
How to prepare for a hurricane, as forecasters expect a busy 2025 storm season
Forecasters are expecting another unusually busy season for the Atlantic, with predictions calling for six to 10 hurricanes, with up to half reaching major status.
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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oshkosh letters address fireworks and building 'resilient infrastructure'
Here are this week's letters to the editor of the Oshkosh Northwestern. See our letters policy below for details about how to share your views. Editor's note: The following letter is in response to the article 'Oshkosh residents are advised to buy only legal fireworks. What to know ahead of July 4.' It is something else we are worried about: citizens lighting fireworks for our nation's birthday. This is not a new idea! The EAA goes on for a week with loud airplanes. The tornado siren blares every Saturday at noon. Seemingly, motorcycles have no laws for their loud exhaust, which starts happening every spring, and we must put up with it all summer. Thunderstorms — where are those complaints? Animal PTSD, right? I'll hear every argument, but I have one, too: leave people alone. I have animals, too; they're fine for a night. Leave people alone and let them celebrate the birthday of our beautiful country. How do the retailers of fireworks get permits from the city/county to sell illegal items to the city residents? Mark Dante Oshkosh This past month, we saw roads buckle across Oshkosh during the extreme heatwave from June 21-23. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last. Whether you're liberal, conservative or somewhere in between, one thing is clear: the weather is getting stranger. Summers are hotter and wetter, winters are shorter and more unpredictable, and heavy storms are hitting harder. We can feel it. And our roads, sewers and homes are feeling it, too. No one wants flooded basements, cracked sidewalks or damaged roads. We need to be proactive and start planning for a future with more extreme weather events. That starts here in Oshkosh. Local government can lead the way by investing in resilient infrastructure: stronger stormwater systems, sustainable road repairs and planning that accounts for the reality of our changing climate. I encourage residents to contact their council members and our representatives in the state legislature. Ask them what they're doing to make our infrastructure more resilient. This is our city. Let's build it to last. Alec Lefeber Oshkosh Letters to the editor are published in the order in which they are received and letter-writers are limited to having one letter published per month. Letters can be emailed to oshkoshnews@ and Editor Brandon Reid at breid@ Letters must meet specific guidelines, including being no more than 250 words and be from local authors or on topics of local interest. All submissions must include the name of the person who wrote the letter, their city of residence and a contact phone number. Letters are edited as needed for style, grammar, length, fairness, accuracy and libel. This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh letters on fireworks and building 'resilient infrastructure'


CNET
34 minutes ago
- CNET
What Is a Heat Dome? All About the Weather Phenomenon Making Things Hotter
It's been a hot summer already. As much as the heat in upstate New York has me cooped up inside with the air conditioner blasting, it's nothing compared to other parts of the US being impacted by one of the summer's freakiest weather patterns: the heat dome. If that's a new phrase to you, keep reading and I'll break down what a heat dome is and what causes it, and for more help, read CNET's list of hacks for keeping your home cool in the summer. What's a heat dome? Think of a heat dome as similar to putting a lid on a pot or a frying pan while cooking something, Alex Lamers of the National Weather Service told NPR. A heat dome is what happens when a high-pressure system lingers, causing hot air to become trapped under it, resulting in prolonged temperature spikes. Just like how putting a lid on a pot or pan traps the heat and cooks the food faster. Except in this case, the food is you and me. This is made worse by the fact that high pressure systems are known to cause dry weather, which can also contribute to hotter temperatures. According to the heat map provided on the National Integrated Heat Health Information System's official website, heat risks are elevated for most of the country between the Midwest and Lower Mississippi Valley regions and the East Coast, with eastern North Carolina, central Virginia, the Pittsburgh area, southeast Pennsylvania, southeast Maryland, most of New Jersey and almost all of Delaware being under extreme heat warnings. In the hardest-hit areas, temperatures may go as high as 115 degrees, while others will hover between 95 and 100 degrees. All around, it's the kind of weather than can make the prospect of a power outage a life-or-death scenario. How long do heat domes last? I wish I had better news for you. Unfortunately, heat domes are known to last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, all dependent on how long it takes for the high pressure system in a given region to move on or dissipate. While AccuWeather reported on June 24 that incoming rainstorms will provide some areas with relief, not every region will be so lucky. Some areas will see the heat dome break down more gradually. So if you were hoping to tough things out without putting the AC on, it's probably time to reconsider. Does climate change make a heat dome worse? Oh, absolutely. Speaking to Time Magazine for a report on the current heat wave, Bill Gallus, a professor of meteorology at Iowa State University, said that cause-and-effect question was "one of the easier (questions) to answer." Heat domes, he explained, are one of the more likely consequences of worsening climate change, even more so than other related weather events, such as increased tornadoes and stronger hurricanes. "There's so many things that are complicated and we can't say for sure what climate change is going to do, such as how many hurricanes or tornadoes we get," Gallus said. "But it is likely that we will have more heat domes and probably hotter temperatures in the heat domes." How to avoid a heat dome As you might be able to tell from all these explanations so far, there's not much to do about a heat dome except to get away from it. This might entail staying inside where it's cool or going away to some other place that isn't suffering under a high-pressure system. Maybe head out to the west coast, where my other CNET colleagues -- whom I am not jealous of and never have been, promise -- insist the weather is positively temperate. Hope you're all having fun out there, guys. Or hey, maybe try the old summertime standby and go see a movie in a nice air-conditioned theater. That new F1 movie looks pretty neat. For more weather tips, check out CNET's guide to saving power during summer heat waves.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Desperate search for missing girls from summer camp after Texas floods kill at least 24
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — At least 24 people were killed and a frantic search continued overnight for many others missing in the Texas Hill Country, including more than 20 from a girls camp, after a storm unleashed nearly a foot of rain and sent floodwaters spilling out of the Guadalupe River. The destructive force of the fast-rising waters just before dawn Friday washed out homes and swept away vehicles. There were hundreds of rescues around Kerr County, including at least 167 by helicopter, authorities said. The total number of missing was not known but the sheriff said between 23 and 25 of them were girls who had been attending Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river. On social media, parents and families posted desperate pleas for information about loved ones caught in the flood zone. 'The camp was completely destroyed,' said Elinor Lester, 13, one of hundreds of campers at Camp Mystic. 'A helicopter landed and started taking people away. It was really scary.' She said a raging storm woke up her cabin around 1:30 a.m. Friday, and when rescuers arrived, they tied a rope for the girls to hold as the children in her cabin walked across bridge with floodwaters whipping around the calves and knees. The flooding in the middle of the night on the Fourth of July holiday caught many residents, campers and officials by surprise. Officials defended their preparations for severe weather and their response but said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was, in effect, the equivalent of months' worth of rain for the area. One National Weather Service forecast this week had called for only between three and six inches (76 to 152 millimeters) of rain, said Nim Kidd, the chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. 'It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,' he said. At a news conference late Friday Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 24 people had been confirmed killed. Authorities said 237 people had been recued so far. Helicopters, drones used in frantic search for missing A river gauge at Hunt recorded a 22 foot rise (6.7 meters) in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet (9 meters). 'The water's moving so fast, you're not going to recognize how bad it is until it's on top of you,' Fogarty said. On the Kerr County sheriff's office Facebook page, people posted pictures of loved ones and begged for help finding them. At least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used, with some people being rescued from trees. 'Pitch black wall of death' In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor's home. 'My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,' she said. Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: 'Thankfully he's over 6 feet tall. That's the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.' Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone. 'We got no emergency alert. There was nothing," Stone said. Then "a pitch black wall of death.' 'I was scared to death' At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog. Later, a girl in a white 'Camp Mystic' T-shirt and white socks stood in a puddle, sobbing in her mother's arms. Barry Adelman, 54, said water pushed everyone in his three-story house into the attic, including his 94-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old grandson. The water started coming through the attic floor before finally receding. 'I was horrified,' he said. 'I was having to look at my grandson in the face and tell him everything was going to be OK, but inside I was scared to death.' 'No one knew this kind of flood was coming' The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said. Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area. 'Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we're not exactly sure where it's going to land," Patrick said. "Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that's when the storm started to zero in.' Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Judge Rob Kelly, the county's chief elected official, said: 'We do not have a warning system.' When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren't taken, Kelly said: 'Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.' Popular tourism area prone to flooding The area is known as 'flash flood alley' because of the hills' thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster. 'When it rains, water doesn't soak into the soil,' Dickson said. 'It rushes down the hill.' River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, Dickson said. 'It's generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,' Dickson said. ___ Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press reporters Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City, John O'Connor in Springfield, Illinois, and Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut, also contributed.