Live Blog: Weather Tidbits, August 14
You can get the very latest on Erin's path and the potential impacts here, but first let's dive in to some of the weather tidbits bubbling on this Thursday:
(01:13 p.m. EDT) Will Calmer Winds Today Help Wildfire Fight In Europe?
Weeks of intense heat waves have fueled wildfires across southern Europe, with deadly impacts in Spain, Turkey and Albania. Today, fire crews in Greece, Spain and Portugal are hoping a drop in wind speeds will help them beat back the fires.
Watch how residents of a port city in Greece risked their lives to save their pets and farm animals.
(01:00 p.m. EDT) Earthquake Shakes North Carolina
A low-magnitude earthquake of 2.7 shook Polk County, North Carolina, just north of the South Carolina state line just after 11 a.m. EDT. The quake's epicenter was near Columbus, North Carolina, according to the USGS.
On social media, a resident of Fletcher, North Carolina, which is located about 30 miles northwest of Mill Spring, said that 'some rumbling preceded it … then it felt like something hit the house.' Residents of towns in both North and South Carolina took to social media to say that they'd felt the quake. At this point, no damage or injuries have been reported.
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Spain battles 20 major wildfires amid scorching heat, deploys more troops
Spain battles 20 major wildfires amid scorching heat, deploys more troops By Guillermo Martinez and Ana Cantero VILLARDEVÓS (Reuters) -Scorching heat hampered efforts to contain 20 major wildfires across Spain on Sunday, prompting the government to deploy an additional 500 troops from the military emergency unit to support firefighting operations. In the northwestern region of Galicia, several fires have converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region. Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, with Spain among the hardest-hit countries. In the past week alone, fires there have claimed three lives and burned more than 115,000 hectares, while neighbouring Portugal also battles widespread blazes. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas on Sunday, Spanish national weather agency AEMET said. "There are still some challenging days ahead and, unfortunately, the weather is not on our side," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news conference in Ourense, one of the most affected areas. He announced an increase in military reinforcements, bringing the total number of troops deployed across Spain to 1,900. Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, told Spanish public TV temperatures were expected to drop from Tuesday, but for now the weather conditions were "very adverse". "Today there are extremely high temperatures with an extreme risk of fires, which complicates the firefighting efforts," Barcones said. VILLAGERS RESORT TO BUCKETS In the village of Villardevos in Galicia, desperate neighbours have organised to fight the flames on their own with water buckets as the area was left without electricity to power water pumps. "The fireplanes come in from all sides, but they don't come here," Basilio Rodriguez, a resident, told Reuters on Saturday. Added Lorea Pascual, another local resident: "It's insurmountable, it couldn't be worse". Interior ministry data show 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June. In neighbouring Portugal, wildfires have burnt some 155,000 hectares of vegetation so far this year, according to provisional data from the ICNF forestry protection institute - three times the average for this period between 2006 to 2024. About half of that area burned just in the past three days. Thousands of firefighters were battling eight large blazes in central and northern Portugal, the largest of them near Piodao, a scenic, mountainous area popular with tourists. Another blaze in Trancoso, further north, has now been raging for eight days. A smaller fire a few miles east claimed a local resident's life on Friday - the first this season.
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Powerful Hurricane Erin could mimic damage from earlier hurricanes that stayed offshore
Hurricane Erin, with powerful winds of more than 160 mph on August 16, is expected to take a path familiar to many as the massive storm moves northward parallel to the United States coast. Dozens of hurricanes have made a similar trek in recent years, testing the nerves of millions who wait to see if the storms are destined to make any sharp left turns or wobbles toward the coast. Even when they don't brush the coast or make landfall, such storms can be deadly and cause millions of dollars of damage. Erin is expected to remain hundreds of miles offshore, according to the National Hurricane Center, part of the National Weather Service. As of 5 p.m. Aug. 16, Erin is forecast to be centered roughly 600 miles east of Savannah on Aug. 20. But because Erin is growing both in size and intensity, chances are increasing that it will still create rough conditions at sea and along beaches as it moves northward off the coast, the weather service says. Many lives have been lost during hurricanes that remained well offshore but created rough surf or deceptive conditions that can disguise hazardous rip currents. Over a 10-year period, about 10 to 15% of all deaths in tropical storms and hurricanes were attributed to rip currents, according to the hurricane center. That's one reason behind a new public safety campaign NOAA launched earlier this year – "Blue IQ." Erin and past storms also clearly demonstrate how dependent we are on overhead weather patterns to steer tropical storms and hurricanes away from the coast. Examples of these patterns include the jet stream and a ridge of high pressure over the Atlantic Ocean, known as the Bermuda High. What's the chance Erin could veer closer to the coast? While the paths of many previous hurricanes have made wobbles or turns toward the coast, as Superstorm Sandy did in 2012, it's unlikely in this case, forecasts say. The hurricane center's skill at predicting storms – especially large, well-formed hurricanes – has improved significantly in recent years. That's thanks in part to the years of federal science data that have been collected and fed into computer models that assist the center's hurricane specialists in plotting forecasts. The weather service, including the hurricane center, "has done a pretty darned good job over the last five years of predicting the path of storms," said Rob Young, director of the program for the study of developed shorelines, a joint venture with Duke and Western Carolina universities. In March 2025, the hurricane center announced its 2024 track forecast performance was the best in its history. Through Aug. 21, the locations along the U.S. East Coast with the greatest risks of tropical storm force winds are Nantucket, Massachusetts, and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where the center lists the risk at 6%. Cape Hatteras has only a 1% chance of experiencing hurricane-force winds and both locations have only a 1% chance of hurricane-force winds. 'Storms like this can be beach eaters' Because Erin is growing in size, it's increasing the risks for coastal erosion, rip currents and hazardous conditions at the coast, the weather service said. Meteorologists are already warning beachgoers and mariners to pay attention to conditions and forecasts as Erin approaches the offshore waters. The hurricane center warns Erin's swells are expected to affect portions of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos through August 17. Swells are then expected to spread into the Bahamas, Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast by August 18 and are likely to create life-threatening surf conditions and rip currents. "These storms that stay offshore like this one is expected to do can still impact over 1,000 miles of coast with waves and a little storm surge," Young said. "They're unlikely to knock down homes, unless those homes are already in the water." Such at-risk homes could include structures in southern St. Johns County on Florida's east coast and homes on a section of North Carolina's Outer Banks. "Storms like this can be beach eaters," Young said. "Storms like this can really chew up the sand," including on renourished beaches, even if the storms never come ashore, he said. "Erin may still do what some folks would call damage to the beaches on the order of tens of millions of dollars." Which storms took a path similar to Hurricane Erin? Dozens of storms have traveled north offshore, often curving completely away from the coast without making landfall in the mainland United States or in Canada, but some leave damage in their wakes, in the form of erosion, coastal flooding and even deaths from rough seas. These are some of the more notable storms: Hurricane Erin: The last time there was a Hurricane Erin was in September 2001. That Erin also traveled a northward path, farther offshore. A NASA satellite photo of the massive hurricane swirling offshore east of North Carolina and Virginia on September 11, 2001, also showed smoke trailing from the site of the attacks on the World Trade Center's twin towers. Hurricane Bill: In August 2009, even though the hurricane was offshore of the U.S, two people died in large waves and rough seas: a 7-year-old girl in Acadia National Park in Maine and a 54-year-old in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, according to the hurricane center's after-storm report. The strong surf led to multiple rescues along the coast, as well as coastal flooding. The hurricane later made landfall in Newfoundland. Hurricane Joaquin: Joaquin looped in the Bahamas in late September and early October of 2015, and then traveled northeast. After sailing into Joaquin, the SS El Faro was lost at sea on Oct. 1 and ultimately sunk, killing 33 crew members. A weather system that developed over the Southeast tapped into a steady stream of moisture from Joaquin and created days of rain, while high tides from the hurricane's swells all combined to cause historic flooding in South Carolina, including in Columbia and Charleston, even though the hurricane remained offshore. Hurricane Lorenzo: Like Erin, 2019's Hurricane Lorenzo rapidly intensified and became a major hurricane. Even though it was centered much farther to the east in the Atlantic, Lorenzo created massive swells that caused "hazardous surf and rip currents along U.S. beaches for several days," the hurricane center said. Eight people died in the storm's rough surf and rip currents, four in North Carolina, one in Florida, two in New York and one in Rhode Island. What's a 'fish storm?' Many hurricane veterans jokingly refer to hurricanes and tropical storms that remain offshore as "fish storms," because they remain over the open ocean. However, Brian LaMarre, a veteran meteorologist who recently retired from the weather service, said this week there's "a great deal more than fish out there" given the dense shipping traffic and commerce networks offshore. Impacts from the waves and long-period swells can be "incredibly disruptive and can extend hundreds of miles outward from these ocean storm systems," LaMarre said. Track Erin's progress Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change and the environment for USA TODAY. She's written about hurricanes, tornadoes and violent weather for more than 30 years. Reach her at dpulver@ or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NOAA Hurricane Erin forecasts dangers on beaches along East Coast
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Hurricane Erin tracker: See map of the storm's forecasted path
As Hurricane Erin travels along the Caribbean, two other disturbances are being tracked in the Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center. On Sunday, Aug. 17, at 5 a.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center announced that over the next several days, Erin is expected to produce "life-threatening" surf and rip currents at beaches in the Bahamas, the East Coast of the U.S. Bermuda and Atlantic Canada. As of Sunday morning, the storm is a Category 3 hurricane, according to AccuWeather. But, it is forecast to become a Category 4 on Sunday afternoon. At 8 a.m. ET, the hurricane center issued an advisory for Hurricane Erin, located north of the Lesser Antilles, a chain of islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea southeast of Puerto Rico. Heavy rains are expected to continue across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on Sunday, and flash and urban flooding, landslides and mudslides could impact the islands, according to hurricane center. The hurricane center is tracking two other disturbances. The first is around 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina, which has a low chance of formation, 10%, over the next seven days. Another disturbance, a tropical wave near the Cabo Verde Islands located west of the coast of Senegal in Africa, also has a low chance, 20%, of developing over the next seven days. Powerful Hurricane Erin: Storm could mimic damage from earlier hurricanes that stayed offshore Caribbean islands impacted by Hurricane Erin On Monday, Aug. 18, the Turks and Caicos Islands are expected to face tropical storm conditions, while those conditions are also possible in the Southeast Bahamas the night of Aug. 17 and throughout Aug. 18. "Gusts to tropical storm force are possible in Erin's outer rainbands in portions of Puerto Rico today, (Aug. 17), and in the central Bahamas on Monday, (Aug. 18), and Tuesday (Aug. 19)," the hurricane center said. Hurricane Erin could be near the southeast portion of Florida by Monday, Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. ET. Storm tracker: Tracking storms in the Atlantic Spaghetti models for Hurricane Erin This forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time. When did the 2025 hurricane season begin? The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1 and will last through the end of November. Active hurricane weather typically peaks between mid-August and mid-October. How do hurricanes form? Hurricanes are born in the tropics, above warm water. Clusters of thunderstorms can develop over the ocean when water temperatures exceed 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If conditions are right, the clusters swirl into a storm known as a tropical wave or tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a named tropical storm once its sustained wind speeds reach 39 mph. When its winds reach 74 mph, the storm officially becomes a hurricane. Prepare now for hurricanes Delaying potentially life-saving preparations could mean waiting until it's too late. "Get your disaster supplies while the shelves are still stocked, and get that insurance checkup early, as flood insurance requires a 30-day waiting period," NOAA recommends. Prepare now for hurricanes: Here's what you should do to stay safe before a storm arrives Develop an evacuation plan: If you are at risk from hurricanes, you need an evacuation plan. Now is the time to begin planning where you would go and how you would get there. Assemble disaster supplies: Whether you're evacuating or sheltering in place, you're going to need supplies not just to get through the storm but for the potentially lengthy aftermath, NOAA said. Get an insurance checkup and document your possessions: Contact your insurance company or agent now and ask for an insurance check-up to make sure you have enough insurance to repair or even replace your home and/or belongings. Remember, home and renters insurance doesn't cover flooding, so you'll need a separate policy. Flood insurance is available through your company, agent or the National Flood Insurance Program. Act now, as flood insurance requires a 30-day waiting period. Create a family communication plan: NOAA said to take the time now to write down your hurricane plan, and share it with your family. Determine family meeting places, and make sure to include an out-of-town location in case of evacuation. Strengthen your home: Now is the time to improve your home's ability to withstand hurricane impacts. Trim trees; install storm shutters, accordion shutters and/or impact glass; seal outside wall openings. Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Hurricane Erin headed? See tracker, forecast map
