Watch: Kilauea volcano in Hawaii violently erupts for the 21st time in 5 months
This latest episode is part of an eruption that began Dec. 23, 2024. According to the U.s. Geological Survey, these eruptions have been separated by brief pauses in activity since then. The breaks can last anywhere between 24 hours and 12 days. Kilauea paused again by Monday.
Video footage from the USGS showed the volcano burst with lava as the molten liquid splatters along the dark, charred mountain like paint on a blank canvas. Each burst of lava splashes along the mountain, creating a larger crater atop the main vent of the volcano.
According to the National Park Service, a vent is the opening or place at the Earth's surface through which magma or volcanic gases are emitted.
The fiery liquid fountain spewed from the mountain's main vent, with the USGS reporting an estimated height of more than 500 feet. The strong and consistent bursts created a stream of lava along the mountain's base.
According to officials, the eruption occurred within a closed area of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The primary concern is the high levels of volcanic gas that can have far-reaching effects downwind.
See It: Lava Spews Into Air As Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Erupts For 19Th Time Since December
Officials continue to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an update if significant changes occur.Original article source: Watch: Kilauea volcano in Hawaii violently erupts for the 21st time in 5 months
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Fire destroys North Rim Lodge, but not its singular place in the Grand Canyon's story
Perched at the edge of Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Peninsula, the North Rim Lodge was so perfectly situated and well-constructed that it seemed to emerge out of the sandstone itself, like just another geologic feature. Others compared it to a Greek monastery built on a pinnacle, or a medieval fortress impervious to sacking. The aura of permanence and natural rightness held by the North Rim Lodge helped obscure the fact that it was only as old as 1937, a bare blip on a planetary timescale, and also that it was never immune from the forces of the environment that surrounded it. On July 12, a wildfire sparked by lightning tore through it and burned it to the Kaibab limestone foundations, along with approximately 70 of the nearby tourist cabins and other structures. Few doubt that the North Rim Lodge will be rebuilt. The spot it occupied is too topographically eloquent to surrender for touristic use, plus most of the toughest permitting is already in place. The question is how much the new creation will resemble what was lost. The lodge was never the point of coming to the Grand Canyon — the real purpose lay out beyond it — but as the modest aperture to the human camera, it had a special grace and a dignified beauty of its own. 'The lodge was designed so that you're funneled into it, then and out of it onto the back patio, directing you into a singular view,' said Stephen Pyne, an emeritus professor at Arizona State University and the author of the intellectual history 'How the Canyon Became Grand.' 'It was a portal into the Canyon. It distilled everything.' Moreover, it held an expert sense of suspense. Unlike a mountain that can be seen from miles away, the Grand Canyon reveals itself in a shocking visual thunderclap, all at once. For those arriving down the long road across the North Kaibab Plateau, the front of the lodge functioned like a curtain, delaying the scenic climax until after the visitor had walked through the front door and through the lobby toward the Sun Room and the veranda beyond where the full explosion of color and depth awaited. The architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood designed the lodge on a contract for the Union Pacific Railroad, which was then seeking to lure wealthy tourists into national parks with the promise of big roaring fireplaces and chilled gin martinis instead of bugs, heat and canvas tents. A first lodge built in 1927 with an observation tower and a second-story sleeping hall had been partially destroyed in a Sept. 1, 1932, fire "started by flying sparks in the kitchen as the chef was preparing breakfast," according to a wire service account. The flames that consumed the dining room and two cabins made an impressive pyre that could be clearly seen from the South Rim, 13 miles across the gorge. Nobody was hurt. The first head of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, made it clear he wanted an inviting building to replace the old structure. A former reporter for the New York Sun, and an advertising man who came up with the first slogans for the detergent called 20 Mule Team Borax, Mather was prone to fits of depression that he helped soothe by trips out into the woods. He believed that easy access to the nation's treasures was a key to civic betterment, and when Theodore Roosevelt named him head of the new parks agency, he took tasteful and limited development for the people to be a mission on behalf of democracy. Mather helped rid the Grand Canyon of tacky profiteers like Ralph Cameron who had gotten rich off rent-seeking tourist traps like Indian Gardens and the hiker's tollbooth erected at the top of Bright Angel Trail. In its place, he sought orderly accommodations run by established concessionaires. In those days, that meant the railroads. The South Rim became the exclusive province of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, with its famous chain of Harvey Houses. The North Rim went to the Union Pacific, which sought to link it in a round trip bus circle with other national parks at Zion and Bryce Canyon. The North Rim 'slows it all down' The novelist and polemicist Edward Abbey, who worked for a season in a North Rim fire tower just a few miles from the lodge, would later complain about 'windshield tourism' and the corporate blandification of America's treasures. But Mather's legacy of tidy clusters of campgrounds, general stores, lodges and ranger stations prevailed and determined the quotidian side of how national park visitors would experience grandeur: what they would eat, where they would sleep and what trinkets they would buy. Underwood's North Rim Lodge resembled the other hospitality structures he created for Zion and Bryce ― the intimate feeling of a cabin combined with the spaciousness of an art gallery. The centerpiece, called the Sun Room, featured three giant windows that offered a peerless view into the gorge and its colors of salmon, coral, saffron and blood orange. What made it particularly beguiling was the indirect angle of the Bright Angel Creek drainage, and the vast canvas of the buttes and spires below. The eye couldn't rest for long on any one spot. The picture changed by the minute as sun and clouds showered down new shapes and colors on the stone. National Park Service architect Albert H. Good had laid out the government's principle for rustic design in a 1935 manual called, prosaically enough, "Park Structures and Facilities." The key paragraph for Western lodges read: "Successfully handled, it is a style which, through the use of native materials in proper scale, and through the avoidance of rigid, straight lines, and over-sophistication, gives the feeling of having been executed by pioneer craftsmen with limited hand tools. It thus achieves sympathy with natural surroundings and with the past." The interior walls of the lodge and the oversized trusses emphasized darkened wood, as though the inside were a camera. That at least some of the wood was actually stained concrete and steel didn't seem to register for most visitors, whose attention was purposely guided outside. The understated quality of the design showed off the lodge's greatest virtue: It had the good sense to stand aside with the discretion of a palace valet. 'There was something about the antiquity of it,' said Craig Childs, author of 'Grand Canyon: Time Below the Rim.' 'A flow toward the windows and out the door onto the decks, looking down.' For the overwhelming majority of visitors to the North Rim, the back patio of the lodge was the Grand Canyon. Surveys indicated that less than 1% of them ventured onto a trail or left the small developed area. Pointing a camera down from the railings amidst the crowds was as close as most ever got. Among connoisseurs of the Canyon experience, the North Rim was always the preferred destination. It was a smaller and more rugged experience compared with the more urbanized and commercially packed South Rim, whose signature 1905 El Tovar Hotel had its own design pleasures, including a soaring lobby ceiling, but with a giant flaw: A guest had to cross a street in order to actually see the Canyon. Those who went to the North Rim instead, typically just 10% of annual visitors, could fancy themselves more adventuresome. You had to work harder to get there ― it is a three and a half hour drive from Phoenix to the South Rim as opposed to five and a half hours to the North Rim, which is also a much farther distance from any interstate, and down a 45-mile dead end road with limited and rustic facilities dangling like a worm on the end of a long fishhook, as opposed to the horizontal Las Vegas Strip line of lights on the South Rim, where you could take a passenger train right up to the walls of El Tovar and have a choice of restaurants and junk shops. 'The North Rim slows it all down,' Childs said. 'It's not a manic rush. The lodge was built to have you examine the Grand Canyon and take a pause. It was a kind of a cathedral where you were supposed to lower your voice. You were supposed to be diminished. There was a holiness to it that you could feel as you walked in.' And in the rivalry between rims, the North could make a better claim on cultural heritage. The relative ease of travel to the South Rim after World War II obscured the fact that the first American period of settlement and development was heavily weighted toward the north side. The explorer John Wesley Powell thought the views from there were superior. In 1873, he took the painter Thomas Moran up to the elevation now known as Powell Plateau, and Moran responded with a magnificent rendering called "Chasm of the Colorado," which Congress bought the following year for $10,000. Serenading the guests as they depart From a spot 17 miles west of Bright Angel Peninsula, the Yale-trained geologist Clarence Dutton spent a few weeks in the summer of 1875 surveying the geology below. Though not a particularly religious man, he chose holy names for the spires and buttes that seemed equal to the cosmic array of primal Earth-force the Canyon had opened up. Zoroaster, Shiva, Brahma, Solomon, Buddha: The names speak to gods, heavens and spirits. His grammatical choices swerved away from Powell, who preferred the local language of the Paiutes and Havasupai for the features he encountered, such as Toroweap Overlook, as well as gritty boatman's names for difficult spots on the Colorado like Whirlpool Canyon, Gates of Lodore and Hell's Half Mile. Some felt that Dutton was acting blasphemously or at least taking too much literary license, but others thought only a reach into the numinous could express the world-historical importance of the Canyon, which has no physical equal on the planet. Had the view from the North Rim been experienced by oil painters earlier than the late 19th century, Dutton thought, the entire history of art would have been different. He was also among the first to make a written description of the visual bogglement encountered by the millions of North Rim visitors who would come after him. 'As we contemplate these objects we find it quite impossible to realize their magnitude,' Dutton wrote. 'Not only are we deceived, but we are conscious that we are deceived, and yet we cannot conquer the deception.' Underwood's masterpiece on Bright Angel Peninsula replaced not just a burnt-down first attempt at a lodge but a deluxe campground called Wylie Way, established by the entrepreneur W.W. Wylie on a concession from the U.S. Forest Service. Groups of 25 visitors could rent a large fixed tent for $6 and have access to a central dining facility. The Union Pacific supplied him with a reliable stream of guests from April through October. Then as now, the facilities shut down in the winter. Among the guests in those first few years of Underwood's new lodge was the novelist Tom Wolfe, author of 'Look Homeward, Angel' and 'Of Time and the River.' He drank Scotch highballs on the back patio but, like most visitors, didn't venture down the trail. On the morning of June 25, 1938, he rose at 7:30, ate breakfast in the dining hall, and then was serenaded off on the Union Pacific tour bus by a team of waitresses in a ritual they enacted for every departing load of tourists, the sing away, usually including the World War I classic 'Till We Meet Again.' As Wolfe's bus moved north and away toward Utah, he gazed 'down through the forest, and the long sweeping upland meadows with deer and cattle grazing, and the aspen leaves in the bright air.' He had more to say in his diary about the lodge and the forest than he did the Canyon itself, for which he reserved a single phrase: 'and glamourous! ― and glamorous!' A setting for the Canyon's music and music about the Canyon For those who had to work harder to get to the North Rim Lodge, occasionally in a state of physical exhaustion, its abrupt materialization at the lip of the Canyon was like spotting a flag on the border of a friendly country. It was the termination point for those trail runners attempting a difficult 24 mile rim-to-rim journey in a single day from the south. And for hikers on the nearby Arizona Trail, the lodge and nearby general store were favorite resupply and resting spots. Those who developed the closest relationships with the lodge were those who worked there during the summers, especially the cooks and the wait staff. But the rangers and fire crews also treated it like a clubhouse. Pyne spent 15 seasons there as a firefighter, some of them living in an old cabin built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. 'The lodge was an important part of my time there,' he said. 'It was the main social gathering point. I can't tell you the number of nights we walked there. That's where we would see our girlfriends. Once a year, the crew would dress up and do a formal dinner.' His relationship with the North Rim went on for decades: He was married there, his oldest daughter spent two seasons working there and he would turn some his experiences into material for his book 'Fire: A Brief History.' Pyne recalled one night sitting on the back veranda with one of his colleagues, Ralph Becker, who would go on to a career as the mayor of Salt Lake City. They didn't say much to each other. 'I want to just listen to Canyon music,' Becker said. They could see lightning storms on the southern horizon near the San Francisco Peaks, making flashes that partially illuminated the abyss below, and the tops of Isis, Shiva and Brahma temples. 'It was a soothing place,' said Pyne, 'a great scene.' That same veranda became a venue for more literal instrumental music in later years when the Park Service invited a community ensemble called Symphony of the Canyons to perform outdoor pops concerts. The customary centerpiece was at least one movement from Ferde Grofe's 1931 'Grand Canyon Suite,' which the composer once described as 'notes in hieroglyphics that were later transcribed into musical notes.' On another occasion, he described waking up to his first view of the Canyon. 'I was spellbound by the silence; but then as it got lighter and brighter, you could hear the birds chirping and nature coming to life. All of a sudden, bingo! There was the sun. I could hardly describe it in words.' The Grand Canyon has never been adequately described in words or music notes. Not even the best paintings or photographs can ever trace its immensity; only fractions can be glimpsed and never held for long. The Canyon's real essence frustratingly out of reach, it instead functions as a metaphor for many things, depending on who is interpreting: time, death, God, depth, significance and insignificance. For many, it comes down to permanence. The rocks at Vishnu Basement are 2 billion years old. The walls of the Canyon are exactly the same as they were when first seen by the Archaic people of 9,000 years ago; the later Havasupai herders; the 1540 expedition of García López de Cárdenas y Figueroa; Powell's Corps of Discovery, and the new individual discoverers who arrive every day in cars and buses, and leave almost as fast. Surrounded by drying pines, lodge was destined to burn If the Canyon tells the story of permanence, the settlements on the rim are the soul of impermanence. Set amidst drying ponderosa pines, the North Rim Lodge was always destined to burn at some point; it was only a question of when the flames would arrive, and in what manner. The 2025 destruction was not the result of sparks from a grease fire in the kitchen, but the outgrowth of complicated politics of modern fire suppression policy. When a lightning bolt came down on July 4 and started a fire in a spot approximately five miles from the lodge, fire managers let it burn, a decision well in line with policies to contain such blazes and let them do the natural work of clearing several seasons worth of deadwood and undergrowth, reducing the chances for more destructive events in the future. But a week later, what had been named the Dragon Bravo Fire hit a patch of fuel and took on a terrifying character in new gusts of wind, surrounding overwhelmed firefighters on a helipad and heading with unstoppable force to the south. Within 24 hours, the lodge was gone. The only way to have preserved its life in advance preparation would have been to give a harsh defensive clearcut to the pines that surrounded it, taking away the sound of wind through the branches and stripping the lodge of one of its best elements: the illusion of organic emergence. Even as the flames were still licking at the fallen trusses, critics questioned whether Dragon Bravo should have been extinguished immediately out of extreme caution. Yet such blanket decisions to smother everything have historically made future fire seasons even worse. It is conceivable that the load of deadwood stacking on the plateau might have stoked a firestorm in five or 10 years that would have killed people in the lodge before there was time to evacuate. An irony of Dragon Bravo, said Pyne, is that it was itself contained by the burn scar of a previous fire that stole its possible fuel. The Outlet Fire in 2000, a prescribed burn that ran out of control, left a wall of aspen to the east that proved a partial barrier to the current fire. But it could not save the small island of development at the end of the plateau. The epitaph for the version of the North Rim Lodge that stood from 1936 to 2025 might well be that humanity will never master the awesome nature that lies outside the picture windows. We can frame it, package it, sell it, and make it as pleasant as possible. But we can never truly have it under our control, or perhaps even fully understand its depths. 'Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it,' said President Theodore Roosevelt when he made the case in 1903 for preserving the Grand Canyon as a national monument. 'The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.' The ever-changing portraits on display in the Sun Room communicated this idea without any words of translation. Among the Grand Canyon's other guiding metaphors is regeneration. Fires have swept through the ponderosas on the rim for as long as the trees have grown; they will keep growing back, fed by new nitrogen in the ash. The river 6,000 feet beneath the rim will keep carrying Rocky Mountain snows to the ocean just as it has for 5 million years. The Canyon itself remains completely untouched by any flickering temporality on its edges, as feeble as a firefly against Alpha Centauri. Touristic capitalism, too, will reassert itself on the North Rim, even in an era of federal budget slashing. Its return is as certain as the regrowth of aspens. A third version of the lodge will come up on Bright Angel Peninsula before the decade is over, ideally one as understated and timeless-looking as the one just vanished, and with an equal respect for the grandeur it was designed to showcase. Tom Zoellner, a former Republic reporter, is the author of 'Rim to River: Looking Into the Heart of Arizona.' Remembered: Arizona Republic readers share memories of Grand Canyon's North Rim
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Two national parks just reopened after devastating wildfires. Here's what travelers will find
Partial reopenings, burned landscapes, a story of revamp and renewal. The call of the canyon is echoing once again: After weeks of closure due to wildfire impacts, two of America's most dramatic landscapes are rolling out the welcome mat — well, part of the welcome mat — for adventurous travelers ready to witness nature's resilience firsthand. Grand Canyon National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park are reopening, though plenty of caveats and restrictions are still in order. Here are the details. Grand Canyon's South Rim is back open — somewhat The Grand Canyon's legendary South Rim corridor trails have reopened their gates, offering visitors a chance to descend into one of the world's most spectacular geological wonders, post-wildfire. The South Kaibab Trail now welcomes hikers from the trailhead down to Tipoff, while the beloved Bright Angel Trail is accessible from the trailhead to Pipe Creek Resthouse. For those seeking a connecting route, the Tonto Trail between Tipoff and Havasupai Gardens is ready for exploration. What makes this reopening particularly special is the enhanced safety infrastructure now in place. New air quality monitoring stations at key locations provide real-time data, ensuring visitors can make informed decisions about their canyon adventures. The crystalline air quality that has returned to the inner canyon offers stunning visibility for photography and wildlife spotting. However, seasoned canyon explorers should note that some areas remain off-limits. The North Kaibab Trail remains closed for the foreseeable future; the River Trail segment and Silver Bridge will stay closed through late November, and overnight accommodations at Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground are tentatively scheduled to return on November 1st. These delayed openings are part of comprehensive safety upgrades, including new flood detection systems designed to protect visitors in the post-fire landscape. Black Canyon of the Gunnison's partial reopening Meanwhile, Colorado's Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park has emerged from its fire closure with a remarkable story of natural recovery. The South Rim is once again accessible, offering visitors a unique opportunity to witness the fascinating mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation that creates an entirely new perspective on this already dramatic landscape. The park's visitor center and store have resumed normal operations, welcoming guests daily from 8 AM to 5 PM. Two of the park's most popular viewpoints — Tomichi and Gunnison Points — provide breathtaking vistas of the dark-walled canyon carved by the Gunnison River. The quarter-mile Rim Rock Trail offers an easy introduction to the park's renewed beauty. What's particularly intriguing for visitors is the chance to observe nature's recovery process in real time. The contrast between fire-affected and untouched areas creates a living laboratory of ecological regeneration that few travelers ever get to witness so dramatically. Note: East Portal Campground and the East Portal Road, South Rim Drive beyond the visitor center, South Rim Campground, and all trails and wilderness routes accessed from the South Rim and East Portal remain closed. South Rim Drive will reopen in stages as work is completed. Planning your visit Both parks are operating with modified schedules and limited access areas, making advance planning essential. Grand Canyon visitors should check current trail conditions and air quality data before heading out, while Black Canyon guests should be prepared for earlier gate closures at 6 PM daily. The silver lining of these recent challenges is that both parks now offer something truly unique: the chance to see these iconic landscapes through the lens of resilience and renewal. For travelers who appreciate witnessing nature's remarkable ability to recover and adapt, there's never been a more compelling time to visit these western treasures.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Live Weather Updates, August 20: Tracking Hurricane Erin As Coastal Flooding Begins Swamping Homes
Today is the day that we could see some of the worst impacts of Hurricane Erin as it churns parallel to the U.S. East Coast. North Carolina's barrier islands have already started seeing significant waves crashing into shoreline homes and hotels. As always we have a complete forecast that you can constantly check out for updates, and below we're tracking the latest on Erin's impacts, preparations and closures, as well as other major weather headlines across the U.S. and beyond on this Wednesday, August 20. (02:11 p.m. EDT) 'Four Corners High' In Place: Monsoons Soon? From senior writer Chris DeWeese: As our meteorologists told you a few days ago, the Desert Southwest has had an extremely lackluster monsoon season so far, with the majority of the Four Corners region receiving less than 50% of their normal precipitation for the 60 day period ending on August 11, 2025. The region could see more monsoons soon, however, as a 'Four Corners High' pattern is now in place. Here's more from NWS Flagstaff: (01:45 p.m. EDT) Heading Into Hurricane Season's Busiest Time From digital meteorologist Caitlin Kaiser: If Hurricane Erin and the two areas to watch in the Atlantic have you feeling tropics fatigue, you'll want to buckle up because we are heading into hurricane season's busiest time. Typically we see two-thirds of Atlantic hurricane season activity between August 20th and October 10th. The peak day of the season climatologically is September 10th. Learn more about hurricane season's peak months here. (01:28 p.m. EDT) Kilauea Expected To Erupt Again Soon From senior writer Chris DeWeese: Far away from Hurricane Erin, people are watching another example of nature's power. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is likely to erupt between today and August 23rd. The prolifically-erupting volcano has already had 30 eruptions since last December, many of them quite spectacular. This morning, hundreds of volcano enthusiasts are already streaming the USGS live cams of Kilauea, waiting for the big moment. (01:07 p.m. EDT) Extreme Heat Continues In Southwest As a heat wave passes through, the National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning in a large area of the Southwest for the rest of this week. The affected areas include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, where extreme heat has been record-breaking this year. With temperatures expected to peak above 110 in some areas, cooling stations have been opened throughout the Las Vegas Valley and other parts of the southwest. (12:47 p.m. EDT) Erin Is The Enemy Of Vacationers From lead editor Jenn Jordan: A family from Virginia thought they were settling into a relaxing Outer Banks vacation when Hurricane Erin threw their plans into chaos. Minutes after unloading their car following a full day's drive, a mandatory evacuation alert forced the Murrays to pack up and break the news to their young kids. Instead of heading home, the family moved north to Kill Devil Hills, determined to ride out the storm and salvage what they could of their beach trip. Even though they're farther away from the storm's path, they say they're still feeling some of Erin's wrath out in the Atlantic. Get the full details of the ordeal here. (12:28 p.m. EDT) Surf Competition Is On Today, On Hold Tomorrow From producer Carmen Molina: The 63rd Annual Coastal Edge East Coast Surfing Championships (ECSC), considered the longest, continuously running surf contest, is making adjustments to the schedule. The event hosts more than 850 surfers from dozens of countries and it kicked off today in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On Thursday, the competition will be on hold, but other activities are still happening that evening. (12:07 p.m. EDT) Check Out This Strong Rip Current This video from Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, shows you why many beaches along the East Coast have banned swimming this week. You can clearly see a strong rip current, creating that frothy, white channel in the ocean. Rip currents will remain one of the big dangers of Hurricane Erin in the coming days, learn more about how to spot and survive them. (11:48 a.m. EDT) Egrets And Lotus Flowers In China From senior writer Chris DeWeese: Birds and blooms: Two signatures of summer that will be sorely missed by the time winter comes. This photo, taken today in China's Jiangsu Province, captures a congregation of egrets (yes, that's what you call a group of egrets) playing among blooming lotus flowers in Hongze Lake Wetland. Looking at it is kind of like taking a deep breath. Enjoy. (11:33 a.m. EDT) Erin's Impact on Sea Surface Temperatures Beginning To Surface From meteorologist Jonathan Belles: You can start to see the influence of Erin on ocean temperatures north of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. There is a notable several-degree drop in water temperatures where Erin hit its stride over the weekend and became the season's first major hurricane. Hurricanes utilize the difference in temperature between the steamy ocean and the chilly air at the top of the atmosphere to grow. A major function of hurricanes is to remove the heat from the tropics and displace it toward the poles in the perpetual act of balancing the Earth's temperatures. (11:19 a.m. EDT) Infrared View Of Hurricane Erin Via Satellite From producer Carmen Molina: This is an infrared view of Hurricane Erin via NOAA's GOES-East, showing the storm spinning off the East Coast this morning. You can follow Erin's path here. (10:57 a.m. EDT) Wildfire Smoke Cuts Visibility In Broward From senior engagement editor Ron Brackett: Drivers are being warned that visibility could be cut to 3 miles or less as smoke from fires in the Everglades blows into Broward County, Florida. The Mile Marker 39 Fire has burned through 1,600 acres, and the Sawgrass Fire has burned 250 acres, according to the Florida Fire Service. The National Weather Service warned that people unusually sensitive to particle pollution should consider reducing the time they spend outdoors and cutting their activity level. (10:33 a.m. EDT) Traveling Today? Make Sure To Check Your Flight's Status From producer Carmen Molina: Hurricane Erin may lead to oceanic route closures, informs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its Daily Air Traffic Report. Also, low clouds may slow flights in Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, New York (Newark, JFK, LaGuardia) and Washington, D.C. (10:23 a.m. EDT) Head To The Swimming Pool, East Coast From senior writer Chris DeWeese: There's a very good reason why we keep seeing states along the East Coast banning ocean swimming today. As the latest Rip Current Risk map from the National Hurricane Center shows, the danger is high almost all the way up the coast, and, honestly, anyone who wants to take a dip should just find a swimming pool instead. (10:08 a.m. EDT) Hurricane Hunters Find Stronger Erin From senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman: An Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter mission just measured a peak wind of 114 mph a whopping 92 miles northeast of the center of Hurricane Erin. That measurement was taken at the level the plane was flying, not at the surface. But that measurement in addition to a surface pressure 6 millibars lower than the 5 a.m. ET NHC advisory indicates Erin is strengthening. But since Erin's center and eyewall is forecast to remain offshore, the most significant aspect of the hurricane for U.S. impacts is the growing area its winds are covering, as we explain here. (10:00 a.m. EDT) Jenkinson's Boardwalk Closed From producer Carmen Molina: Jenkinson's Boardwalk at Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, closed its access to the ocean until further notice. As the conditions worsen due to the dangerous water conditions and rip tides from Hurricane Erin, the beaches could be fully closed as well, per their announcement posted on Facebook. Some of their events for this upcoming weekend have already been canceled for this week. (09:51 a.m. EDT) Outer Banks Warning: Your Window For Evacuating Is Closing A dire warning this morning from the National Weather Service for people still in areas like Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. We've told you how we could see some of the worst coastal surges and flooding as the day progresses, so the window to evacuate is closing. (09:37 a.m. EDT) 'Ash Devil' In Wyoming As Red Canyon Fire Rages From senior writer Chris DeWeese: Wyoming's Red Canyon Fire has ballooned to over 177 square miles in size, with 28% containment. As temperatures hit triple digits yesterday, a firefighter captured an incredible scene as an 'ash devil' (a dust devil dark with ashes from the fire) came into view. Watch it here: (09:25 a.m. EDT) Two Other Areas To Watch In The Atlantic Besides Erin From meteorologist Jennifer Gray: Hurricane Erin is definitely the main feature to watch right now in the Atlantic, but don't lose sight on two more areas of interest that are right on Erin's heels. The National Hurricane Center is watching one area in the central Atlantic that is showing signs of potential development. This cluster of thunderstorms could become our next tropical depression as early as later this week or this weekend. Regardless of development, it will create unsettled weather in and around the northern Leeward Islands by Friday. The second area is just south of the Cabo Verde Islands and has a small window of opportunity to develop into a tropical system before conditions become more unfavorable in the next few days. The next name on the hurricane list is Fernand. (09:20 a.m. EDT) New Jersey Beaches Ban Swimming From senior engagement editor Ron Brackett: With Hurricane Erin creating high surf and dangerous rip currents, New Jersey has closed at least 16 beaches to swimming. "We don't want anyone in the ocean," Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz told the Asbury Park Press. The National Weather Service warned that large, breaking waves of 5 to 8 feet are expected in the surf zone on Wednesday and 7 to 12 feet on Thursday. "Conditions at all beaches will be very dangerous. Extreme caution is advised for any beachgoers," the Weather Service said in a tweet. (09:00 a.m. EDT) No Swimming At New York's Southern Ocean Beaches; NYC Beaches Closed From producer Carmen Molina: Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to suspend swimming at Long Island ocean beaches due to flooding and rough surf conditions and potential rip tides resulting from Hurricane Erin. Swimming has been restricted at Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Hither Hills State Parks through Thursday. 'The peak hurricane season is approaching, and we have strong preparations in place to keep people safe,' Hochul said. In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams and Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, the parks commissioner, said Tuesday that city beaches would be closed for several days. (08:29 a.m. EDT) Erin's Waves Crash Into The Outer Banks While hundreds of residents and tourists evacuated North Carolina's Outerbanks on Tuesday, others got caught in some of the earliest flooding from Hurricane Erin. The combination of the storm and high tide sent waves surging into homes, hotels and Highway 12 - the only way in and out of those islands. See it all in this video. (08:15 a.m. EDT) Hurricane Erin Will Bring Impacts To Northeast, New England From meteorologist Jennifer Gray: While Hurricane Erin will stay well offshore, parts of southern New England and the Northeast will still feel impacts. Winds could gust as high as 30-50 mph at times along the southern parts of New England and the Northeast coast. High surf and coastal flooding will also be a concern as Erin's steady onshore winds will push water toward the coast. High surf advisories are in place along the northern New Jersey coast, extending northeastward to Cape Cod. Waves higher than 10 feet are possible just offshore.
