The heaviest storm system within the Bay Area in quite a few three of them is forecast to take every thing that will be expected in winter on Tuesday.

Clouds look even darker and thicker. Winds will whip at ever greater speed. Flood will probably rise. Rain should clear a big a part of the Bay Area region.

Even thunder, lightning and small hail are possible.

“The heaviest rain is still off the coast and on the way,” said the meteorologist of the National Weather Service Ryan Walbrun within the early Tuesday, at the same time as a moderate rain in lots of places. “It will proceed to extend all day long, and the afternoon spendula will probably be when the toughest of it goes through. So yes, the heaviest rain continues to be coming. “

The rain has broken off in the region in the region since last Friday, The first measurable rain Outside North Bay Since January 3. Walbrun said that the precipitation outside North Bay has not fallen as hard as it will probably be on Tuesday.

This system, which, according to Walbrun, contains the properties of an atmospheric river, can also bring some thunderstorms, lightning and some small hail, he said.

“We have so much with this,” said Walbrun.

The weather service published an flood warning for areas of the Russian river near Guerneville, and a flood guard for the region that started on Monday stayed in force on Wednesday until 4 a.m. The agency also spent wind consultations, with Walbrun said that the lightest gusts in the region are expected to be 35 miles per hour. Walbrun said that the gusts are likely to reach up to 60 miles per hour in the higher altitudes.

On Monday, It rained steadily From one, with the North Bay getting the majority of it again. Kentfield in Marin County received 3 1/3 inch rain over a 24-hour period and ended at 7 a.m., while according to the weather service, 2 inches fell in San Rafael.

A little more than 1¾ inch rain fell in Saint Helena in the Napa district, and in Santa Rosa there were another 1½ inches in Sonoma County.

In Contra Costa County, Richmond received a 1¼ inch rain over the same 24-hour period, and Orinda had a little less than one inch. The three -quarters of centimeters fell at Oakland Airport and a quarter of inches fell in Hayward.

The South Bay received significantly less, with 0.08 inches in Palo Alto and 0.05 inches measured at San Jose Mineta International Airport.

The system that arrives on Tuesday pays itself to bring the sums that will be higher in most places, although North Bay may be excited a little for creation, according to Walbrun.

“It will end quite abruptly (Tuesday) after going through, especially in North Bay,” he said. “Then Wednesday is a dry day because we get a break between the systems. Rain will then be developed again on Thursday. “

The Thursday storm is anticipated to be the last one created by the present pattern. Walbrun said the weekend would probably be dry and cold, with high temperatures remaining within the Fifties. Clouds will leave the world over the weekend.

Originally published: 4th February 2025 at 7:58 a.m. PST

The next level An atmospheric river storm is predicted to offer loads of snow for skiers who don't wish to waste time hitting the slopes.

Heavenly Ski Resort, Northstar California Resort, Mt. Rose and Palisades Tahoe were all open Friday as the primary wave of an atmospheric river storm prepared to shift and dump snow within the Sierra Nevada. Only a handful of lifts were open at each resort.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning that went into effect at 10 a.m. Friday and can last until 10 p.m. Saturday.

According to the weather service, between 1 and a pair of feet of snow will likely fall above 7,000 feet, with as much as 3 feet on the best peaks and winds of 125 mph. Below 7,000 feet, about 2 to six inches of snow is predicted, with southwest winds between 25 and 35 mph, gusting to 55 mph.

The journey is predicted to be “very difficult if not impossible,” the weather service’s warning said. The hazardous conditions are expected to affect Friday evening commutes in the world.

Early Friday, eastbound travelers on Interstate 80 in Applegate in Placer County were checked and drivers were required to have maximum chains to proceed. Westbound drivers were checked 5 miles west of Reno.

U.S. Highway 50 remained open Friday morning with no chain requirement.

There was 22 inches of snow on the bottom in Heavenly Friday morning, much of it still machine-made, in keeping with the Lake Tahoe Snow Report On the snow Website. Pacific Palisades had 18 to twenty inches of snow at its base and Northstar had 16 to twenty inches of packed powder. Mt Rose had 20-40 inches.

Northstar and Heavenly Ski Resort each had five lifts open, while Pacific Palisades and Mt. Rose had 4 lifts open.

The Sierra Avalanche Center has issued an avalanche warning for the backcountry. It got here into effect at 9 a.m. Friday and can remain in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday.

Originally published: November 22, 2024 at 11:47 am PST

Hurricane Milton struck hardly hurricane strength to a dangerous category 5 storm in lower than 24 hours across the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida.

As wind speeds increased, Milton became one in all the fastest intensifying storms ever. And with 180 mph sustained wind On October 7, 2024, it also became one in all the strongest storms of the yr with very low pressure.

Less than two weeks later The devastating effects of Hurricane HeleneThe final thing Florida desired to see was a storm like that. Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall as a serious hurricane late on October ninth or early October tenth, and has already done so triggered widespread evacuations.

So what exactly is rapid intensification and what does global climate change must do with it? We Research into hurricane behavior And Teach meteorology. Here's what you have to know:

What is rapid intensification?

The National Weather Service defines rapid intensification as a rise in a tropical cyclone's maximum sustained wind speed no less than 30 knots – about 35 miles per hour inside 24 hours. This increase could also be enough to escalate a storm from Category 1 to Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Milton's wind speed went from 80 miles per hour To 175 miles per hour from 1 p.m. Sunday to 1 p.m. Monday, and the pressure dropped from 988 millibars to 911.

The National Hurricane Center had warned that Milton was prone to become a serious hurricane, but such rapid intensification can take people by surprise, especially if it occurs near landfall.

Hurricane Michael did Damage within the billions in 2018, when it quickly strengthened right into a Category 5 storm just before it hit near Tyndall Air Force Base within the Florida Panhandle. In 2023 Hurricane Otis' Maximum wind speeds increased by 100 miles per hour in lower than 24 hours before hitting Acapulco, Mexico. Hurricane Ian The storm continued to strengthen rapidly in 2022 before arriving just south of where Milton is anticipated to cross Florida.

What causes hurricanes to accentuate quickly?

Rapid intensification is difficult to predict, but there are some driving forces.

• Ocean heat: Warm sea surface temperaturesespecially as they penetrate deeper layers of warm water, provide the energy needed for hurricanes to accentuate. The deeper the nice and cozy water, the more energy a storm can harness and the stronger it’s.

• Low wind shear: Strong vertical wind shear—a rapid change in wind speed or direction with altitude—can disrupt a storm's organization, while low wind shear causes hurricanes to grow more quickly. In the case of Milton, atmospheric conditions were particularly conducive to rapid intensification.

• Moisture: Higher sea surface temperatures and lower salinity increase the quantity of moisture available to storms, resulting in rapid intensification. Warmer water provides the warmth needed for moisture to evaporate, while lower salinity helps retain that heat near the surface. This allows for more sustained transfer of warmth and moisture to the storm. faster driving and greater intensification.

• Thunderstorm activity: Internal dynamics, similar to B. Outbreaks of intense thunderstorms throughout the rotation of a cyclone Reorganize the circulation of a cyclone and result in rapid strength gains, even when other conditions aren’t ideal.

Research has shown that almost all hurricanes worldwide are Category 3 and above are likely to experience rapid intensification over the course of their lives.

How does global warming affect the strength of hurricanes?

If it looks like you've been hearing about rapid intensification lots more lately, that's partly why it happens more often.

A 2023 study examined Relationships between rapid intensification and climate change found a rise within the variety of tropical cyclones with rapid intensification over the past 4 a long time. This includes a big increase within the variety of hurricanes, which rapidly intensify several times as they develop. Another evaluation comparing trends from 1982 to 2017 with climate model simulations found this Natural variability alone can’t be explained This increase in rapidly intensifying storms suggests a probable role of human-caused climate change.

How future climate change will affect hurricanes is an energetic area of ​​research. However, as global temperatures and oceans proceed to warm, The frequency of severe hurricanes is anticipated to extend. The extreme hurricanes of recent years, including Beryl in June 2024 and Helene, are already raising concerns in regards to the increasing impact of warming on the behavior of tropical cyclones.

The ancient Maya believed that every part within the universe, from the natural world to on a regular basis experiences, was a part of a single, powerful whole spiritual power. They weren’t polytheists who worshiped different gods, but Pantheists who believed that various gods were just manifestations this power.

The best evidence of that is the behavior of two of probably the most powerful beings within the Mayan world: the primary is a creator god whose name continues to be spoken by thousands and thousands of individuals every autumn – Huracán or “Hurricane”. The second is a god of lightning, K'awiil, from the early first millennium AD

As Scholar of the indigenous religions of the AmericasI recognize that although these beings are over 1,000 years apart, they’re related and have something to show us about our relationship to the natural world.

Huracán, the “Heart of Heaven”

Huracán was once a god of the K'iche', one among the Mayan peoples who now live within the southern highlands of Guatemala. He was one among the primary characters of the Popol Vuha spiritual text from the sixteenth century. Probably his name has its origins within the Caribbeanwhere other cultures used it to explain the destructive power of storms.

The K'iche' associated Huracán, which suggests “one leg” within the K'iche' language, with the weather. He was also their chief god of creation and accountable for all life on Earth, including humans.

For this reason it was sometimes known as U K'ux K'aj, or “Heart of Heaven.” In the K'iche' language, k'ux was not only the center but in addition the spark of life, the source of all thought and imagination.

Still, Huracan wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and sometimes destroyed his creations. He was also a jealous god who harmed people in order that they might not be equal to him. He is believed to have done it in a single such episode clouded her visionthereby stopping them from seeing the universe as he saw it.

Huracán was a being that existed as three different people: Thunderbolt Huracán, Youngest Thunderbolt and Sudden Thunderbolt. Each of them embodied several types of lightningfrom huge flashes to small or sudden flashes of sunshine.

Although he was a god of lightning, there have been no strict boundaries between his powers and people of other gods. Any one among them could use lightning, create humanity, or destroy the Earth.

Another storm god

The Popol Vuh implies that gods could mix and adapt their powers at will, but other religious texts are more explicit. A thousand years before the Popol Vuh was written, there was one other version of Huracán called K'awiil. In the primary millennium, people from southern Mexico to western Honduras worshiped him because the god of agriculture, lightning and royalty.

Images of K'awiil are found throughout Maya pottery and sculpture. In many depictions he is nearly human: he has two arms, two legs and a head. But his brow is the spark of life – and so there is often something with sparks protruding from it, resembling a flint ax or a burning torch. And one among its legs doesn't end in a foot. In their place stands a snake with an open mouth, from which one other creature often emerges.

In fact, rulers and even gods once performed ceremonies for K'awiil to summon him other supernatural beings. As personified lightningHe was believed to create portals to other worlds through which ancestors and gods could travel.

Representation of power

To the traditional Maya, lightning was raw power. It was fundamental to all creation and destruction. For this reason, the traditional Maya carved and painted many images of K'awiil. Scribes wrote about him as a type of energy – as a god with “many faces” or whilst a part of a triad much like Huracan.

It was found in all places in ancient Mayan art. But he was never the focus either. As a raw power, it was utilized by others to attain their goals.

Rain gods for instance, swung it like an axe, Generation of sparks in seeds for agriculture. Summoners summoned him, but mostly because they believed he could help them communicate with other creatures from other worlds. Even rulers carried scepters in dances and processions modeled after him.

Furthermore, Maya artists all the time had K'awiil doing something or getting used to make something occur. They believed that power was something you do, not something you will have. Like lightning, the force was continually shifting, all the time moving.

An interdependent world

For this reason, the traditional Maya believed that reality was not static but was continually changing. There were no strict boundaries between space and Timethe forces of nature or the living and inanimate worlds.

Everything was malleable and interdependent. Theoretically, every part could turn into something else – and every part would potentially be a living being. Rulers could ritually transform themselves into gods. Sculptures could possibly be hacked to death. Even natural features resembling Mountains were considered alive.

These ideas, common in pantheistic societies, persist today some communities in America.

They were once mainstreamHowever, 1000 years later, on the time of Huracán, they were a part of the K'iche' religion. One of the teachings of the Popol Vuh, recounted within the episode where Huracán clouds human vision, is that the Human perception of reality is an illusion.

The illusion is just not that various things exist. Rather, it’s that they exist independently of one another. In this sense, Huracán has harmed himself by damaging his creations.

The annual hurricane season should remind us that humans will not be independent of nature, but relatively a component of it. And like Hurácan, after we harm nature, we harm ourselves.

Hurricane Helene killing and destroying far and wide – from Tampa to Atlanta to Asheville, North Carolina – its high winds, heavy rains and sheer size made for an ideal mixture of devastation.

The storm made landfall late Thursday along a largely undeveloped area of ​​pine trees and salt marshes on Florida's Big Bend coast, but immediately showed its far-reaching force several hundred miles away. At least 64 people were confirmed dead as of Sunday morning.

Tampa Bay was inundated by an enormous storm surge that sent water as much as people's attics. More than 11 inches of rain fell in Atlanta, greater than any 48-hour period in recorded history. So many trees were toppled in South Carolina that at one point greater than 40 percent of the state lost power. In North Carolina, levees threatened to fail and full communities were paralyzed by flooding. Floods inundated a Tennessee hospital so quickly that greater than 50 patients needed to be rescued from the roof by helicopter.

How could a single storm cause destruction thus far away?

Dan Brown, a specialist on the National Hurricane Center near Miami, said Helene has all of the characteristics that make a storm largely destructive.

It was large and about 560 kilometers wide. It was strong, with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) when it made landfall late Thursday, causing a widespread storm surge. It brought heavy rains. And it was fast, racing at speeds of as much as 24 miles per hour (39 km/h) offshore and 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) inland.

He compared the geographical extent of Helene's destruction to 1972's Hurricane Agnes, 1989's Hurricane Hugo and 2004's Hurricane Ivan.

“Systems that are very powerful, large and moving quickly unfortunately bring the potential for impacts and damage far inland,” Brown said Saturday.

Here's a have a look at Helene's many deadly tentacles.

FLORIDA

Helene's devastation began Thursday, hours before it made landfall because it swept through the Gulf of Mexico. Its then 120 mile per hour (193 km/h) winds created a storm surge that pushed 6 to fifteen feet (2 to 4.5 meters) of water into island and coastal neighborhoods along Florida's west coast.

Nine individuals who drowned were residents who remained behind after their neighborhoods within the Tampa Bay area were ordered evacuated.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri expressed his frustration – issuing evacuation orders was not a call taken flippantly, he said. Many who ignored officers then called for help, while some sought refuge from the rising water of their attics. Officials tried to assist with boats and conspicuous vehicles, but were unable to achieve many parts of town.

“We presented our arguments, we told people what they had to do, and they changed their mind,” Gualtieri said at a news conference Friday.

Late Thursday, Helene's eyes fell on Florida's northwest coast within the Big Bend area, where the panhandle juts west out of the peninsula – hurricanes Idalia and Debby had hit the realm within the last 13 months.

Susan Saul's Hartway had evacuated her seaside home – it was gone when she returned on Friday.

“I knew it was going to be bad, but I had no idea it was going to be this bad,” Hartway said. “This is incredible.”

GEORGIA

After landing, Helene raced to Georgia. Among the greater than 20 dead were a 27-year-old mother and her one-month-old twins who died Friday when trees fell on their home in Thomson, west of Augusta. An 89-year-old woman died when trees fell on her nearby home.

Rhonda Bell and her husband spent a sleepless night within the downstairs bedroom of their century-old home just outside Valdosta, where Helene's midpoint was just after midnight.

The wind snapped tree branches, ripped off neighbors' roof shingles and knocked over fence panels within the neighborhood with train tracks on one edge. Then a towering oak tree crashed through the roof of an upstairs bedroom.

“I just felt the whole house shaking,” Bell said. “Thank God we’re both still alive and can tell about it.”

Atlanta was hit by 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain, the heaviest 48-hour rainfall because the city began keeping records in 1878. Streets were flooded and cars were submerged. Firefighters rescued at the least 20 people.

NORTH CAROLINA

Heavy rains from Helene within the state's western mountains resulted in massive flooding and mudslides Asheville area, This disrupted most communications and made the roads impassable.

Video published online shows large parts of town under water.

More than 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) away in Texas, Jessica Drye Turner pleaded on Facebook Friday for somebody to rescue her members of the family stranded on the roof of their Asheville home.

But in a follow-up message Saturday, Turner said the roof collapsed before help arrived and her parents, each of their 70s, and her 6-year-old nephew drowned.

“I cannot express in words the sadness, heartache and devastation my sisters and I are going through,” she wrote.

Jeff Muenstermann and his wife Lisa, friends of Turner, told The Associated Press on Saturday that they spoke with Turner after she posted the initial call for help. At her request, they sent a message to members of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, where they’re all present, to wish for the family's safety in North Carolina.

“I just thought they were going to be saved,” Jeff Muenstermann said. “I asked everyone to pray and they did. And then a few hours later her husband called me, completely distraught, and said…we lost her. They all drowned.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

The storm was particularly deadly in South Carolina. The biggest impact appears to be falling trees. The storm also caused tornadoes within the state.

In Saluda County, two firefighters were killed when a tree fell on their truck while they were answering a call. Four people were killed by falling trees in Greenville County. Also in Aiken County, 4 people were killed by trees falling on homes, including a 78-year-old husband and his 74-year-old wife.

TENNESSEE

Heavy rains in Helene caused the state's eastern rivers to overflow their banks and threaten to breach dams, endangering residents and forcing them to flee.

Unicoi County Hospital tried to evacuate 11 patients and dozens more, however the water was too treacherous for Tennessee Emergency Management Agency boats to navigate.

Helicopters were flown in to rescue. Eventually everyone was evacuated.

Originally published: September 29, 2024 at 7:31 am

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – As Tropical Storm Francine barreled toward the Louisiana coast Tuesday, residents were making final preparations: filling sandbags, buying gasoline and stocking up on supplies to weather the storm, which is predicted to turn into a hurricane before it makes landfall.

Residents, especially in southern Louisiana, have a 24-hour window to “batten down the hatches,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said Tuesday afternoon. Meteorologists said Francine is predicted to make landfall Wednesday afternoon or evening as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 95 to 100 mph (155 to 175 km/h) and powerful storm surge.

Roxanne Riley, 42, who has lived in New Orleans her entire life, stocked up on water, snacks and other groceries from a Walmart and said she planned to remain at a member of the family's house on high ground to avoid flooding, but was prepared to evacuate if things got worse.

“It's always very frustrating when a storm comes,” Riley said. “I'm just going to make sure my car is ready to go in case I have to leave tomorrow. I'll keep checking and see what it looks like.”

According to the National Hurricane Center, a hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle, about 50 miles south of New Orleans. A storm surge warning prolonged from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Alabama-Florida border. Such a warning means there may be a risk of life-threatening flooding.

In the event that the storm makes landfall, Landry advises residents to remain put and never exit onto the streets, thereby hindering emergency responders or staff repairing power lines.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Francine was still a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h), in keeping with the hurricane center. The system was positioned about 360 miles (580 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and moving northeast at 10 mph (17 km/h).

The storm is moving over extremely warm Gulf waters, that are strengthening it. The water temperature is about 88 degrees Fahrenheit where Francine is positioned, said Brian McNoldy, senior research associate on the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science.

“The average ocean heat content over the entire Gulf is the highest ever recorded for this time,” McNoldy wrote on his blog.

However, the system encountered barely drier air because it moved north, which could have reduced the storm's intensity, forecasters said. But the storm remains to be expected to achieve hurricane strength.

In downtown New Orleans, cars and trucks lined up for several blocks to gather sandbags from the car parking zone of the local YMCA, whose executive director Erika Mann said Tuesday that 1,000 bags of sand had already been distributed by volunteers.

“I'm glad these people from the community came out,” Mann said. “What we're doing in New Orleans is a wonderful achievement. We're resilient and we come together to help when we need each other.”

One of the residents collecting sandbags was Wayne Grant, 33, who moved to New Orleans last 12 months and was nervous about his first possible hurricane in town. The low-lying rental apartment he shares along with his partner had already flooded in a storm the 12 months before and he didn't need to take any probabilities this time.

“It was like a slap in the face. Since then, we've been trying to keep up with the weather,” Grant said. “We've invested a lot in the place, even though we don't own it.”

A little bit greater than three years after Hurricane Ida destroyed his home in Dulac Township, Terrebonne Parish, on the Louisiana coast — and a couple of month after he finished rebuilding — Coy Verdin was preparing for one more hurricane.

“We had to gut the whole house,” he recalled in a telephone interview, rattling off an inventory of jobs from memory, including a brand new roof and latest windows.

Verdin, 55, has seriously considered moving further inland, away from his home on nearby Bayou Grand Caillou, where he makes his living, but plans to remain there after reconstruction, he said.

“As long as I can. But it's getting tough,” he said. He was preparing to go north to go to Francine and his daughter in Thibodaux, a couple of 50-minute drive away. “I don't want to go too far away so I can come back and check on my house.”

Landry said the Louisiana National Guard is being deployed to communities that might be affected by Francine and is supplied with food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to answer the storm and conduct possible search and rescue operations.

Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. It carries the specter of life-threatening storm surge in addition to damaging, life-threatening hurricane-force winds, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist on the hurricane center.

There can also be a probability of 4 to eight inches of rain, with as much as 12 inches possible in much of Louisiana and Mississippi by Friday morning, Reinhart said. These heavy rains could also cause significant flash flooding and concrete flooding.

Meteorologists said Francine's storm surge along the Louisiana coast could reach heights of as much as 10 feet (3 meters) between Cameron and Port Fourchon and in Vermilion Bay.

“There is a risk of very dangerous, life-threatening flooding,” said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, adding that “dangerous, destructive winds could also reach quite far inland.”

He said landfall would likely occur somewhere between Sabine Pass – on the Texas-Louisiana border – and Morgan City, Louisiana, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) to the east.

Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Kevin McGill and Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed to this story.