very warm ocean water lingers off the central Pacific coast late into the autumn (see image above). This was precisely the region that Otis moved over as it approached the Mexican coast on Tuesday. Forecasters knew there was a possibility of some intensification leading up to landfall. However, the rapid strengthening Otis experienced was beyond any reasonable prediction (see satellite animation below).

 

 

 

 

Otis slammed Acapulco and nearby communities with sustained winds up to 165 mph (265 kph). It was by far the strongest hurricane to strike that region in recorded history. Photos and videos from the scene show nearly all windows blown out of hotels and residential high-rises. The buildings were subsequently hollowed out by the high winds. Trees were stripped of branches and debris littered area roadways. Landslides closed many roadways, and officials reported that communications had been completely cutoff at one point on Wednesday. Fortunately, the hurricane dissipated as fast as it intensified after hitting the interior mountains of central Mexico.