After deadly flood, Texas looks to improve its weather forecasts
The unnamed storm that caused the floods — dumping 2 to 4 inches of water per hour in some areas — was inherently difficult for forecasting models to predict, experts in meteorology and hydrology told Texas lawmakers at a special hearing on flooding.
But it could have been easier, they said, if the state itself collected better data from the atmosphere, ground and waterways. An initial investment of $20 million, they said at the hearing Thursday, would improve state tracking of dangerous weather.
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The experts said improved tracking would complement the National Weather Service and could be a backstop if extreme weather elsewhere draws federal resources away from Texas.
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San Francisco Chronicle
10 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Massive central California wildfire keeps growing and becomes state's largest blaze of the year
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Rising temperatures on Wednesday posed new challenges for firefighters who have made incremental progress against a massive wildfire in central California that has injured four people as it has become the biggest blaze in the state so far this year. More than 870 remote homes and other structures at the northern edge of Los Padres National Forest are threatened by the Gifford Fire, which grew only slightly overnight after burning out of control for days. The fire has scorched at least 131 square miles (339 square kilometers) of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with just 9% containment. It surpassed the 126-square mile (326-square-kilometer) Madre Fire, which erupted last month in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, as the state's largest fire of 2025. Crews working in steep, inaccessible terrain will be dealing with temperatures in the mid-90s (35 Celsius) on Wednesday and above 100 (38 Celsius) on Thursday, said Capt. Scott Safechuck with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. 'We have hot weather, and we have low relative humidity,' Safechuck said Wednesday. 'So we expect extreme fire behavior.' Luckily, winds are expected to remain relatively calm, he said. Wildfire risk will be elevated through the weekend across much of inland California as the heat wave intensifies. The southern part of the state has seen very little rain, drying out vegetation and making it 'ripe to burn,' the National Weather Service for Los Angeles warned in a statement. Triple-digit temperatures (around 38 Celsius) are forecast for the Sacramento Valley. More than 2,200 personnel are battling the Gifford Fire, which grew out of at least four smaller fires that erupted Friday along State Route 166, forcing closures in both directions east of Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 people. The causes of the fires are under investigation. Flames are racing through a vast, mostly unpopulated region that includes forestland, ranches, large canyon properties and agricultural parcels growing wine grapes and strawberries. The weather service warned of health risks from spreading smoke that could affect much of southwest California. Officials reported four injuries, including a firefighter who was treated for dehydration. Over the weekend, a motorist was hospitalized with burn injuries after getting out of his vehicle and being overrun by flames. And two contract employees assisting firefighters were also hurt when their all-terrain vehicle overturned.
Associated Press
41 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Massive central California wildfire keeps growing and becomes state's largest blaze of the year
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Rising temperatures on Wednesday posed new challenges for firefighters who have made incremental progress against a massive wildfire in central California that has injured four people as it has become the biggest blaze in the state so far this year. More than 870 remote homes and other structures at the northern edge of Los Padres National Forest are threatened by the Gifford Fire, which grew only slightly overnight after burning out of control for days. The fire has scorched at least 131 square miles (339 square kilometers) of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, with just 9% containment. It surpassed the 126-square mile (326-square-kilometer) Madre Fire, which erupted last month in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, as the state's largest fire of 2025. Crews working in steep, inaccessible terrain will be dealing with temperatures in the mid-90s (35 Celsius) on Wednesday and above 100 (38 Celsius) on Thursday, said Capt. Scott Safechuck with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. 'We have hot weather, and we have low relative humidity,' Safechuck said Wednesday. 'So we expect extreme fire behavior.' Luckily, winds are expected to remain relatively calm, he said. Wildfire risk will be elevated through the weekend across much of inland California as the heat wave intensifies. The southern part of the state has seen very little rain, drying out vegetation and making it 'ripe to burn,' the National Weather Service for Los Angeles warned in a statement. Triple-digit temperatures (around 38 Celsius) are forecast for the Sacramento Valley. More than 2,200 personnel are battling the Gifford Fire, which grew out of at least four smaller fires that erupted Friday along State Route 166, forcing closures in both directions east of Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 people. The causes of the fires are under investigation. Flames are racing through a vast, mostly unpopulated region that includes forestland, ranches, large canyon properties and agricultural parcels growing wine grapes and strawberries. The weather service warned of health risks from spreading smoke that could affect much of southwest California. Officials reported four injuries, including a firefighter who was treated for dehydration. Over the weekend, a motorist was hospitalized with burn injuries after getting out of his vehicle and being overrun by flames. And two contract employees assisting firefighters were also hurt when their all-terrain vehicle overturned.
Fox News
41 minutes ago
- Fox News
Minnesota hiker vanishes in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, leaving wife 'trying to stay strong' for their kids
A Minnesota hiker has now been missing for more than a week after disappearing in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains, with his wife saying that she is "trying to stay strong for the kids." Grant Gardner made contact with his wife on July 29 "letting her know he'd made it to the summit" of the 13,000-foot Cloud Peak, but has not been heard from since, according to the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office. The agency launched a search and rescue operation in what it described as "extreme and very challenging" conditions. "He solo hikes, and he's been hiking for over a decade," his wife Lauren Gardner told Cowboy State Daily. "He's used to this stuff, and he's very detail oriented." "It's all definitely surreal," she reportedly added. "And I'm in shock, I think, and trying to stay strong for the kids. This has never happened in all the years he's gone out. He knows what he's doing and has the skills. I'm just hoping right now." The missing 38-year-old is a father of two children, ages 13 and 11, the outlet reported. The Big Horn County Sheriff's Office said Gardner had planned an approximate 3-day hike "through the Misty Moon Lake area, eventually summiting Cloud Peak, and returning to his vehicle completing his journey." Phone records show he reached the summit of Cloud Peak around 7 p.m. on July 29 and sent a text to his wife indicating that "the climb was more taxing than he expected and he was tired," according to authorities. "The late summit of 7:00pm at 13,000 feet was and is concerning due to the lack of visible trails through cliffs, timber line, boulder fields, and other hazards that had to be navigated after dark before reaching clear trails and safe terrain," Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said. Police said Gardner's vehicle later was found by searchers in the same parking lot where he began his trip. "The search is rapidly evolving and ongoing in the Cloud Peak Wilderness area. In addition to high altitude and terrain challenges, difficult weather patterns including winds, thunder and lightning storms have made search efforts difficult at various times of the day," the Sheriff's Office said in a search update this week. "Search and rescue teams from South Big Horn County, Sheridan County, Johnson County, Washakie County, and Park County Wyoming along with other rotor aircraft from First Flight of Wyoming, Wyoming Army National Guard, and private aircraft" are assisting in the effort, they also said. "The Big Horn County Sheriff's Office is requesting anyone who may have had contact with Gardner, please report to the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office at 307-568-2324 or the Wyoming Missing Person Tip line on the Wyoming DCI website," police said.
