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Tag: Storms

  • Showers possible Monday morning with chances increasing this afternoon

    Showers possible Monday morning with chances increasing this afternoon

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    Showers possible Monday morning with chances increasing this afternoon

    Cooler air will move in for first day of spring tomorrow

    VISITING IN FROM OUT OF TOWN, YOU REMEMBER TO BRING AN UMBRELLA BECAUSE IT’S FLORIDA. WE KNOW THERE’S A POSSIBILITY OF RAIN. AND THIS WEEK ESPECIALLY. YEAH. AND THIS WEEK IS KIND OF A TOSS UP FOR THOSE THAT ARE VISITING THIS WEEK FOR SPRING BREAK. YOU’RE THINKING, OKAY, NOT TOO BAD. TODAY WE WILL HAVE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. NO BIG DEAL. BUT THEN TOMORROW I HOPE YOU’RE PREPARED FOR THE 40S IN THE MORNING. OH MY GOODNESS. YEAH YEAH. TO LIKE KIND OF DROP THAT ON YOU. WE’RE GOING TO EXPECT THE 40S AND 50S TOMORROW MORNING. AND THAT’S GOING TO CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AS WELL. AND WEDNESDAY WE COULD EVEN SEE SOME SPOTS IN THE 30S. SO GET READY FOR THAT TODAY. AND NO COLD AIR YET. BUT WE WILL HAVE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS, ALL THANKS TO THIS COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH. WE DID HAVE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EARLIER THIS MORNING NORTH AND WEST OF TOWN. RIGHT NOW THESE ARE STARTING TO FADE OUT, BUT AS THIS FRONT MOVES CLOSER TO CENTRAL FLORIDA, OUR RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE ONCE AGAIN. SO AT 518, WE’RE NOT TRACKING ANYTHING, BUT WE WILL START TO SEE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PICK UP THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SO IF YOU’RE NOT ON SPRING BREAK AND YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE THE KIDS TO SCHOOL, WILL BE WATCHING THAT RADAR ALL MORNING LONG WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS QUICKLY DEVELOPING GOING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS, SO TIMING IT OUT HOUR BY HOUR THIS MORNING AGAIN, MAYBE 1 OR 2 ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THEN GOING INTO THE LATE MORNING HOURS. COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN MOVING INTO OUR NORTH AND WEST LOCATIONS. AND AS THIS FRONT SLOWLY WORKS DOWN TO THE SOUTH AND EAST BY ONE 2:00, WE’LL BE TRACKING SCATTERED RAIN. I DON’T THINK THAT THIS MODEL IS DOING A GOOD JOB OF SHOWING THE INCREASE IN RAINFALL, BUT LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS AS WE GO TOWARDS TWO, THREE, 4:00. THOSE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS QUICKLY POP UP. WE’LL BE TRACKING MAYBE EVEN SOME HEAVIER RAINFALL, SOME GUSTY WINDS AND MAYBE ONE STORM TURNING ON THE STRONGER SIDE. BUT A SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS NOT BIG TODAY. WE JUST DON’T HAVE A LOT OF ENERGY IN THE ATMOSPHERE TO DO THAT. BUT AGAIN, SOME GUSTY WINDS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE. BY FIVE 6:00 WE’LL STILL BE TRACKING A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN OUR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SPOTS. NORTHERN SPOTS AT THAT TIME START TO DRY OUT AND THEN GOING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS, EVERYONE DRIES OUT. SO THIS MORNING IT’S JUST A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS RIGHT AROUND 7:00. A 30% CHANCE OF RAINFALL BY 10:00. UP TO 40%. AND THEN LATE MORNING EARLY AFTERNOON, QUICKLY INCREASING THAT TO 50% BY 4 OR 5 SIX. STILL TRACKING SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. UP TO ABOUT A 40% COVERAGE. NOW TEMPERATURES GET YOU OUT THE DOOR QUITE COMFORTABLE INTO THE 60S AND 70S. AND TODAY, DESPITE THAT COLD FRONT MOVING IN, WE’RE STILL GOING TO BE ON THE WARMER SIDE WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES REACHING THE 70S AND 80S. BUT ONCE THIS FRONT COMPLETELY CLEARS TONIGHT, IT’S GOING TO QUICKLY PULL IN COLDER AIR FOR TOMORROW MORNING AND TOMORROW AFTERNOON. SO TOMORROW MORNING, NORTH AND WEST OF TOWN, WE’RE LOOKING AT TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S, COUPLE OF 50S. AND THEN TOMORROW AFTERNOON GET READY FOR THAT COOL SUNSHINE 60S AS HIGH TEMPERATURES AREA WIDE WEDNESDAY MORNING. WAKING UP IN THE 30S AND 40S. AFTERNOON HIGHS IN THE MID 70S WITH PLENTY OF

    Showers possible Monday morning with chances increasing this afternoon

    Cooler air will move in for first day of spring tomorrow

    It’s a warm start to our morning with a few showers to the NW. An approaching cold front will bring in more rain throughout the day. A few more showers are possible in the late AM. A higher coverage of rain and a few storms will move in throughout the afternoon. Much of the activity will clear by 7p, but there may be a few showers SE. It will still be a warm afternoon despite the front moving through today. Highs will reach the middle 80s.Drier and cooler air moves in tonight. The first day of spring tomorrow will be clear and cold. Morning temps will dip into the 50s and 40s, then slowly warm into the lower and upper 60s by the afternoon. Wednesday morning will be colder with many spots in the 40s. The afternoon will be warmer as temperatures reach the middle 70s. We’re going back to the upper 70s by Thursday. The next storm system will move in Friday. This will bring in showers and storms Friday. Up to a 60% coverage is expected. Colder air isn’t expected behind the system. The weekend highs will remain in the middle 70s.

    It’s a warm start to our morning with a few showers to the NW. An approaching cold front will bring in more rain throughout the day. A few more showers are possible in the late AM. A higher coverage of rain and a few storms will move in throughout the afternoon. Much of the activity will clear by 7p, but there may be a few showers SE. It will still be a warm afternoon despite the front moving through today. Highs will reach the middle 80s.

    Drier and cooler air moves in tonight. The first day of spring tomorrow will be clear and cold. Morning temps will dip into the 50s and 40s, then slowly warm into the lower and upper 60s by the afternoon. Wednesday morning will be colder with many spots in the 40s. The afternoon will be warmer as temperatures reach the middle 70s. We’re going back to the upper 70s by Thursday.

    The next storm system will move in Friday. This will bring in showers and storms Friday. Up to a 60% coverage is expected. Colder air isn’t expected behind the system. The weekend highs will remain in the middle 70s.

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  • Ohio governor declares emergency after severe storms that killed 3

    Ohio governor declares emergency after severe storms that killed 3

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s governor has declared a state of emergency in 11 counties across central Ohio struck by severe weather last week.

    Gov. Mike DeWine also activated the Ohio National Guard to help officials in one county, Logan County, where three deaths were confirmed, with the cleanup of storm debris on public property. DeWine announced the emergency declaration Sunday.

    The declaration also covers Auglaize, Crawford, Darke, Delaware, Hancock, Licking, Mercer, Miami, Richland and Union counties. It orders all relevant state departments and agencies to lend their services, equipment, supplies, and personnel to aid in response and recovery efforts, the governor’s office said.

    Thursday night’s storms claimed three lives in the Indian Lake area of Logan County, one of the hardest-hit regions.

    The storms also left trails of destruction across parts of Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas. About 40 people were injured and dozens of homes were damaged in one Indiana community. Tornadoes were also reported in Illinois and Missouri.

    The National Weather Service confirmed nine tornados in Ohio, including an EF-3 tornado that began in southern Auglaize County near Fryburg and continued through the Lakeview area in northern Logan County. Forecasters say EF-3 tornados can pack winds up to 136 to 165 mph (219 to 266 kph).

    EF-2 tornados – which forecasters say can have winds up to 111 to 135 mph (179 to 218 kph) — were confirmed in central Union County and in Darke and Miami counties as well as in Crawford/Richland counties.

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  • Double-digit snowfall forcing Colorado flight cancellations, shutting down highway to ski resorts

    Double-digit snowfall forcing Colorado flight cancellations, shutting down highway to ski resorts

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    DENVER — A major storm dumped heavy snow in Colorado on Thursday – forcing flight cancellations and shutting down a highway that connects Denver to Colorado ski resorts.

    “Our city hasn’t seen a storm like this in a few years,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston posted Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    The storm, which began Wednesday night, delivered the slushy, wet snow typical for March, one of the snowiest months in Denver, and wasn’t expected to wind down until Friday morning. The heaviest snow accumulations were expected in Colorado’s Front Range region, where the vast majority of the state’s population lives, with most falling in the foothills and mountains west of Denver. Those higher elevations were expected to get 18 to 36 inches (45 to 91 centimeters), and some amounts exceeding 4 feet (1.2 meters), the National Weather Service said.

    Major sections of Interstate 70 were closed in the Colorado mountains, with numerous reports of vehicles stranded on the highway for hours. While a boon to Colorado’s ski industry, the extreme conditions shut down at least one ski resort.

    “Stay home !! Troopers are getting stuck trying to get to all the stranded motorists,” the Colorado State Patrol posted on X.

    Aspen Springs, in the foothills west of Denver, had more than 3 feet (about 1 meter) of snow as of Thursday morning.

    The storm started as rain in the Denver area and turned into snow. The area was expected to get 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of snow, with up to 2 feet (60 centimeters) in the western suburbs, the weather service said. The snow eased up in the morning but was expected to get heavier again in the afternoon and evening.

    Denver deployed 36 residential plows starting at 3 a.m. Thursday with the plan to shave the top few inches of snow off streets, to help clear paths to main streets.

    Denver International Airport was open early Thursday, but about 800 flights were canceled and others were delayed, according to Flightaware.com.

    The snowstorm comes as other parts of the country face severe weather. Massive chunks of hail pelted parts of Kansas and Missouri on Wednesday night, with storms unleashing possible tornadoes in Kansas.

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  • Chicago weather: Potentially strong storms moving through area | Radar

    Chicago weather: Potentially strong storms moving through area | Radar

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    CHICAGO (WLS) — Storms are bringing heavy rain to parts of the Chicago area Thursday morning.

    A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect for Starke County, Indiana until 11 a.m. EDT.

    A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 10 a.m. for Grundy, Kankakee and LaSalle counties. A Flood Advisory is in effect for Cook and Will counties until 11 a.m.

    The storms are bringing heavy rain, with even some small hail reported in Orland Park.

    The storms have also led to ground stops at both O’Hare and Midway airports, which were subsequently lifted.

    Most of the Chicago area is at a Level 1 risk for strong storms, with areas to the south at a higher Level 2 risk for severe weather.

    Storms are expected to move out for late morning and early afternoon hours, before the chance of storms returns later in the afternoon.

    North of I-80 could see isolated thunderstorm activity,, with the potential for severe storms south of I-80.

    Saturday should be dry and sunny for Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

    Cook County Radar | DuPage County Radar | Will County Radar | Lake County Radar (IL) | Kane County Radar | Northwest Indiana Radar

    Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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    WLS

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  • Heavy winter rains in Pakistan kill at least 29 as buildings collapse and landslides block roads

    Heavy winter rains in Pakistan kill at least 29 as buildings collapse and landslides block roads

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    PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani authorities said Sunday at least 29 people died and 50 others injured due to heavy rains that swept across the country in the past 48 hours, causing several houses to collapse and landslides to block roads, particularly in the northwest.

    This comes as Pakistan is also witnessing severe snowfall.

    About 23 rain-related deaths were reported in various areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan since Thursday night, the provincial disaster management authority said in a statement.

    Five people died in the southwestern Baluchistan province after the coastal town of Gwadar got flooded, forcing authorities to use boats to evacuate people.

    Casualties and damages were also reported in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the National Disaster Management Authority said in a separate statement.

    Emergency relief was being provided to people in affected areas and heavy machinery used to remove debris blocking highways, the agency added.

    The country’s Karakoram Highway which links Pakistan with China is still blocked in some places due to landslides, according to the spokesman for the northern Gilgit Baltistan region, Faizullah Faraq.

    Authorities advised tourists against traveling to the scenic north due to weather conditions. Last week, several visitors were stranded there because of the heavy rains.

    This year, Pakistan is witnessing an unusual delay in winter rains, starting in February instead of November.

    Monsoon and winter rains cause damage in Pakistan every year.

    In 2022, climate-induced unusual monsoon rains and flooding devastated most of the areas in impoverished Pakistan, killing more than 1,739 people, affecting around 33 million people and displacing nearly 8 million. The rains and floods in 2022 also caused billions of dollars of damages to the country’s economy and some of the areas people who lost their homes are still living in makeshift homes.

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  • In a rural California region, a plan takes shape to provide shade from dangerous heat

    In a rural California region, a plan takes shape to provide shade from dangerous heat

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    MECCA, Calif. — When Limba Contreras moved to the desert community of Oasis, California, about 50 years ago, her family relied on a water cooler to keep temperatures inside their home comfortable. Other times, they sprayed each other with a hose outside.

    But when the heat topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38 Celsius), the cooler was futile, and the hose was a temporary reprieve.

    “We suffered because of the heat and because we didn’t have any other resource,” said Contreras, a retired elementary school librarian.

    Contreras and her family now have air conditioning, but she worries about the lack of shade in playgrounds and fields in the few parks they have.

    “In the midst of extreme heat, the children can’t play because there’s no shade,” said Contreras on Saturday in the Eastern Coachella Valley, where elected officials, community leaders and others gathered at a park for the inauguration of a shade equity master plan.

    The Eastern Coachella Valley, an important agricultural area in Southern California, is a hot and arid place, with summer temperatures frequently rising above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Residents in this rural desert in Riverside County are mostly Latinos, Spanish speakers and low-income, and many live in mobile homes without air conditioning and work in fields under the sizzling sun.

    But trees, green spaces and buildings that could offer refuge from the sun are sparse, and that can increase dangerous heat stress on the body.

    From 2013 to 2023, heat was a contributing or underlying cause of 143 deaths in the Coachella Valley, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. They had no statistics for Eastern Coachella Valley, the area where this shade equity plan is in play. Across the United States, heat was a factor in nearly 1,960 deaths in 2023.

    Every year, heat kills more people than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined, and experts warn that extreme heat will become more intense, frequent and lethal with climate change.

    Studies have shown that shade can reduce heat stress on the human body between 25% and 35% throughout the day. Shaded areas can be 20 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than surfaces without it, according to an estimate by the EPA.

    Many cities across the U.S. — including New York, Miami and Austin — have adopted climate action and resilience plans that use trees as a defense against the broiling stone and asphalt that raise temperatures in urban areas. But fewer have taken the idea to less developed regions.

    “Heat is often talked about through the lens of cities, and that’s an important issue. But what was sort of being left off the table was how heat is affecting rural communities,” said V. Kelly Turner, assistant professor of urban planning and geography at the University of California, Los Angeles.

    The Eastern Coachella Valley plan aims to address this issue by recommending ways and places to create more shade via policy changes, smart building choices and input from community members. The plan would cover the unincorporated communities of Mecca, Thermal, Oasis and North Shore, near the Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, and not far from the desert resort city of Palm Springs.

    “This area has been neglected for a long time, and it’s unfortunate,” said Victor Manuel Perez, the Riverside County district supervisor who represents the communities. “You have hard-working people here that deserve better.”

    Bringing more trees and shade structures to parks, schools and other areas will “ultimately ensure that youth and their families have somewhere where they can get out of the heat because we are talking about 115 degrees” in July and August, he said. “It’s pretty bad.”

    The shade master plan is the latest effort in the U.S. to increase climate resilience in Latino and other marginalized communities, which are disproportionately exposed to extreme heat in part because they have fewer resources like air conditioning and access to green spaces.

    Mariela Loera, regional policy manager for the nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, said that low-income and communities of color are “easy to ignore,” and are often excluded from decision-making. That means they often lack basic amenities.

    In the Eastern Coachella Valley, where Loera works, dilapidated homes are common, and other poor infrastructure adds to the heat burden for residents.

    “It’s not just that it’s hot. It’s like it’s hot, and then there’s nowhere to go,” she said. “So having any kind of shade structure anywhere is helpful.”

    The project is being financed by a $644,411 grant from the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research in California, and is a collaboration between the Kounkuey Design Initiative, the Oasis Leadership Committee, the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and the Riverside University Health System.

    But the grand vision for the initiative won’t come without hurdles. It’s not always clear who has the authority to implement projects in unincorporated communities, and when the plan is finished, it will take more money to execute it.

    It will be one of several shade plans in the world. Phoenix has one. So do Tel Aviv in Israel and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

    Turner, whose work focuses on cities adapting to hotter conditions, said she wanted to get involved in the project because she had never seen a shade master plan for a rural area.

    People who work outdoors, such as farmworkers — who are overwhelmingly Latino — and those working in construction are vulnerable to heat. About 40 workers die annually because of it, but the government says the number is likely higher because of the lack of reporting.

    Elidio Hernández Gómez, 59, was one of them. In 2023, the farmworker and father of two collapsed and died on an August day when temperatures in Fresno, California, peaked at around 100 degrees.

    As part of the project, members of the Oasis Leadership Committee, composed of community residents, are paid to take a virtual class about heat with Turner and master’s degree students in urban and regional planning at UCLA. On a recent Wednesday night, the class broke up into subgroups focused on spaces where residents experience heat: agriculture; transit; mobile homes and emergency shelters; and schools and parks.

    Some committee members said they need robust shade in parks and public areas. They described trees that had collapsed after heavy rain and wind.

    Silvestre Caixba Villaseca, through a translator, talked about inadequate and poor shade structures in fields.

    When temperatures exceed the 100s, the low, plastic rolling structures absorb heat and don’t cool, he said, and workers often seek shade in their cars or under trees.

    At the end of the day, many fieldworkers return to a hot home with no air conditioning.

    “None of us go to a place to cool off after work,” he said.

    But Villaseca also worries about his children, particularly his 6-year-old son.

    On Saturday, under a cloud-dotted blue sky and before a dust storm rolled in, he spoke of the lack of shade at Silvestre Jr.’s elementary school. Every day after class, he lines up with his classmates outside waiting to be picked up.

    “They are out in the direct sun,” he said. “They don’t have any shade in the form of trees or structures … it can be dangerous.”

    Despite the heat, Contreras, the Oasis resident and retired librarian, finds the desert beautiful. The mountains. The sunsets. The endless palms and orchards.

    “It looks really pretty here. But the people here need help and need to protect themselves from the sun, the heat,” she said. “We can’t change the weather. But we can change how we live. We can protect ourselves.”

    ———

    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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  • Level 1 severe weather risk for the Triangle this afternoon, damaging winds possible

    Level 1 severe weather risk for the Triangle this afternoon, damaging winds possible

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    RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — A strong cold front will barrel through the Triangle late Wednesday bringing the potential for a squall line of gusty showers and isolated storms. This will be followed by a rapid change to colder weather.

    There is now a level 1 severe weather risk from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. for parts of the Triangle. Damaging winds being the main threat.

    Due to the threat of gusty winds, there could also be spotty power outages. Wednesday is a First Alert Day for ABC11 audiences.

    Weather Change Timeline

    Skies remained cloudy Tuesday night and with a warm air mass well entrenched in the area, overnight temps dropped very little, bottoming out in the upper 50s.

    This sets the stage for a very warm day on Wednesday and despite very little, if any, sunshine, temperatures will reach the mid-70s. The record high tomorrow is 81, set in 2011 and if the sun were to break through the cloud cover for a few hours we could make a run at the 80-degree mark.

    The cold front reaches the area Wednesday, and the latest hi-res model timing supports a late-afternoon thunderstorm with the actual frontal passage. We’ll have all kinds of strong wind on both sides of the front, with gusts nearing 50 mph in spots before the gradient diminishes later Wednesday night.

    The risk of severe weather in the Triangle is fairly low. If there is any severe weather it is likely to be in the form of damaging winds.

    Showers linger into the early hours of Wednesday evening and then clouds hold through the remainder of the night.

    Temperatures will plummet Wednesday evening and drop to near-freezing during the night.

    Download the ABC11 App and get weather alerts and breaking news on your phone or tablet

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    SEE ALSO | Tornado watch vs warning: Here’s the difference and what they mean during severe weather

    A trailing wave of low pressure is likely to bring us some rain Friday afternoon into Friday night, then Saturday will turn out dry and warmer.

    Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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    WTVD

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  • Second atmospheric river in days churns through California, knocking out power and flooding roads

    Second atmospheric river in days churns through California, knocking out power and flooding roads

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    LOS ANGELES — The second of back-to-back atmospheric rivers churned slowly through California early Monday, flooding roadways and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people and prompting a rare warning for hurricane-force winds as the already soggy state braced for another day of heavy rains.

    The storm inundated streets and brought down trees and electrical lines Sunday across the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds topped 60 mph (96 kph) in some areas. Gusts exceeding 80 mph (128 kph) were recorded in the mountains.

    Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car stranded by floodwaters and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river.

    The storm then moved into Southern California, where officials warned of potentially devastating flooding and ordered evacuations for canyons that burned in recent wildfires that are at high risk for mud and debris flows.

    Classes were canceled Monday for schools across Santa Barbara County, which was devastated by mudslides caused by powerful storms in 2018.

    Further down the coast, strong winds and heavy rain brought treacherous conditions to the city of Ventura, said Alexis Herrera, who was trying to bail out his sedan which was filled with floodwater. “All the freeways are flooded around here,” Herrera said in Spanish. “I don’t know how I’m going to move my car.”

    More than 845,000 customers were without electricity statewide by Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

    Winds caused hours-long delays at San Francisco International Airport. By 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 155 departing flights were delayed and 69 had been canceled, according to the tracking website FlightAware. There were also delays at the airports in San Jose and Sacramento.

    Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, said Sunday it was anticipating the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of 6 inches (15 centimeters) per hour for a total of up to two feet (60 centimeters). Heavy snow was expected into Monday throughout the Sierra Nevada and motorists were urged to avoid mountain roads.

    Much of the state had been drying out from the system that blew in last week, causing flooding and dumping welcome snow in mountains. The latest storm, also called a “Pineapple Express” because its plume of moisture stretches back across the Pacific to near Hawaii, arrived offshore in Northern California on Saturday, when most of the state was under some sort of wind, surf or flood watch.

    The weather service issued a rare “hurricane force wind warning” for the Central Coast, with wind gusts of up to 92 mph (148 kph) possible from the Monterey Peninsula to the northern section of San Luis Obispo County.

    Meanwhile, the southern part of the state was at risk of substantial flooding beginning late Sunday because of how slow the system was moving, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Los Angeles-area office.

    “The core of the low pressure system is very deep, and it’s moving very slowly and it’s very close to us. And that’s why we have those very strong winds. And the slow nature of it is really giving us the highest rainfall totals and the flooding risk,” he said at a Sunday briefing.

    Evacuation orders and warnings were in effect for mountain and canyon areas of Monterey, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties. LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath urged residents near wildfire burn areas of Topanga and Soledad canyons to heed orders to get out ahead of possible mudslides.

    “If you have not already left, please gather your family, your pets, your medications and leave immediately,” Horvath said at a Sunday briefing. The county set up shelters where evacuees could spend the night.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated its operations center and positioned personnel and equipment in areas most at risk.

    The storm was expected to move down the coast and bring heavy rain, possible flash-flooding and mountain snow to the Los Angeles area late Sunday, before moving on to hammer Orange and San Diego counties on Monday.

    As of Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, said it was planning to open schools as usual Monday. The decision would be reevaluated at 6 a.m. Monday, said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

    The weather service forecast up to 8 inches (20 cm) of rainfall across Southern California’s coastal and valley areas, with 14 inches (35 cm) possible in the foothills and mountains. Heavy to moderate rain is expected in Southern California until Tuesday.

    ___

    Associated Press videographer Eugene Garcia in Ventura, Calif., and radio reporter Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.

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  • LAUSD schools to remain open Monday during storm

    LAUSD schools to remain open Monday during storm

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    Los Angeles Unified School District schools will remain open Monday as a powerful storm system moves through the region, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Sunday.

    “Considering the fact that our students depend on nutrition at school, we have made the decision at this point to maintain our schools open going  into tomorrow,” Carvalho said at a press conference.

    Plans on whether to remain open or close could change with shifting conditions, Carvalho said. Updates for district employees and parents were expected at 7 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.

    “We do not expect them to change dramatically but if they do, we are ready to make decisions,” he said.

    A flash flood warning was issued for a widespread part of Los Angeles County. NBC4’s Stephanie Olmo has the forecast for 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024.  

    Vinedale College Preparatory Academy in Sun Valley, which was under an evacuation warning, was set to close Monday. Its students and staff were being moved to Glenwood Elementary.

    Parts of Los Angeles County faced a high risk of flooding.

    Click here for severe weather alerts throughout Southern California.

    This story is developing. Refresh for updates.

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    Willian Avila

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  • Another ‘Pineapple Express’ storm is expected to wallop California

    Another ‘Pineapple Express’ storm is expected to wallop California

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    LOS ANGELES — Another potentially dangerous “Pineapple Express” storm was expected to hit California late Saturday, bringing the threat of flooding and mudslides over the next couple of days.

    Californians spent Friday and Saturday preparing for what forecasters are saying could be the largest storm of the season, with the worst expected to hit Ventura and Santa Barbara counties on Sunday and Monday. Most of the state was under some sort of wind, surf or flood watch by Saturday afternoon.

    The storm marks the second time this week the state will be pummeled by an atmospheric river, a long band of moisture that forms over the Pacific. The first arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday, delivering downpours and heavy snowfall that brought cable car service to a halt before moving south to Los Angeles and San Diego on Thursday.

    Last winter, California was battered by numerous drought-busting atmospheric rivers that unleashed extensive flooding, big waves that hammered shoreline communities and extraordinary snowfall that crushed buildings. More than 20 people died.

    This “Pineapple Express” — called that because the atmospheric river’s plume of moisture stretches back across the Pacific to near Hawaii — was to arrive in Northern California on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy rains and strong winds were expected through the night into Sunday.

    The storm is forecast to move south down the Central Coast and hit the Los Angeles area with downpours, flash floods and high-elevation mountain snow beginning Sunday morning. It is expected to strike farther south, in Orange County and San Diego, on Monday. Heavy to moderate rain is expected to stay in Southern California until Tuesday.

    The National Weather Service forecasts 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) of rainfall across Southern California’s coastal and valley areas, with 6 to 12 inches (15.2 to 30.5 centimeters) likely in the foothills and mountains. Rainfall rates are expected to be 1/2 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) per hour, with locally higher rates. Forecasters predict mudslides, debris flows and flooding to occur.

    In the mountains with elevation above 7,000 feet (2,134 meters), 2 to 4 feet (0.61 to 1.2 meters) of snow will likely fall.

    Parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties will likely get hammered hardest by this storm, according to the National Weather Service. The south-facing slopes in the Transverse Ranges will be getting the heaviest rainfall, and flooding is likely to be exacerbated by already saturated soil from earlier winter storms.

    Evacuation orders were issued for parts of Ventura County and some of Santa Barbara County, including along burn scars caused by wildfires, and in the city of Santa Barbara’s coastal areas. High winds will contribute to hazardous seas.

    NASCAR moved The Clash at the Coliseum to Saturday night out of concerns for the impending inclement weather. Only heat races had been scheduled to be run Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but with a forecast calling for heavy rains and flooding to begin Sunday, NASCAR abruptly changed the schedule.

    The Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, canceled its eight-race program that was scheduled for Sunday. The park also rescheduled a pair of graded stakes, the Grade III, $100,000 Las Virgenes and the Grade III, San Marcos, for next Saturday.

    More damage is possible this year with El Nino, which is expected to bring additional storms to California caused by the temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide.

    Rising sea levels from global warming are also causing the waves to be bigger off California’s coast, according to research. The coast is additionally seeing some of the highest tides of the season.

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  • Memphis residents are on day 4 of a boil water notice while ice hits Arkansas and Missouri

    Memphis residents are on day 4 of a boil water notice while ice hits Arkansas and Missouri

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis was on its fourth day of living under a boil water notice on Monday, as repair crews worked to fix broken pipes in the hopes of easing the stress caused by a week of sub-freezing temperatures, snow and ice in this southern city.

    Memphis’ water company issued an advisory on Friday that residents of this city of more than 600,000 people should boil water they intended to use for drinking, brushing their teeth and preparing food. That’s because low pressure in the system and breaks in water mains could allow harmful bacteria to contaminate the water supply.

    Some residents lost all water service after winter storms that have caused at least 75 deaths around the U.S. this month, many involving hypothermia or road accidents. In Tennessee, the several inches of snow and unusually low temperatures led the Tennessee Valley Authority to ask the 10 million people in its service area to conserve energy to avoid rolling blackouts. The utility saw its highest demand for electricity ever last week but the system remained stable.

    Memphis, Light, Gas and Water CEO Doug McGowen told reporters Sunday afternoon that crews were making progress with repairs and he expects most customers to have water service restored on Monday and Tuesday. They will still have to boil water, likely through Thursday, though.

    Pamela Wells had been without any water since Thursday morning when she noticed a trickle coming through on Sunday night.

    “We kept praying that it was a sign that water was on the way,” she said. They woke up Monday morning to find water pressure restored to about 40% of normal. “Hopefully we’re on our way to full restoration of our water.”

    Family and friends have helped them by delivering bottled water, she said, but she really missed things that she normally takes for granted like being able to wash her hands in the sink or take a shower.

    As Memphis continued to thaw, McGowen also asked people to stop dripping their faucets and resist the temptation to wash their cars to help build pressure in the system. The city has been repairing at least 51 water main breaks and located more than 4,000 leaks at homes and businesses.

    Memphis was the largest, but not the only, water system in Tennessee to experience problems from the unusually cold weather. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said on Sunday night that 28 water systems were under boil water notices and 17 counties were reporting operational issues with their water utilities.

    In Tipton County, the fire department in Mason warned residents on Sunday to be prepared for a multiday water outage.

    “There is no current time table on how long it will be before water services will be fully restored to all customers,” fire officials said in a Facebook post.

    The outages and boil water notices led residents throughout West Tennessee to clean out bottled water supplies in stores. There were also long lines for bottled water giveaways by local governments and churches.

    As Memphis was warming up and beginning to reopen closed businesses and government offices, freezing rain was falling in Arkansas and Missouri, leading to fatal accidents and concerns of possible power outages.

    Forecasters warned that up to a half-inch (1.27 centimeters) of ice could coat parts of the area by Monday evening. That prompted an ice storm warning for Monday that included much of the Arkansas Ozark Mountains and the cities of Fayetteville and Fort Smith. A small part of northeastern Oklahoma was also under an ice storm warning Monday, the National Weather Service said.

    The ice – combined with winds of up to 20 mph (32 kph) – could lead to power outages, the agency said.

    In Missouri, three fatal accidents were reported Monday morning as freezing drizzle in some spots and freezing rain in others created a thin coat of ice that blanketed much of the state. Capt. John Hotz of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said one fatal accident involved a Missouri Department of Transportation truck, but no further details were immediately released. Twenty others were injured in accidents statewide. Most involved cars, trucks and semi-trailers skidding on the ice.

    “Just lots of slide-offs,” said Dallas Thompson, a St. Louis-area trooper.

    Meanwhile, heavy rain in Southern California prompted the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management to issue an evacuation warning near Topanga Canyon effective through Tuesday morning due to possible mud or debris flows.

    The Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service reported possible rain totals up to 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) and up to 2.5 inches (6.3 centimeters) across the area’s foothills through Monday night.

    ___

    Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri, and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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  • At least 7 people dead after a landslide buries a house in the southern Philippines, official says

    At least 7 people dead after a landslide buries a house in the southern Philippines, official says

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    A Philippine official says at least seven people, including five children, have been killed when a landslide set off by days of pounding rains buried a house where they were holding Christian prayers in the southern Philippines

    DAVAO, Philippines — A landslide set off by days of heavy rain buried a house where people were holding Christian prayers in the southern Philippines, killing at least seven people, including children, and seriously injuring two others, a disaster-response official said.

    Five to 10 people remained unaccounted following the landslide in a far-flung mountain village in the gold-mining town of Monkayo in Davao de Oro province, Ednar Dayanghirang, regional chief of the government’s Office of Civil Defense, said Thursday night.

    Rescuers stopped their search for more victims at mid-afternoon Thursday due to heavy rains that could cause more landslides, he said. The search and rescue work resumed on Friday.

    “They were praying in the house when the landslide hit,” Dayanghirang told The Associated Press by telephone. “It’s sad but it’s the reality on the ground.”

    Aside from the landslide, days of heavy rains also flooded low-lying villages and displaced more than 6,000 people in two other outlying provinces, he said.

    The rains were sparked by what local forecasters call a shear line – the point where warm and cold air meet. At least 20 storms and typhoons lash the Philippine archipelago each year specially during the rainy season that starts in June.

    In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest to hit on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages, swept ships inland and displaced more than 5 million in the central Philippines.

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  • Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state confronts flood damage after heavy rain kills at least 12

    Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state confronts flood damage after heavy rain kills at least 12

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    RIO DE JANEIRO — Neighborhoods in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state remained flooded Monday more than a day after torrential rains that killed at least 12 people.

    The heavy downpour wreaked havoc over the weekend, flooding peoples’ homes, a hospital, the metro line in the city of Rio and a main freeway section, Avenida Brasil.

    Some people drowned and were killed in landslides, while at least three died after being electrocuted. Eighteen towns across the state remained at “high” risk of landslides, according to civil defense officials.

    The floods were particularly devastating in Rio’s northern peripheries, some of the metropolitan’s poorest areas.

    “We feel like animals. It’s not normal to live like this,” Heloisa Regina, 55, said as she surveyed her flooded bar and home in Duque de Caxias, a city to the north of Rio where more than 100 millimeters (3.9 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours.

    Regina spent the night trying to sleep on a pool table, wondering how she was going to pay to repair the damage to the bar she has owned for 30 years. “We’ve lost everything,” she said.

    Residents waded through waist-high water Monday to navigate streets in Duque de Caxias. Others climbed on roofs and called for help as helicopters flew overhead, according to video footage from Brazil’s Globo television network.

    Firefighters were searching for a woman who disappeared after her car fell into the Botas River in Rio’s Belford Roxo neighborhood.

    Around 2,400 military personnel from Rio’s firefighters corps were mobilized over the weekend and used ambulances, boats, drones and aircraft to rescue residents and to monitor affected areas.

    Authorities intervened in over 200 incidents due to the flooding across the state, according to a statement from Rio’s civil defense. But some people accused authorities of negligence.

    “We are completely abandoned,” Duque de Caxias resident Eliana Vieira Krauss, 54, charged. “Nothing has improved” since similar floods more than a decade ago, the nursing assistant said.

    Krauss carried her 80-year-old disabled father-in-law to her sister-in-law’s home herself. “The water was almost reaching his bed. If he had turned around and fallen, he would have drowned,” Krauss said.

    Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes on Sunday declared an emergency and urged people to not force their way through flooded areas and to avoid disrupting rescue and recovery efforts.

    Moderate to heavy rain, lightning and gusts of wind were forecast Monday afternoon. Rio’s civil defense advised people not to swim in lakes or the sea, and when at home to stay away from sockets, windows and metal doors.

    Floods in the basement of the Ronaldo Gazolla Municipal Hospital led to power cuts that were resolved by Sunday, but all appointments at the hospital have been delayed by 15 days, Rio Health Secretary Daniel Soranz said on X, formerly Twitter.

    Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology had warned Thursday of the potential for heavy rain in Rio, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais due to a combination of heat, humidity and areas of low pressure in the atmosphere.

    In February 2023, heavy rain caused flooding and landslides that killed at least 48 people in Sao Paulo state. In September, flooding from a cyclone in southern Brazil killed at least 31 people and left 2,300 homeless.

    At the same time, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has faced severe drought. Scientists say extreme weather is happening more frequently due to human-caused climate change, and 2023 was the hottest year on record.

    Nízia Maria Geralda Francisco, 70, spent Saturday night on the roof where she was taken by neighbors to escape the flooding of her home in Belford Roxo.

    When she returned the next morning, she found her belongings drenched in muddy water, including a wardrobe and her documents. “It’s hard to stay in this place, but it’s ours. We don’t have any money to leave,” Geralda Francisco said, crying.

    “Humans are destroying nature, so this is what we’re getting in return,” she added.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues and the environment: https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment

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  • Arctic freeze continues to blast huge swaths of the US with sub-zero temperatures

    Arctic freeze continues to blast huge swaths of the US with sub-zero temperatures

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — A dangerous Arctic blast will continue sweeping across the U.S. on Monday and linger through at least midweek, prolonging a bitter cold that set record-low temperatures in parts of the country and threatens to further disrupt daily life, including an NFL playoff game and the first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest in Iowa.

    The National Weather Service said wind chills are expected to push temperatures 30 degrees below zero from the Northern Rockies to northern Kansas and into Iowa, testing the hardiness of caucusgoers willing to brave the deep chill on Monday.

    “You can’t sit home,” former President Donald Trump told supporters Sunday. “If you’re sick as a dog, you say, ‘Darling, I gotta make it.’ Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”

    Arctic storms left at least four dead and knocked out electricity to tens of thousands in the Northwest, brought snow to the South and walloped the Northeast with blizzard conditions forcing the postponement of the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Buffalo Bills NFL playoff game hosted in bone-chilling Buffalo, New York.

    The game was scheduled to be held Monday after being cancelled Sunday.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing near-whiteout conditions.

    “Conditions right now in Orchard Park, where the game would have started moments ago,” she wrote early Sunday afternoon. “No visibility and dangerously high winds.”

    The Bills invited diehard fans to help dig out snow-filled Highmark Stadium, offering $20 an hour for their labor.

    “We made progress shoveling, but not much at all,” said Logan Eschrich, a storm chaser who made his way to Buffalo and pitched in.

    It remains to be seen if the show will go on Monday afternoon. The weather service expects heavy lake-effect snow to push into upstate New York from Lake Erie, adding to the 1 to 2 feet (30.4 to 60.9 centimeters) of snow already blanketing the region. Snow fell at a rate of 2 inches (5 centimeters) per hour.

    Sub-zero wind chills will grip much of the country, plunging to 50 degrees below zero in Montana and the Dakotas.

    “It takes a matter of minutes for frostbite to set in,” the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said in a statement Sunday urging people to stay indoors.

    Other parts of the country could see temperatures drop 25 to 40 degrees below normal, from the Rockies to the Ohio Valley.

    As temperatures in Texas plunged, the state’s power grid operator appealed to residents to voluntarily conserve electricity Monday morning due to the cold weather causing “record breaking demand” for energy. A deadly freeze in 2021 left millions of Texas without power but state officials this week expressed confidence about the grid’s reliability as the cold front approached.

    Freezing rain is expected to pelt parts of the Southern Plains and Southern Appalachians.

    Even places like Florida won’t be spared from turbulent weather, with forecasts predicting showers and thunderstorms from Monday into Tuesday.

    In Oregon, more than 120,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, most of them in the Portland metro area, a day after high winds and a mix of snow and ice brought down trees and power lines.

    Some 100 trees toppled had over the weekend in a community just south of Portland, including one that fell on a house and killed a man. Two other people died of suspected hypothermia and a fourth died in a fire that spread from an open-flame stove after a tree fell onto an RV.

    “Given the extent of the damage and the high level of outage events, restoration efforts will continue into the week and customers are encouraged to plan accordingly,” Portland General Electric said in a statement. The utility said it was watching a second weather pattern that could bring high winds and freezing rain on Tuesday.

    Widespread power outages affecting tens of thousands were also reported Sunday in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In Nebraska, the Omaha Public Power District asked customers to conserve electricity to prevent outages.

    Airports across the country were impacted. More than half of flights into and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport were canceled. Scores of flights also were canceled or delayed at Chicago, Denver and Seattle-Tacoma airports.

    ___

    Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia; Nathan Ellgren in Des Moines, Iowa; Philip Marcelo in Long Island, New York; Nick Perry in Meredith, New Hampshire; and Julie Walker and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York City contributed to this story.

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  • Millions of Americans face below-zero temperatures as storms bring blast of Arctic air, snow and ice

    Millions of Americans face below-zero temperatures as storms bring blast of Arctic air, snow and ice

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    Subfreezing temperatures across much of the U.S. left millions of Americans facing dangerous cold as Arctic storms knocked out electricity to tens of thousands in the Northwest, brought snow to the South, and walloped the Northeast with blizzard conditions that forced the postponement of an NFL game.

    An estimated 95 million people nationwide faced weather warnings or advisories Sunday for wind chills below zero Fahrenheit (minus 17 Celsius). Forecasters said the severe cold was expected to push as far south as northern Texas while the bitter blast sends wind chill readings as low as minus 70 degrees (minus 56 Celsius) in Montana and the Dakotas.

    “It takes a matter of minutes for frostbite to set in,” the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said in a statement Sunday urging people to stay indoors.

    In Buffalo, New York, where snowfall of 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) was forecast, severe conditions led officials to postpone the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game from Sunday to Monday. Winds whipped at 30 mph (48 kph), and snow was falling at a rate of 2 inches (5 centimeters) per hour.

    Workers with shovels and trucks worked to clear snow from the field at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium as the Bills warned volunteers eager to help with the shoveling to stay at home and not defy a travel ban on area roads.

    “Looks like a pretty good day to not have a football game,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, posted on X with a video clip of whiteout conditions in the western New York city.

    At least one Bills player was out in the bad weather Sunday putting his newfound free time to good use. Offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark shared a video on Instagram showing fellow lineman Alec Anderson helping a motorist struggling with icy road conditions.

    “Good Samaritan, Alec, helping the people,” Van Demark narrates on the brief clip.

    Zack Taylor, a National Weather Service meteorologist in College Park, Maryland, warned some parts of the Northeast would see intense snowfall and extreme winds, with gusts up to 50 mph (89 kph) possible.

    “That’s why they’re expecting to see near-blizzard conditions at times,” Taylor said.

    Across the country in Oregon, more than 135,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, most of them in the Portland metro area, a day after high winds and a mix of snow and ice brought down trees and power lines.

    “Given the extent of the damage and the high level of outage events, restoration efforts will continue into the week and customers are encouraged to plan accordingly,” Portland General Electric said in a statement. The utility said it was watching a second weather pattern that could bring high winds and freezing rain on Tuesday.

    The City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services said its crews were working non-stop at multiple locations to make emergency repairs and prevent sewage releases into homes and businesses. Portland’s largest sewage pump station, which serves downtown and the surrounding inner city, was under partial service due to a frozen pipe.

    Widespread power outages affecting tens of thousands were also reported Sunday in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In Nebraska, the Omaha Public Power District asked customers to conserve electricity to prevent outages.

    “The weather came on faster and has been more prolonged than anticipated,” the district said in a statement Sunday.

    Airports across the country were impacted. More than half of flights into and out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport were canceled. Scores of flights also were canceled or delayed at Chicago, Denver and Seattle-Tacoma airports.

    Forecasters also warned that rapid bursts of heavy snow and wind could cause drastic and sudden drops in visibility in eastern Pennsylvania and parts of northern New Jersey and Delaware with some “near whiteout conditions” possible.

    Another Arctic storm that’s dumped heavy snowfall in the Rockies was forecast to push further south, potentially bringing 4 inches to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of snow to parts of Arkansas, northern Mississippi and west Tennessee.

    Juan Villegas wore layers of clothing beneath his heavy coat Sunday as he and roughly a dozen subcontractors in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, shoveled away a blanket of snow, which also covered park benches and partially buried fire hydrants the day before the state’s presidential caucuses.

    Working in temperatures of minus 15 degrees (minus 26 degrees Celsius), Villegas said the best way to feel warm was to “just keep moving.”

    “If you stay doing nothing, it’s when you really feel the cold,” Villegas said.

    Much of Wisconsin were under advisories through Monday afternoon, with predicted wind chills as low as 30 degrees below zero (minus 34 Celsius).

    Even parts of northern Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia could see snow. In Shreveport, Louisiana, Mary Trammel was among residents who stocked up on bottled water, food and fuel for generators ahead of subfreezing weather expected to coat some roads in ice and up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow.

    “It’s cold out here,” said Tramel, who told KSLA-TV she bought bread and ingredients for enough soup to last days.

    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in advance to give utility trucks and trucks hauling essential supplies greater flexibility to respond.

    Officials in Mississippi’s capital city of Jackson were preparing for days of freezing weather after cold snaps in 2021 and 2022 caused pipes to burst and water pressure to drop across the city of 150,000.

    “We feel as confident as we can that we’re prepared for whatever comes our way,” Ted Henifin, Jackson’s interim manager of Jackson’s long-troubled water system, told WAPT-TV. He said crews were on standby to respond to any broken pipes.

    The wild weather didn’t just bring snow and ice. Record high tides that flooded some homes in Maine and New Hampshire on Saturday also swept three historic fishing shacks into the sea from where they had stood for more than 130 years in South Portland, Maine.

    “History is just being washed away,” Michelle Erskine said Sunday, a day after capturing video footage of the last two wooden shacks sliding into the ocean.

    In Oregon, just south of Portland, 100 trees toppled Saturday, including one that fell on a house and killed a man. Another person died of suspected hypothermia and a third died in a fire that spread from an open-flame stove after a tree fell onto an RV.

    The snow and gusting winds had let up Sunday in Oregon, but frigid temperatures meant roads remained treacherous and much of Portland was shut down. In nearby Lake Oswego, Glenn Prohaska was looking for a business that had WiFi so he could book a hotel. With the power out, the temperature in his home had dropped to the 20s overnight.

    “In the 40 years I’ve been here, this is the worst I’ve seen,” he said.

    ___

    Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; Nathan Ellgren in Des Moines, Iowa; Philip Marcelo in Long Island, New York; Nick Perry in Meredith, New Hampshire; and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this story.

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  • A weekend of ferocious winter weather could see low-temperature records set in the US heartland

    A weekend of ferocious winter weather could see low-temperature records set in the US heartland

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    O’FALLON, Mo. — Icy winter weather blanketed the U.S. on Saturday as a wave of Arctic storms threatened to break low-temperature records in the heartland, spread cold and snow from coast to coast and cast a chill over everything from football playoffs to presidential campaigns.

    As the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend began, the weather forecast was a crazy quilt of color-coded advisories, from an ice storm warning in Oregon to a blizzard warning in the northern Plains to high wind warnings in New Mexico.

    “It’s, overall, been a terrible, terrible winter. And it came out of nowhere — two days,” Dan Abinana said as he surveyed a snowy Des Moines, Iowa. He moved to the state from Tanzania as a child years ago, but said “you never get used to the snow.”

    In Portland, Oregon, medical examiners were investigating a hypothermia death as freezing rain and heavy snow fell in a city more accustomed to mild winter rains, and hundreds of people took shelter overnight at warming centers. Weather-related deaths already were reported earlier in the week in California, Idaho, Illinois and Wisconsin.

    Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced a state of emergency, citing “very dangerous conditions.” Up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow fell in some areas over the past week, and wind chills were well below zero.

    “This event is not going away tonight. It’s not going away tomorrow,” Pillen said at a news conference “It’s going to take a number of days.”

    About 1,700 miles of Nebraska highways were closed. State police assisted over 400 stranded motorists, said Col. John A. Bolduc, head of the Nebraska State Patrol.

    In Iowa, cars were stuck for five hours in blowing snow on Interstate 80 after semitrailers jackknifed in slippery conditions. State troopers had handled 86 crashes and 535 motorist-assist calls since Friday, State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla said.

    Road crews were “working the snow-blowers like crazy,” Dinkla said, but high winds were blowing snow right back onto roadways.

    Governors from New York to Louisiana warned residents to be prepared for worrisome weather.

    Parts of Montana fell below minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) Saturday morning, and the National Weather Service said similar temperatures were expected as far as northern Kansas, with minus 50 F (minus 46 C) possible in the Dakotas. In St. Louis, the National Weather Service warned of rare and “life-threatening” cold.

    “We’ve had, now, multiple back-to-back storms” parading across the country, weather service meteorologist Zach Taylor said. That typically happens at least a couple of times in the U.S. winter.

    Still, to Eboni Jones of Des Moines, it felt unusual for “how much we’re getting all within one week.”

    “It’s pretty crazy out,” Jones said while shoveling snow.

    Grant Rampton, 25, also of Des Moines, braved a wind chill of minus 20 F (minus 29 C) to go sledding with friends at a golf course, fighting off the cold by wearing layers of clothing and insulated socks and keeping in constant movement.

    “It’s a great state to be in,” said Rampton, a lifelong Iowan. “There’s not as much to do, in winter especially, but you can make your own fun, like out here, sledding with your friends.”

    The temperature in parts of Iowa could dip as low as minus 14 F (minus 26 C) on Monday, when the state’s caucuses kick off the presidential primary season. And forecasters said it would be Wednesday before below-zero windchills go away.

    Republicans Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump all canceled campaign events because of the storm.

    Electricity was out Saturday afternoon in hundreds of thousands of households and businesses, mainly in Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin, according to poweroutage.us.

    In Yankton, South Dakota, the temperature was minus 15 F (minus 26 C) in the evening. Police there said plows were “freezing and breaking,” so they would not operate until conditions improve. The Minnehaha County Highway Department also pulled its plows “due to low visibility and extreme cold temps.”

    In other places, if the problem wasn’t snow and wind, it was water: Record high tides hit the Northeast, flooding some homes in Maine and New Hampshire.

    The coastal Northeast was pounded by 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) of rain in the morning, and a storm surge amplified what was already the month’s highest tide, National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Cempa said. In Portland, Maine, a gauge recorded a 14.57-foot (4.4-meter) difference between high and average low tide, topping a prior record of 14.17 feet (4.3 meters) set in 1978.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned of a “dangerous storm” as she announced that the Buffalo Bills-Pittsburgh Steelers NFL playoff game was postponed from Sunday to Monday. Residents of the county that includes Buffalo were told to stay off the roads starting at 9 p.m. Saturday, with the forecast calling for 1 to 2 feet (0.3 to 0.6 meters) or more of snow and winds gusting as high as 65 mph (105 kph).

    Kansas City, Missouri, was set to host a frigid playoff game Saturday night between the Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins. The temperature at kickoff was expected to be minus 2 F (minus 18 C), with the wind making it feel like minus 24 F (minus 31 C).

    Still, hundreds of fans lined up hours beforehand outside the Arrowhead Stadium parking lots, some with ski goggles, heated socks and other winter gear they bought for the game.

    Chiefs season ticket holder Keaton Schlatter and his friends had considered trying to sell their seats, as many other fans did.

    “But we decided that it’s all part of the experience, and we didn’t want to miss it,” said Schlatter, of West Des Moines, Iowa.

    In Oregon, Robert Banks, who has been homeless for several years, stood outside his blue tent along a Portland street in the afternoon, wearing one glove as sleet pelted him. He said he wanted to secure his belongings before making his way to a shelter.

    “I lived in Alaska for a number of years,” he said. “The wind and the wet cold is different from dry tundra cold … oh, it is bone-chilling.”

    The snow was welcome in at least one place.

    Philip Spitzley of Lake Odessa, Michigan, woke up Friday to 95 small snowmen in his front yard to celebrate his 95th birthday. Fifteen family members and a neighbor collaborated on the snow-packing job, which took about 90 minutes.

    “I was quite surprised,” Spitzley said. “I sat right here watching my TV and didn’t know they were out there. Then I saw flashlights.”

    The display has turned into a spectacle as motorists slow down for a look. And with days of cold weather ahead, “they’ll be there awhile,” Spitzley said.

    ___

    Peltz reported from New York. Nathan Ellgren and Mark Vancleave in Des Moines, Iowa; Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Missouri; Julie Walker in New York; Ed White in Detroit; Nick Perry in Meredith, New Hampshire; Jennifer Kane in Portland, Oregon; and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed.

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  • Sprawling storm wallops US with tornado reports, damage and heavy snow, closing roads and schools

    Sprawling storm wallops US with tornado reports, damage and heavy snow, closing roads and schools

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — A sprawling storm hit the South with tornado warnings and high winds that blew roofs off homes, flipped over campers and tossed about furniture in Florida on Tuesday. Another storm brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half a foot of snow, stranding people on highways as it headed to the Northeast.

    At least three deaths in the South were attributed to the storm, where 55 mph (88 kph) winds and hail moved through the Florida Panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with at least several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. A wind gust of 106 mph (171 kph) was recorded before dawn near the coast in Walton County, Florida.

    Near Cottonwood, Alabama, a small city near the Georgia and Florida borders, 81-year-old Charlotte Paschal was killed when her mobile home was tossed from its foundation, the Houston County coroner said. A suspected tornado had touched down in the area.

    Police in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, say a man died during heavy rain when a tree fell on his car on a state highway in Jonesboro.

    Storm-related injuries were reported in Florida, but no deaths. A section of Panama City Beach, Florida, showed parts of roofs blown away, furniture, fences and debris strewn about and a house that appeared tilted on side, leaning on another home.

    In Panama City, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, police early Tuesday asked residents to stay indoors and off the roads “unless absolutely necessary” as officers checked on damage from the storms, including downed power lines and trees.

    The city is in Bay County, where there had been multiple reports of tornadoes on the ground, Sheriff Tommy Ford said in a brief Facebook Live post.

    “We’ve rescued people out of structures,” he said.

    The department urged people to stay home, posting photos of a damaged apartment complex and marina. The Walton County sheriff’s department in the Florida Panhandle posted photos of power lines draped across a road, damage to a gas station and large pieces of building materials littering the area. About 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast, in Jackson County, Florida, photos showing damage to a campground and RV park in Marianna were posted.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who gave his State of the State address Tuesday as tornado warnings were active outside the Capitol, issued an executive order to include 49 counties in North Florida under a state of emergency from tornadoes.

    “Every government building except this one is closed in Tallahassee because of the weather,” DeSantis said at the start of the speech. “We just do what we do in Florida: We respond when these things happen … We’ll handle whatever fallout is from these dangerous tornadoes.”

    Busch Gardens Tampa Bay announced it was closing early at 2 p.m. Tuesday due to the weather and would reopen Wednesday at 10 a.m.

    Heavy rain across Georgia stopped air traffic at Atlanta’s busy airport for a time Tuesday morning and caused flash flooding, blocking some lanes on freeways around Atlanta during the morning commute. More than 80 public school systems across Georgia called off classes entirely while others taught students online or delayed the start of in-person classes.

    More than 200,000 customers were without power in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, according to the PowerOutage.us website.

    In North Carolina, one person has died and two other people were in critical condition after a suspected tornado struck a mobile home park in the town of Claremont, which is north of Charlotte, according to Amy McCauley, a spokesperson for Catawba County. The county has also been dealing with downed trees and flooding.

    North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency before the storm approached so weight and size restrictions on large and heavy trucks containing emergency supplies or agricultural goods would be waived. Some schools were canceled or shut down early.

    Meanwhile, in the Midwest, where a snowstorm started Monday, up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow could blanket a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That includes western Kansas, eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois, said Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

    In Des Moines, Iowa, Laura Burianov had nearly finished shoveling her driveway Tuesday morning. But with snow still falling, she acknowledged she likely would have to shovel again later in the day.

    “It’s going to get harder. I shoveled last night and you can’t really tell, but I can pretend that three less inches makes a difference,” she said.

    Matt Stilwell’s street in Des Moines was still buried with more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow as a plow had not come through. But he had nearly cleared off his driveway and sidewalk.

    “I was out twice last night. With heavy snow such as this, I think it’s easier to chip away at it,” he said.

    The storm dumped around 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) of snow across Kansas, eastern Nebraska and South Dakota, western Iowa and southwestern Minnesota on Monday, with 15 inches (38 centimeters) at North Sioux City, South Dakota, the National Weather Service reported. Lower amounts fell over western Iowa, central Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

    Poor road conditions contributed to a fatal crash early Tuesday in southeastern Wisconsin, Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath said in a news release. An SUV driver was killed following a head-on collision with a semitrailer on state Highway 18 around 5:40 a.m. The driver of the semitrailer was not hurt. The drivers were the lone occupants of the vehicles.

    Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Maze said in a telephone interview that layers of slush and snow covered the center and fog lines on the highway. The National Weather Service said light snow was falling at the time with winds gusting up to 26 mph (42 kph).

    It was the first major winter storm of the season for the Kansas City metro area in Kansas and Missouri, where the National Weather Service predicted 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow by the time the storm moved on later Tuesday.

    From the Midwest, the storm was expected to head east, bringing a combination of snow, rain and strong winds to the Northeast by Tuesday night, as well as concerns about flooding in areas such as New England, parts of which got more than a foot of snow Sunday.

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy already declared a state of emergency as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, ahead of what’s expected to be heavy rain and wind that will exacerbate the effects of bad weather conditions since December.

    “I would just say this is one I would strongly, strongly, strongly encourage folks to not underestimate,” he said at a news conference Monday.

    In New York, city officials began evacuating nearly 2,000 migrants who had been housed at a sprawling white tent complex at a former airport located in a remote corner of Brooklyn. An aide to New York City Mayor Eric pointed to predicted wind speeds of more than 70 mph (112 kph) Tuesday night.

    In western New York, an empty tractor trailer blew over on the state Thruway on Tuesday morning, temporarily blocking all westbound traffic, state police said. The state banned empty trucks and trailers on numerous major roadways.

    In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills has delayed the opening of all state offices until noon Wednesday due to the storm.

    The weather has already affected campaigning for Iowa’s Jan. 15 precinct caucuses, where the snow is expected to be followed by frigid temperatures that could drift below zero degrees (minus 18 Celsius).

    It forced former President Donald Trump’s campaign to cancel multiple appearances by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had been scheduled to court Iowa voters on Trump’s behalf Monday.

    Whiteout conditions in central Nebraska closed a long stretch of Interstate 80, while Kansas closed Interstate 70 from the central city of Russell all the way west to the Colorado border due to dangerous travel conditions. Several vehicles slid off I-70 in the northeastern part of the state, authorities said.

    Madison, Wisconsin, was under a winter storm warning until early Wednesday, with as much as 9 inches (23 centimeters) of snow and 40 mph (64 kph) winds on tap.

    Northwestern Illinois was also under a winter storm warning with forecasts calling for 7 to 12 inches (18 to 30 centimeters) of snow by early Wednesday. The Chicago area as well as Gary, Indiana, were under winter storm advisories, with forecasts calling for up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow and wind gusts of up to 30 mph (48 kph).

    ___

    McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Contributing to this report are Associated Press writers Curtis Anderson, Brendan Farrington and Freida Frisaro in Florida; Jeff Amy and Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Ken Miller in Edmund, Oklahoma; Nicholas Ingram in Kansas City, Missouri; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Phil Marcelo in New York; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; and Ron Todt in Philadelphia.

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  • Eurostar cancels trains due to flooding, stranding hundreds of travelers in Paris and London

    Eurostar cancels trains due to flooding, stranding hundreds of travelers in Paris and London

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    LONDON — The holiday travel plans of hundreds of people were upended Saturday after Eurostar canceled train services to and from London because a tunnel under the River Thames became flooded.

    Large crowds of travelers trying to get across the English Channel were stranded at London’s St. Pancras International station and the Gare du Nord station in Paris. Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said it canceled all 41 trains scheduled for Saturday because of the flooding.

    Engineers working on the tunnel said water levels were reducing. The volume of water in the tunnel was “unprecedented,” they said.

    The U.K. has been battered by strong, gusty winds and heavy rain brought by Storm Gerrit throughout the holiday period. More stormy weather and travel disruption is expected during the last weekend of the year.

    Many travelers stuck at the train stations sat on floors and suitcases, scrambling to find last-minute accommodation or alternative plans. Chris Dillashaw, from San Antonio, Texas, was among many whose plans for New Year’s Eve were ruined by the travel chaos.

    “Our entire family is here … We were celebrating Christmas in Paris and then headed to London for our New Year’s Eve plans,” he told The Associated Press while waiting at Gare du Nord. “It’s pretty disappointing to find out via an email what happened.”

    Christina David, 25, and Georgina Benyamin, 26, from Sydney, said they have nowhere to stay after finding out that their train from London to Paris — their final stop in a weeks-long European tour — was canceled.

    “We paid for an expensive hotel with an Eiffel Tower view,” Benyamin said. “Now we have to book a hotel to stay for the night here. We don’t know where to go; we have nowhere to stay.”

    Eurostar said it was “extremely sorry for the unforeseen issues affecting our customers and services.”

    “We understand this is a vital time to get home at the end of the festive season and ahead of New Year,” the company said.

    Eurostar services were also disrupted just before Christmas due to a strike by staff at Eurotunnel.

    The U.K.’s weather forecaster, the Met Office, said more high winds and rain are expected to hit London and southern England on Saturday. Gusts of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) are expected, with the strongest winds likely near coastal areas.

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  • At least 20 killed in Congo flooding and landslides, bringing fatalities to over 60

    At least 20 killed in Congo flooding and landslides, bringing fatalities to over 60

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    KINSHASA, Congo — At least 20 people have died following landslides caused by torrential rains which hit the South Kivu region in eastern Congo, officials announced on Friday.

    That brings to more than 60 the number of deaths caused by flooding and landslides in Congo in the past week alone.

    Officials said the landslides swallowed up houses and dwellings on Thursday in the locality of Burhiny, in the Mwenga territory.

    “The 20 deaths are the direct result of landslides that buried houses,” said territory administrator Walubila Ishikitilo.

    The government said on Friday that it was deploying emergency assistance to those affected and evacuating residents from the area.

    Flooding also affected other parts of the country on Friday, including the capital, Kinshasa, on the banks of the Congo River, and parts of Kasai province.

    The latest come just about 48 hours after landslides claimed the lives of more than 20 artisanal miners in Kamituga, also in the Mwenga territory, on Tuesday, according to officials.

    On Wednesday, 21 people died from landslides caused by torrential rains in Bukavu, an area in South Kivu.

    Observers have blamed the extent of the damage caused by torrential rains, flooding and landslides in South Kivu on the illegal construction of houses in unauthorized locations. Since the beginning of December, at least 100 people have lost their lives.

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  • Busiest holiday travel season in years is off to a smooth start with few airport delays

    Busiest holiday travel season in years is off to a smooth start with few airport delays

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    NEW YORK — The holiday travel rush hit its peak Friday as mild weather and lower flight cancelation rates raised hopes for merrier drivers and airline passengers than last year.

    U.S. airlines are predicting a blockbuster holiday season and have projected confidence they can handle the crowds after hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers, seeking to avoid the delays and suspensions that marred travel last year and culminated with the Southwest Airline debacle that stranded more than 2 million people.

    Airlines have canceled just 1.2% of U.S. flights so far this year, the lowest in five years, but bad weather is always a threat. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has warned the government will be holding the airlines accountable to operate smoothly and treat passengers well if there are disruptions. Earlier this week, Transportation Department announced a settlement in which Southwest will pay $140 million for its meltdown last year.

    Some 70 flights had been cancelled in the U.S by early Friday evening and about 3,480 had been delayed, according to FlightAware.

    The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.6 million passengers on Thursday, which had been projected to be one of the busiest travel days, along with Friday and New Year’s Day. That’s short of the record 2.9 million that agents screened on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, since travel tends to be more spread over over Christmas and New Year’s.

    Travel has been strong this year — surpassing pre-pandemic levels — even though many Americans say they are worried about the economy. The TSA has already screened 12.3% more travelers than it had by this time last year and 1.4% more than in 2019.

    Robert Lake said he hoped taking a pre-dawn flight from Atlanta International Airport would help him beat the crowds Friday but found the world’s busiest airport was already packed in the wee hours.

    “It was very hectic. I got to my boarding area, like, maybe just minutes before the plane took off,” Lake said after arriving in Tampa to go to a cruise for the holidays. “I cut it way too close.”

    Other travelers said they were pleasantly surprised at the ease of their trips despite the crowds.

    “Super easy. We had a great flight. No issues so far,” said Kendall Black, who flew from Houston to Chicago O’Hare International Airport with her spouse and 3-year-old daughter to visit her sister.

    Auto club AAA forecasts that 115 million people in the U.S. will go 50 miles or more from home between Saturday and New Year’s Day. That’s up 2% over last year. The busiest days on the road will be Saturday and next Thursday, Dec. 28, according to transportation data provider INRIX.

    Inflation has cooled off a bit, and travelers were helped by lower average gas prices and air fares.

    The nationwide gas price average Friday was $3.13 a gallon, down 15 cents from a month ago and about 3 cents more than this time last year, according to AAA. Average fares in October were 13% lower than a year earlier, according to the government’s latest data.

    Internationally, air travel has also rebounded, though it remains below pre-pandemic levels.

    Airlines have sold 31% more tickets for international arrivals to global destinations between Dec. 21 and Dec. 31 compared to the similar period last year, according to travel data firm FowardKeys.

    Some travelers in northern Europe had a run of bad luck with bad weather and labor unrest.

    A storm brought heavy rain and strong winds across northern Europe overnight and into Friday, bringing down trees and prompting warnings of flooding on the North Sea coast.

    Workers at the undersea tunnel between Britain and France held a surprise strike on Thursday, forcing the cancelation of passenger and vehicle-carrying service before an agreement with unions was reached.

    Eurostar, which operates passenger train services from London to continental Europe, said services will resume Friday and it will run six extra trains between Paris and London into the weekend.

    In the U.S., AccuWeather forecasters said that Pacific storm that pounded parts of Southern California on Thursday will merge with another storm in the Northwest and produce a major snowstorm in the Rockies. AccuWeather warned travelers to watch for possible flight cancelations and delays in Denver over the weekend.

    ____

    Associated Press reporters Laura Bargfeld in Tampa, Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago, David Koenig in Dallas and Haleluya Hadero in New York contributed to this story.

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