Gulf coast braces for flooding as storm system builds into possible tropical depression
The weather system has a 40% chance of becoming a tropical depression as it moves west toward southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, the federal agency said. The tropical weather will affect Alabama and Mississippi as well.
Regardless of whether the system worsens, heavy downpours could cause flooding, officials warned.
New Orleans is bracing for three to five inches of rain through Saturday, but some localized areas could see more than eight to 10 inches, especially near the coast, the National Weather Service said.
'While a tropical depression cannot be ruled out near the coast on Thursday, the main focus remains the heavy rain threat,' the agency wrote on X.
The looming threat in the southeast comes on the heels of a series of lethal floods this summer. On Monday, flash floods inundated New York City and parts of New Jersey, claiming two lives. And at least 132 people were killed in floodwaters that overwhelmed Texas Hill Country on the Fourth of July.
The current system percolating over Florida would be called Tropical Storm Dexter if it becomes a named storm. Just six weeks into the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, there have been three named storms: Andrea, Barry and Chantal. Dexter would be the fourth if it develops that way.
Chantal made landfall in South Carolina last week, and its remnants caused flooding in North Carolina that killed an 83-year-old woman when her car was swept off a rural road.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association said there was a 60% chance that there will be more named storms this hurricane season than there have been in past years on average.
The currently developing weather system is expected to move fully inland by the end of the week.
____
Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Amber weather warning as thunderstorms bring threat of flooding
An amber weather warning has come into place with dangerous thunderstorms threatening to bring a weekend of flooding to parts of the UK. The warning was issued by the Met Office for London, parts of the south and south east of England from 4am to 11am on Saturday. It is the first amber warning issued for London since January 2 2024, when Storm Henk brought strong winds to central parts of England and Wales. The Met Office warned that between 20mm and 40mm of rain could fall in one hour in the warning zone, rising to between 70mm and 100mm in just a few hours where heavy downpours persist. Storms could cause flooding and pose a danger to life in some areas, the forecaster said, while buildings could be damaged by floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds. The warning says heavy rain could create 'fast flowing or deep floodwater, causing a danger to life'. 'Torrential rain, with thunderstorms in places, could lead to some significant surface water flooding during Saturday morning,' the Met Office said. An ongoing deluge may cause 'significant impacts' if it hits 'more urban areas'. It is likely homes and businesses will flood, and that flooding could happen quickly, the Met Office said, adding that some communities may be cut off if roads flood. The affected area is also covered by a yellow warning for thunderstorms, which came into place for the north of England, Midlands and eastern half of the country from midnight and runs until 9pm on Saturday. Forecasters said these storms could 'cause disruption in places'. 'Areas of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms will move north-westwards across a large swathe of central and eastern England through Friday night into Saturday,' the Met Office said. It added: 'Rain will likely be torrential in places, bringing 20-30mm in less than an hour, with 60-90 mm in two to three hours possible in a few places.' Frequent lightning and localised surface water flooding are also possible. A further yellow rain warning covers the eastern side of Scotland from Aberdeen to the borders from 4pm on Saturday until noon on Sunday, when another comes into place for Cornwall and much of Devon until 3am on Monday. Chief Met Office meteorologist Andy Page said: 'Intense rainfall will impact parts of the UK as thunderstorms move in from France. 'This weekend is expected to be busy on the roads as more schools in England and Wales break up for the summer holidays, so it's important people keep up to date with the very latest forecast. ⚠️⚠️ Amber weather warning issued ⚠️⚠️ Torrential, thundery rain across parts of southeast England Saturday 0400 – 1100 Latest info 👉 Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ — Met Office (@metoffice) July 18, 2025 'There will be spells of more pleasant weather in parts of the UK through the weekend, with some sunny spells in between systems as they move through.' The persistent cloud and rain will keep the temperatures on Saturday relatively low. Maximum temperatures will mainly stay in the high teens to low 20s, but brighter spells in the south could reach the mid to high 20s. The AA has urged drivers to prepare for disruption and take care on the roads. National Rail advised passengers to check the service before they travel and allow extra time for their journeys, with speed restrictions possible in affected areas. The weather is expected to remain unsettled on Sunday with showers or longer spells of rain, some of it heavy and thundery. Unsettled conditions are forecast to last until next week before showers ease by Wednesday.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
NWS in Nashville tries to keep sunny outlook despite DOGE cuts
Meteorologist Alexandra Holley held a giant weather balloon and the rapt attention of a group of youngsters. "It'll tug on you, and you let it go," she told her young helpers as they prepared to set the orb aloft. The 6-foot sphere climbed toward the clouds. Onlookers waved goodbye. Some roared in awe. "I've never seen a weather balloon," said Bryce Hoyt, 10, of Mt. Juliet. "I was expecting it to be a normal-size balloon." The latex object, filled with hydrogen, was headed more than 20 miles up into the Earth's lower atmosphere, Holley explained during the July 15 demonstration at the National Weather Service's Nashville office. Its flight was expected to last about two hours, during which it would transmit data back every minute to the weather service office, tracking atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature and wind speed. "Our launch will help mold what we're forecasting," Holley said. Balloons also help the National Hurricane Center track storms. NWS sends balloons up at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily. Eventually they reach an altitude where pressure dissipates. Then they expand to the size of a single-story house and pop, Holley said. Bryce played a hand in this week's event, helping tie a knot around the ballon's base. He'd love to become a meteorologist some day, he said, so he can be in charge of releasing the balloon. Uncertain future forecast for NWS The balloon launch was part of an event meant to help the public to learn about the weather agency. It came amid budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that experts warn threaten the future of agencies that operate under NOAA, like the National Weather Service. 'It will stop all progress' in U.S. forecasting, James Franklin, who retired in 2017 as chief of the National Hurricane Center's forecast specialists, told USA TODAY. 'We're going to stagnate and we're not going to continue to improve as we go forward.' "If NWS products and services are reduced, we all suffer," renowned Alabama meteorologist James Spann said in a social media post earlier this year, "especially during times of life-threatening weather." Inside Climate News, a nonprofit news organization, reported that federal cuts have led to a decrease in the number of weather balloon launches across the country. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick defended the cuts during a June 5 hearing on Capitol Hill, saying NOAA is 'transforming how we track storms and forecast weather with cutting-edge technology.' The weather service's Nashville office lost about seven employees from Jan. 1 to May 27, records show. The weather service has 16 employees with seven openings as department operate under a hiring freeze, according to NOAA spokesperson Marissa Anderson. "The National Weather Service continues to meet its core missions amid recent reorganization efforts and is taking steps to prioritize critical research and services that keep the American public safe and informed," she said in a statement. "NWS is committed to investing in new technology and prioritizing public safety." Anderson said NWS is working to fill filed positions to be advertised as critical and an exception to current hiring freezes. She did not say if any of those positions would emanate from Nashville. The weather service employees around 4,250 people across 122 local offices, each doing the same daily balloon launches. The proposed White House budget for NOAA would see a 40% cut, or approximately $2.3 billion less than in 2024. It costs around $1 billion to fund NWS across the country; Holley said that equates to $3 per person in the United States to fund the agency that provides life-saving weather information to people impacted by flooding, tornadoes and other severe weather events. "We issue severe weather warnings and watches," Holley said. "We are the only people in America that can do that," she said. "We issue 7-day forecasts for the entire nation. We monitor river conditions. "We are here watching the weather for you guys." USA TODAY reporter Dinah Voyles Pulver contributed to this story. Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@ and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NWS in Nashville works to help inform public amid funds cuts Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Severe storms, rising temperatures: Climate change felt in KC area, experts say
Rising temperatures, more intense storms, and possible droughts mark the changing climate across the globe, including in both Kansas and Missouri, according to some climate experts. This week, Wednesday night storms that persisted until Thursday morning brought between 7 and 11 inches of rain to parts of the Kansas City metro. The flooding in Wyandotte County was called the worst seen since 1993, the Unified Government said in a press release. Across the metro, dozens of water rescues kept emergency crews busy. Kansas City doubled its own record for daily rainfall Wednesday with 2.78 inches, surpassing the previous record of 1.35 inches set in 1968, according to the National Weather Service. Some climate experts say it's all a sign of climate change. Climate change refers to the long-term shifts in weather patterns and temperatures as a result of human activity releasing carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing heat to stay trapped on Earth more easily, according to the United Nations. As atmospheric temperatures rise, ice from the polar caps melts, meaning less sunlight will reflect off the white surface and be absorbed by the Earth's oceans and ground. This positive feedback cycle is called the greenhouse effect. 'It does not really only have an impact on the polar bears, for example, right? It's happening in our backyard,' said Fengpeng Sun, PhD, an associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. NOAA predictions According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, since the beginning of the 20th century, temperatures in Missouri have risen by almost 1 degree, and by 1.5 degrees in Kansas. In terms of multi-year periods, this period is comparable to the extreme heat of the Dust Bowl era from the 1930s, according to NOAA. If high carbon emissions continue without mitigation, historically unprecedented high temperatures are predicted, NOAA officials predict. Even with mitigation, temperatures are likely to exceed record levels by 2050, according to NOAA. Missouri is experiencing an increase in frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, meaning an increase in frequency and intensity of downstream flooding along rivers and streams from the lower river basins of several large midwestern rivers, said a Missouri climate summary by NOAA. In Kansas, the frequency of extreme precipitation is highly variable, but a general increase is predicted, and, in the eastern part of the state, increases in extreme precipitation are more pronounced, according to a Kansas climate summary by NOAA. Increases in soil evaporation rates attributed to higher temperatures can lead to an increase in naturally occurring droughts during dry spells in both Kansas and Missouri, NOAA also states. More frequent disasters From 1980 to 2024, the annual average of weather or climate disaster events, which include flooding, severe weather, tornadoes, hail, droughts, heat waves, tropical cyclones, winter storms and wildfires, in Missouri was 2.7 per year. But from 2020 to 2024, the average skyrocketed to 8.2 per year in Missouri, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, a government agency that monitors U.S. and global climates and archives atmospheric, coastal, geophysical and oceanic data. Out of 120 of these events spanning 44 years, 41 of them took place in the last four years of the study. In Kansas, the annual average of weather or climate disaster events from 1980 to 2024 was 2.3 per year, while from 2020 to 2024, the average climbed to 5.6 events per year. Out of the 102 weather or climate events in Kansas, 24 took place in the last four years of the study. Think globally, plan locally, act individually There's no sure way experts can predict the future, but they know that actions taken now can make an impact, said Sun. His research is finding ways to address human activity that adds to the impacts of climate change. The use of darker construction materials, like asphalt and concrete, causes heat to be absorbed into the ground rather than reflected, making urban neighborhoods typically hotter, while areas with green spaces have trees to reflect the heat, making them cooler overall . Although planting trees is a good way to mitigate climate change impact, his research found that simply using lighter colored material, like white paint on rooftops, can reduce local temperatures by more than 10°F almost immediately, whereas trees can take years to mature. 'What we can do right now, actually determines what our future might be,' said Sun. 'You might think one person does not really do anything, right? But I think that you need to do something.' Ways that everybody can participate in making a difference, he said, include making active choices in their everyday lives and staying educated. Climate change mitigation can be done on an individual level with lifestyle changes such as saving energy and taking public transportation when possible, said Sun. Solve the daily Crossword
