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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
After L.A. firestorms and Texas floods, forecasters haunted by warnings not being heard
Meteorologists warned about the chance of flash floods days before Texas' Fourth of July disaster that killed at least 133. Yet, local officials in the hardest-hit areas say they were shocked by the scale of the devastation. "I have cried on multiple occasions," Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist with WOAI-TV Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, wrote in a recent Facebook post. "At times, I've been overwhelmed with forecaster regret that I could have done more the night before in my weather report." Forecasters often issue alerts for possible flooding, landslides and "red flag" fire warnings multiple times a year. Sometimes, those warnings are followed by major catastrophes, but other times they are not. And that has led some to become complacent, rather than heeding the alerts. Read more: Warnings ignored: The grim connection between the L.A. wildfires and Texas floods Two massive disasters this year — the Texas floods and Los Angeles firestorms — are leading some to grapple with the question of how to get officials and the public to care and take action. In the case of Texas, Suchan said he is experiencing what he calls "forecaster regret." That's despite having presented viewers a weather forecast showing "a signal of localized flash flooding" on the afternoon of July 3 — hours before the disaster struck. During the 6 p.m. broadcast later that day, Suchan pointed to an area "where we could see storms develop and then train over the same area. ... And that is a classic flash-flooding signal here in 'Flash Flood Alley.'" The disconnect between available warnings and the action officials and the public takes has been seen repeatedly over the years, from inadequate preparations in California ahead of fire weather or flood alerts, to the failure of some communities to evacuate ahead of the catastrophic tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. Of course, there are times when alerts are taken seriously, and forecasters and officials are in the same room. For instance, the publicity around Hurricane Hilary in 2023 reached a fever pitch as it headed toward Southern California. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass stood at press briefings along with then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley and the National Weather Service. No deaths were reported in California, despite significant flooding and harrowing rescues in the Coachella Valley. There are other instances where preparation has helped Southern California emerge from periods of severe fire weather or landslide danger — such as through public safety power shutoffs, or crews emptying debris basins to catch mud pouring from landslides. Read more: L.A.'s flood-control system survived epic storm. But it's losing battle with climate change The National Weather Service office in Oxnard, which issues forecasts for Los Angeles, has also made attempts to more clearly get its messages across. In 2019, the weather service issued an "extreme red flag" fire weather warning that got plenty of attention. During last fire season, the agency issued an unprecedented five "particularly dangerous situation" warnings ahead of forecast extreme fire weather conditions — including one on Jan. 6, a day before L.A. County's devastating wildfires began. Despite the weather service giving briefings as early as Dec. 30 about forecasted increasing fire weather danger, Bass was overseas in Ghana on Jan. 7, when the fire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades began spreading rapidly. And the L.A. Fire Department, a Times investigation found, chose not to assign roughly 1,000 available firefighters for emergency deployment in advance of the Palisades fire, which ultimately killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes, businesses and other structures. The Times has previously reported that the day before Bass left for Ghana, her aides received an email, on Jan. 3, from the city's emergency management department warning of "high confidence in damaging winds and elevated fire conditions occurring next week." A spokesperson for the mayor said the email did not suggest imminent catastrophe. Bass later fired Crowley as fire chief, and accused her of failing to provide adequate warning of the potential for a cataclysmic wind event. One simple lesson that could be learned from past disasters is that both officials and the public need to better respond to forecasters' warnings. Read more: Six months after the fire, has Mayor Karen Bass done enough for the Palisades? An after-action report by the weather service from the Joplin, Mo., tornado disaster in 2011 found that most residents didn't immediately head to shelter after hearing the first warning. Among the reasons: apathy, a bias toward optimism and a feeling that sirens were activated too often in Joplin. But the weather service at that time also said it could do a better job at supporting "effective decision-making," which would help empower people to quickly make appropriate decisions. The agency said it should ensure that tools are in place to easily conduct conference calls with key entities, such as sheriff's offices and other emergency officials. Suchan remembers listening to weather service meteorologists recall the Joplin tornado, which resulted in 158 deaths — the first single tornado in the U.S. to cause more than 100 deaths since 1953. "I listened to them describe feeling scarred by the disaster. They asked themselves if their warnings were early enough, strong enough," Suchan wrote in his Facebook post. "The room was very silent through that presentation. It left a mark on me but you can't fully understand that feeling until you experience it for yourself." In Texas, flooding alerts circulated in the hours and days before the Fourth of July disaster. On July 2, Texas state officials, citing the weather service, warned that "heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding" was anticipated over the following days. They said swift-water rescue boat squads would be available to assist with flood rescues. At 1:18 p.m. on July 3, the weather service issued a flood watch for Texas' Kerr County and other areas. On July 4 at 1:14 a.m., a flash-flood warning was issued, sounding the alarm for "life threatening flash flooding." At Camp Mystic, where at least 27 campers and counselors died, leadership was aware of the earlier flood watch, and also got a cellphone alert of the weather service's flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. But they did not begin to evacuate campers in cabins near the Guadalupe River until more than an hour later, the Washington Post reported. The Post reported that waters began rising at the all-girls camp around 2 a.m., and breached at least one cabin around 3 a.m. Parts of Camp Mystic are considered at high risk of flooding, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. At a different camp along the same river, Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly, a facilities manager saw the river rising around 1 a.m., and told his boss, who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching, the Associated Press reported. Camp officials there acted quickly to relocate 70 children and adults from a building near the river, and no one died. There was no warning from local authorities, the AP said. Read more: FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show In an interview, Suchan said he wonders "are there things that you could have done faster, stronger, or do things differently?" "We're looking at a massive casualty event and it weighs on my heart," he said. His counterpart at a local CBS affiliate offered a similar warning ahead of the flooding. Bill Taylor, weather chief at KENS-TV Channel 5 in San Antonio, showed a forecast weather model showing a severe storm "just sitting still" for hours in the area around Kerr County. "This would be a huge flood problem if this happens," Taylor told his viewers on July 3. In an interview, Taylor said he doesn't feel guilt about how he conveyed his forecast, saying he gave all the information he had about the flood risk. Still, "moving forward, in all honesty, I've even thought to myself recently how much of my verbiage will now change because of this disaster." He and other forecasters say they hope people take things like flood watches more seriously moving forward, especially if they live in or visit low-lying areas prone to flooding. Read more: Unusual summer storms in SoCal bring dry lightning, flooding concerns for weekend "When we say 'flood watch' in this region, I mean, you've really got to be paying attention," Taylor said. One lingering question is how closely officials in Kerr County — like the sheriff's office and emergency managers — were monitoring the storm. "If those emergency managers were sleeping that night, oh my gosh ... they won't have a job anymore," said Alex Tardy, a former weather service meteorologist who owns Weather Echo, a consulting company. Alerts about possible future floods should've triggered some kind of action well ahead of the storm — especially given the campgrounds located in the area, Tardy said. Suchan said a proper alerting system should be installed along the Guadalupe River. He noted that further downstream in neighboring Kendall County, the community of Comfort has sirens that were activated to warn of flooding on July 4, "and there were no casualties." "I don't want to ever see a nightmare like [this]," Suchan said. "It's 2025. We shouldn't be doing this." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Southern Westchester under flood watch Monday, July 14. See the forecast from NWS
Southern Westchester is under a flood watch starting 2 p.m. Monday, July 14, according to an alert issued by the National Weather Service. According to the alert, a forecast of scattered showers and thunderstorms, with potential for heavy rains, Monday afternoon and evening could result in rainfall rates of 2-plus inches per hour. "A widespread 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches of rainfall is likely with localized rainfall totals of up to 3 inches possible," the NWS alert says. "Much of this could fall in only 3 to 4 hours, causing isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding." Flooding in urban and poor drainage areas could be possible due to excessive runoff. "Small rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations" could also flood. Residents should "monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings," the NWS said. "Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop." This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY weather: Southern Westchester under NWS flood watch July 14
Irish Independent
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Flood on fire as Louth Ladies book All-Ireland JFC final place in emphatic style
After Sunday's comfortable defeat of Longford in the semi-final at Clones, they are just 60 minutes from that All-Ireland goal. The two sides met in the Leinster Junior Championship earlier this year when it took two late points from team captain Aine Breen to edge her side past Longford. However, there was to be no repeat of that scenario on Sunday as Louth dismantled the Longford challenge proving too strong throughout the park, to be full value for their 11-point victory. Louth had all the early pressure in the opening minutes with a Kate Flood effort coming off the upright two minutes in and another chance from Aoife Russell smothered by a Longford defender when a score looked on. It was Longford however, who opened the scoring when good play from Grace Kenny and Kamille Burle set up midfielder Aoife O'Brien with a chance which she accepted gratefully to put her side 0-1 to 0-0 in front after five minutes. Louth responded two minutes later with Flood converting the first of her five opening half frees following a foul on Lucy White. Longford had the chance to restore their lead on 10 minutes when Burke, after putting her initial shot wide, was awarded a free 25 metres out but missed with the ball coming off the upright and cleared away. Flood put Louth in front on 13 minutes, pointing her second free after a foul on Ceire Nolan but Longford drew level a minute later when Sian Gallagher won her own side's kickout, found full-forward Clodagh Lohan who off-loaded the ball to Shauna Hagan to tap over a point to make it 0-2 to 0-2 on 14 minutes. However, that was to be Longford's last score of the half as Louth completely dominated the second quarter. Two converted Flood frees put her side 0-4 to 0-2 in front on 17 minutes and with just under three-quarters of the game to go, a goal from Eimear Byrne realistically marked the end of the Longford challenge. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Byrne's goal came from a turnover at midfield where Breen won possession, took the ball forward before delivering as low ball into Aoife Russell who fed the in-rushing Eimear Byrne. A shimmy sent a Longford defender the wrong way allowing the St Mochtas player the space to blast the ball past Aoife Cooney in the Longford goals. Louth turned over the resultant kickout and this time Aoife Russell was the beneficiary at the end of a four-player move started and finished by Ceire Nolan who set Russell up for a point. Longford's cause wasn't helped with the sin-binning of Mairead Victory following a foul on Louise Byrne on 28 minutes as Louth continued to dominate finishing off the half with two more Flood points, one from a free as Louth went in a the break with a healthy 1-7 to 0-2 lead. Longford looked like they might make a game of it as they maintained early possession after the break but they could find no way past a defence where Eilís Hand and Eimear Murray were proving impossible to get by. Even the return of Victory from the sin-bin did nothing to lift Longford and when Flood and Russell extended the lead out to 1-8 to 0-2 nine minutes into the second half, the game was effectively over. Longford did have the ball in the net on 40 minutes when Burke dropped a free into the square which was caught by Katie Crawford who turned and kicked the ball to the net. However, the referee, in consultation with her umpires, deem it a square ball – much to the consternation of the Longford supporters. Louth almost got in for a second goal when a ball in from Breen came Eimear Byrne's way but her shot was deflected out for a '45. A point from Lohan brought some cheers from the Longford fans but the response from Louth was five unanswered points with Flood (3) Russell (1) and Nolan (1) all on target to lead 1-14 to 0-3 after 54 minutes. Lohan, after a good run through the Louth defence, got her side's fourth point of the afternoon and Burke added two more, one from a free but at 1-14 to 0-6 with time up it did nothing but dress up the final result a small bit. Antrim will now face Antrim in the All-Ireland JFC final after they defeat Sligo, 3-10 to 1-10 in the second semi-final at Clones on Sunday. The game will take place in Croke Park on Sunday August 3, with an 11.45am throw-in. Scorers: Louth - Eimear Byrne 1-0, Aoife Russell 0-3, Kate Flood 0-10 (5f), Ceire Nolan 0-1 Longford - Kamille Burke 0-2 (1f), Clodagh Lohan 0-2, Sian Gallagher 0-1, Shauna Hagan 0-1, Louth: Rebecca Lambe Fagan: Rachel Beirth, Eilís Hand, Eimear Murray; Seoda Matthews, Shennan McLaughlin, Louise Byrne; Áine Breen, Aoife Halligan; Lucy White, Eimear Byrne, Aoife Russell; Holly Lambe Sally, Kate Flood, Ceire Nolan. Subs: Caoimhe Boyle for McLaughlin 45, Ciara Woods for White 53, Gemma McCrave for Lambe Sally 54, Mischa Rooney for Byrne 59, Mia Duffy for Breen 59. Longford: Aoife Cooney; Grace Kenny, Leanne Keegan, Ailbhe Brady; Caoimhe McCormack, Eimear O'Brien, Ella Duggan; Sian Gallagher 0-1, Aoife O'Brien; Shauna Hagan 0-1, Katie Crawford, Ella O'Reilly; Kamille Burke 0-2 (1f), Clodagh Lohan 0-2, Mairead Victory. Subs: Ciara Mulligan for Ella O'Reilly 28, Edel Sheehy for Aoife O'Brien 42, Emma Bleakley for Talabi 53.
12-07-2025
- Climate
Flash flood threat in the Southern Plains as Texas still recovers
Severe thunderstorms continue to threaten parts of the Midwest Saturday afternoon, with western Kentucky up to Michigan in the threat zone. The primary hazard from any severe thunderstorms that move through is strong, potentially damaging wind gusts. This comes after severe weather slammed parts of the Plains and Midwest over the past 24 hours. Eastern Iowa was hit particularly hard by damaging winds and flash flooding. Further south, this same system triggered a new threat of heavy rain and possible flash flooding in the southern Plains this weekend, including much of Oklahoma and Texas. Rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms, with locally heavy downpours, will be sweeping across these areas through tonight and again on Sunday, including the Hill Country. Earlier Saturday, flash flooding hit parts of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and torrential rain hit Abilene, Texas, with a Flash Flood Warning issued for the city. While spotty showers and thunderstorms are possible through the afternoon and evening hours in central Texas, the activity will be more widespread tomorrow across the region, with a greater potential for locally heavy rainfall. The Flood Watch in effect for parts of the southern Plains, including much of Oklahoma and Texas, was expanded southeast this morning to encompass areas that were hit hard by catastrophic and deadly flash flooding last weekend, including Kerr, Travis and Burnet Counties. While these areas are being watched for the potential for heavy rain through Sunday night, the heaviest rain through at least Saturday evening will be to the north and west across the Concho Valley. This includes the San Angelo area, later Saturday night through the early morning hours Sunday. These areas could see two to four inches of rain from these storms through Sunday afternoon, with localized amounts of six to eight inches possible where the heaviest rain develops. Additional rounds of scattered showers and thunderstorms will be sweeping across parts of Texas on Sunday, including Hill County, especially during the afternoon and evening hours. Rainfall totals of one to three inches are possible in this region through late Sunday night, with isolated amounts up to six inches possible where the heaviest rain develops. While this rainfall is not expected to be as extreme as last weekend, the threshold for flash flooding to develop is lower due to the ground being very saturated from recent heavy rain in the region. Dangerous heat strikes West Dangerous heat is impacting parts of the West this weekend, with heat alerts in effect across several states. Over the next few days, afternoon temperatures will soar into the 90s as far north as parts of Oregon and Washington, nearing the triple digits in some spots. A Heat Advisory is in effect for cities like Fresno and Redding, California, on Saturday afternoon, and Portland will be under a Heat Advisory on Sunday. Hot weather will persist across much of the desert Southwest into the central Valley of California. However, triple-digit temperatures are typical for mid-July in these areas. After a brief break early next week for places like Portland, the heat will ramp back up by midweek with highs back in the mid-90s on Wednesday. An Extreme Heat Watch has been posted for the Portland area beginning late Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday. The North Rim of the park remains closed due to the White Sage Fire burning to the north and nearing Jacob Lake. The White Sage Fire has now grown to 19,153 acres and is 0% contained as of the Saturday morning update. While this is a very rural area, the fire has triggered some road closures and evacuations, mainly to ensure that fire resources have uninhibited access to manage the fire. A second fire continues to burn in the area. The Dragon Bravo Fire began on July 4 as a result of a lightning strike within Grand Canyon National Park. Initially, this fire was not being actively suppressed, being used as part of a wildfire land management plan. However, officials have now switched to a full suppression approach. The fire is currently at 5,000 acres and 0% contained. Canadian wildfire smoke affects air quality in parts of Midwest Another batch of smoke from wildfires burning in Canada is pushing south into parts of the Upper Midwest, impacting air quality in some areas this weekend. Air Quality Alerts have been posted across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan where poor air quality is a concern through at least Sunday night. The dense smoke is focused over much of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, where air quality at times could reach 'unhealthy' levels for all individuals over the next 24 hours, including cities like Minneapolis and Green Bay. North of these cities, the air quality could dip to 'very unhealthy' levels for all individuals, including cities like Duluth. On Sunday, the denser smoke shifts to the east, focusing over eastern Wisconsin and parts of Michigan. Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see improving conditions throughout the day tomorrow. However, after a brief break, another batch of smoke could arrive late Sunday night into Monday morning.
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Rain in Spain! Flood and hail warning as holiday hotspot is deluged - while Britain basks in the sun
Flood and hail warnings have been issued in Spain as a popular holiday hotspot is deluged - while Britain basks in the sun. A whopping half of the country's 50 provinces have received weather warnings from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET). Eight of those face a higher orange alert, the second highest, as of today - so locals and tourists there should prepare for severe storms, extreme rain and flash floods. These regions set to face a heavy battering are Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and Castellon, The Sun reports. The effects are already being felt across the country, with shocking pictures showing cars submerged and swept away, with streets totally flooded by strong currents. One popular tourist destination, the town of Tarazona in Zaragoza, has already seen 100mm of rainfall in just one hour, on Friday - and remains on red alert today. Meanwhile, Britain's heatwave was expected to peak today, with sizzling highs of 35C possible in parts of the UK. The extreme weather in Spain threatens huge damage to neighbourhoods, as well as disruption to Brits holidaying all over the country in hope of some Spanish sun. The downpour in Tarazona caused street flooding, heavy disruption to public transport and brutal damage to property in the getaway hotspot. The Military Emergency Unit (UME) - the branch of the army responsible for national disaster or emergency relief - has been deployed across the province to help. Rescue teams in Zaragoza have reported more than 30 flood-related incident, including blocked roads and fallen trees - but luckily, no casualties. Rainfall of up to 50 litres per square metre has been predicted in most parts of Aragon and Catalonia - which could cause flooding and even overflowing ravines. The worst affected areas will be Catalonia, Aragon and the Valencian Community, where intense rain had been predicted to begin early today. In fact, the Catalan weather service Meteocat has issued its own highest possible weather warning, at levels five and six, according to Catalan News. It marks a serious deterioration in weather conditions in the province, replacing previous orange and yellow warnings. All residents in the area will receive a mobile phone notification to alert them to the heavy storms coming their way, which are expected to last until at least 9pm today. After rain began last night, authorities received a huge 70 reports of minor weather-related incidents. And they have advised the public to avoid travel and stay indoors and away from rivers and flood-risk areas. Some areas in Catalonia could see up to 40 litres of rain per square metre, which could cause flooding. Later today, storms were expected to hit the Cantabrian coast, the Balearic Islands and areas of central and eastern Spain. Storm warnings are set to hit other regions too, including Alicante, Valencia, Alava and the Ribera del Ebro area of La Rioja, among others. Meanwhile, the mercury has hit record-breaking highs back in Blighty. Temperatures reached 34.7C at Astwood Bank, near Worcester, on Friday, the Met Office said, with similar or even higher temperatures having been expected today. 'It might be plus or minus half a degree higher or lower (on Saturday), probably maybe a little bit higher, but that's going to be the peak as then temperatures start coming down a little bit through the second half of the weekend as low pressure slowly starts to edge in,' meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said. Six million homes have been hit with a hosepipe ban, while fire chiefs warn of the risk of wildfires and drowning as people try to escape the heat in pools and ponds. Amber heat health alerts are in place for the Midlands and the south and east of England until 9am on Monday. They warn of the potential for a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions. The risk of wildfires in London is currently rated at 'severe' by the Natural Hazards Partnership. And National Rail has also warned train passengers that the hot weather may cause disruption this weekend. The Met Office said though temperatures may peak on Saturday, it will remain 'very warm' across the country on Sunday. 'We're probably looking at maximum temperatures around 30C, 31C degrees across central and southern England, but still widely across the whole UK, mid to high 20s,' Mr Dewhurst said. 'It could still get to around 29 or 30C across southeast England on Monday, and then everyone into the fresher air by Tuesday, temperatures more like 23C, 24C as the maximum temperature.' As well as the amber alerts, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has yellow alerts in place until Monday for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber. Pictured: A sunbather in London's Vauxhall Park on Saturday As well as the amber alerts, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has yellow alerts in place until Monday for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber. Fortunately, in Spain, the rainy, stormy conditions are expected to clear overnight. And while parts of the country are pummelled by rain, southeastern Spain will remain sizzling hot, perhaps even hitting record highs. The mercury could approach or even increase beyond a tropical 40C in Murcia, Alicante, inland Andalusia and parts of Extremadura. Temperatures will soon then drop across vast swathes of the mainland and Canary Islands. The islands, along with the Alboran coast, will then be hit by high, potentially very strong winds. The storms come as part of a so-called DANA storm, a Spanish acronym standing for 'depresion aislada en niveles altos', meaning 'isolated depression at high altitudes'. These conditions are brought about when more warm, moist Mediterranean air is sucked into high levels of the atmosphere than normal. The floods turned streets in the Spanish city into rivers (pictured) and left hundreds trapped in their homes It can cause severe weather like lightning, hail or even tornadoes - and sudden shifts in conditions, bringing often highly concentrated bursts of rain or storms in minutes. Unstable air is moving across the Iberian Peninsula to the north and east, bringing on the thunder and heavy rainfall. A DANA was behind the flooding in Valencia in October last year, in which nearly 230 people tragically died, in one of Spain's worst weather disasters in recent years. The floods turned streets in the Spanish city into rivers and left hundreds trapped in their homes. Many were forced to climb trees, scale lampposts and sprint desperately to the upper floors of buildings to escape. Shocking footage emerged showing how parts of Valencia became completely engulfed by deadly flash floods that appeared from nowhere. Torrents of water were seen tearing through towns and infrastructure, sweeping cars down roads, submerging fields in mud and trapping people in basements and cars. It made the disaster the worst floods to hit a single European country this century.
