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Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Earth Day's Past Extreme Weather Includes Tornadoes, Heat, Even A Tropical Storm
Earth Day 2025 won't have a major storm in the U.S., but it's had its share of notable weather events, including in recent years. April 22 lies in the heart of spring, when weather can be active on many fronts, including tornado outbreaks, river flooding and early-season heat. Let's look back at some memorable weather events of April 22. Amid what would become a record month for tornadoes in the U.S., it was a single violent tornado that stole the headlines on Earth Day 14 years ago. A pair of supercell thunderstorms spawned five tornadoes across the St. Louis metro area and adjacent areas of southern Illinois on the evening of April 22, 2011. But the strongest tornado tore a 21-mile path across the northern suburbs, producing up to EF4 damage in Bridgeton. According to the National Weather Service, it was the strongest tornado to strike St. Louis County in 44 years. Lambert International Airport took a direct hit. Windows were blown out in the main terminal and a main section of the roof was peeled away from Concourse C, which prompted the airport to close for about 24 hours. Damage to the airport alone was estimated at $25 million to $30 million. Incredibly, nobody was killed by this violent tornado, due in part to tornado warnings issued 34 minutes in advance of this tornadic supercell. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are the trickiest of all weather events to both detect and understand any potential influence of climate change, due to their small-scale and short-lived nature. There appears to be no long-term trend in tornado intensity. However, there may be a subtle eastward shift in the conditions favorable for tornadoes into the Mississippi Valley, according to a 2018 study. On Earth Day 2003, the Atlantic hurricane season had already begun. Two days earlier, a non-tropical swirl of low pressure west of Bermuda was dubbed Subtropical Storm Ana. On the evening of April 21, the National Hurricane Center estimated Ana had enough thunderstorms clustered near its center to be classified as a tropical storm. Ana would persist until it finally merged with a cold front on April 24. While this storm remained over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, it was a historic oddity. Prior to Ana, only one other storm was known to have formed in the Atlantic Basin in April – a subtropical storm from April 21-24, 1992, found in post-analysis. In 2017, another April tropical storm, Arlene, also formed in the central Atlantic Ocean. Climate change appears to be having some influences on tropical cyclones around the world, including trends toward stronger storms, more rapidly intensifying storms, and wetter, slower-moving storms over land. The flood of record in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and northwest Minnesota peaked 27 years ago on Earth Day. On April 22, 1997, the Red River crested a record 26.35 feet above flood stage at Grand Forks, North Dakota, which crushed the previous record set 100 years prior by over 4 feet. About 90% of Grand Forks was flooded and 60,000 residents were forced to evacuate Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, according to NOAA. A fire broke out in Grand Forks and spread several blocks because firefighters couldn't fight it during the flood. Four days earlier, the Red River also hit a record crest over 21 feet above flood stage at Fargo, North Dakota. Total damage from the spring 1997 flood in the Northern Plains was estimated at $7.1 billion, the sixth-costliest U.S. flood event since 1980, according to NOAA. Spring flooding is typical most years in the Red River Basin since it flows north into Manitoba, Canada, and covers a broad, shallow glacial plain. However, the snowiest winter season on record, compounded by an early April blizzard, led to the disastrous spring 1997 flood. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment in 2018, climate change is shortening the snow season in the Northern Plains, with less snow particularly in the fall. However, precipitation in the heaviest events has increased 29% in the Northern Plains since the late 1950s, according to a Climate Central study. -1999: A western snowstorm dumped a record 28.6 inches of snow in Lander, Wyoming, the city's all-time calendar-day record. It also produced wind gusts up to 113 mph in Brigham City, Utah, the Salt Lake Valley's strongest gust on record. -1989: Cyclone Orson reached Category 5 intensity off the coast of Western Australia, one of the most intense cyclones on record near Australia. As that was happening, a heat wave established state April records in Colorado (100 degrees in Las Animas) and Kansas (107 in Hays). -1980: Fort Dodge and Waterloo, Iowa, reached 100 degrees, the only April triple-digit readings on record in the Hawkeye State. Marquette, Michigan, registered their only April 90-degree-plus high on record.
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First Post
21-04-2025
- First Post
Drone encounters on the rise: Near midair collisions near major US airports threaten aviation safety
The threat from drones has become more acute in the last decade as the use of quadcopters and remote-controlled planes has exploded in popularity read more A drone hovers in airspace outside the safety perimeter surrounding St. Louis Lambert International Airport as an airliner approaches for a landing. AP A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Francisco's international airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late 'to take evasive action,' the pilots reported, and the quadcopter passed by their windshield, not 300 feet away. A month earlier, a jetliner was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet near Miami's international airport when its pilots reported a 'close encounter' with a drone. In August, a drone came within 50 feet of clipping the left wing of a passenger jet as it departed Newark International Airport. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The incidents were all classified as 'near midair collisions' — any one of which could have had catastrophic consequences, according to aviation safety experts. They were also not isolated encounters. An Associated Press analysis of an aviation safety database reveals that drones last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes taking off and landing at the country's top 30 busiest airports. That was the highest percentage of such near misses since 2020, when air traffic dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first reports of near misses involving drones were logged in 2014, the AP found. The number of such encounters spiked the following year. Over the last decade, drones accounted for 51% — 122 of 240 — of reported near misses, according to AP's analysis. Passenger jets have long been subject to risks around airports — whether from bird strikes or congested airspace — as was made clear by the January collision between a military helicopter and commercial jet near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The threat has become more dire The threat from drones has become more acute in the last decade as the use of quadcopters and remote-controlled planes has exploded in popularity. The FAA estimates that Americans are operating more than a million drones for recreational and commercial purposes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If you have the money, you can go on the internet and buy a pretty sophisticated drone that can reach altitudes they really have no business being at,' said William Waldock, a professor of safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The risk is most acute near airports because that is where the flight paths of drones and airplanes most overlap, experts said. The incidents represent only a portion of such close calls because the database — NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System — relies on voluntary submissions from pilots and other aviation workers. A separate FAA program, which includes reports from the public, tallied at least 160 sightings last month of drones flying near airports. 'The FAA recognizes that urgency, and we all know additional changes need to be made to allow the airports to go out and detect and mitigate where necessary,' said Hannah Thach, executive director of the partnership, known as Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD FAA says it is taking steps to improve safety The FAA said it has taken steps to mitigate the risks of drones. It has prohibited nearly all drones from flying near airports without prior authorization, though such rules are difficult to enforce, and recreational users may not be aware of restrictions. The agency requires registrations for drones weighing more than 250 grams (0.55 pounds), and such drones are required to carry a radio transponder that identifies the drone's owner and broadcasts its position to help avert collisions. Additional rules govern commercial drone use. The agency has also been testing systems to detect and counter drones near airports. Among the methods being examined: Using radio signals to jam drones or force them to land. Authorities are also weighing whether to deploy high-powered microwaves or laser beams to disable the machines. Experts said the FAA and other authorities could do more. They suggested creating a system similar to speed cameras on roadways that could capture a drone's transponder code and send its pilots a ticket in the mail. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD They also said the FAA should consider regulations that require all manufacturers to program a drone's GPS unit to prevent it from flying near airports and other sensitive areas, a method called 'geofencing.' Drone manufacturer ends mandatory 'geofencing' DJI, a leading drone maker, used such geofencing restrictions for years. However, it eliminated the feature in January, replacing it with an alert to drone pilots when they approach restricted areas. Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said managing requests from authorized users to temporarily disable the geofencing became an increasingly time-consuming task. More than one million such requests were processed last year. 'We had around-the-clock service, but the number of applications coming in were becoming really hard to handle,' Welsh said. 'They all had to be reviewed individually.' With no other manufacturers enabling geofencing, and without government rules requiring it, DJI decided to end the practice, he said. The FAA declined to say if it is considering whether to mandate geofencing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Drone users can face consequences Experts said authorities should take more aggressive action to hold drone users accountable for violating restricted airspace — to highlight the problem and deter others from breaking the rules, pointing to recent arrests that they hoped might send such a message. In December, for example, Boston police arrested two men who operated a drone that flew dangerously close to Logan International Airport. Police reported that they were able to find the drone flyers, in part, by tracking the aircraft thanks to its FAA-mandated transponder signal. A month later, a small drone collided with a 'Super Scooper' plane that was fighting wildfires raging through Southern California. The drone punched a hole in the plane's left wing, causing enough damage that officials grounded the aircraft for several days to make repairs. Authorities tracked down the 56-year-old drone operator, who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of recklessly flying his aircraft. The man, who has yet to be sentenced, admitted he launched his DJI quadcopter to observe fire damage over the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, despite the FAA having restricted drone flying in the area, according to court records. The operator lost sight of the drone after it flew about 1.5 miles from where he had launched it. And that's when it struck the 'Super Scooper.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
St. Louis has out-snowed these major cities so far in 2025
ST. LOUIS – If it feels like this winter has been unusually snowy in St. Louis, you're absolutely right. The 2025 year kicked off with a bang with two major snowstorms in the first full week of January. That was followed by another significant snowfall Tuesday and several periods of flurries in between. As of Wednesday, St. Louis has seen of snow from its flagship reporting station at Lambert International Airport, according to Kevin Deitsch, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service. St. Louis urgent care doctor sentenced for $740k of Medicare, Medicaid fraud That's nearly half a foot more than St. Louis' seasonal average of 12.6 inches for this time of year. Because of that, it's also not surprising that St. Louis has seen more snow than several traditional winter powerhouses, especially across the Midwest. How does St. Louis stack up against others? Here's a closer look, based on NWS data obtained by Deitsch or available in online NWS climatology reports. Minneapolis, Minnesota (16.1 inches) Indianapolis, Indiana (16.1 inches) LaGuardia Airport in New York (15.0 inches) Chicago, Illinois (14.8 inches) Des Moines, Iowa (11.2 inches) Fort Wayne, Indiana (10.9 inches) Omaha, Nebraska (9.5 inches) Sioux Falls, South Dakota (8.0 inches) Another big surprise? St. Louis is within striking distance of Denver, Colorado, a city famous for its snowy winters. Denver has reported 18.6 inches of snow since December, just a fraction ahead of St. Louis, per National Weather Service data. While St. Louis is ahead of its usual snowfall pace this year, many major U.S. cities are falling short of their typical totals. According to Deitsch, at this point of the year, LaGuardia averages around 21.2 inches, Chicago averages around 28.3 inches and Minneapolis averages around 35.9 inches. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Of course, some cities still have St. Louis beat by considerable margins. These are a few that have logged higher totals so far: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (21.4 inches) South Bend, Indiana (23.9 inches) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (24.6 inches) Detroit, Michigan (25.3 inches) Anchorage, Alaska (31.1 inches) For now, St. Louis gets a breather. No significant snowfall is in the forecast for at least the next week. But winter weather is still far from over, and it will be interesting to see where the city's final snowfall total this season stacks up against some of the nation's snowiest spots. For a closer look at NWS' St. Louis climatology data, which also tracks snowfall, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Regional jet slides off runway at St. Louis Airport
ST. LOUIS – Runway 11-29 at St. Louis Lambert International Airport was closed late Wednesday morning after a United Airlines regional jet slid off the runway just after landing. The incident happened at 10:50 a.m. Flight 4427, operated by GoJet Airlines, departed Washington Dulles International Airport. The plane went into a section of grass. The plane was carrying 27 people, including crew. No injuries have been reported. The passengers were offloaded from the jet and taken to Concourse A. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Yahoo
Man admits taking minor to K.C., St. Louis for prostitution
ST. LOUIS – A child sex trafficking suspect appeared in federal court Tuesday and admitted to transporting minors from Texas across state lines for prostitution. Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said JoeMarius Green, 24, took the underage victims from Dallas to Kansas City on Feb. 12, 2023, to engage in prostitution during the Super Bowl. After approximately four days, Green took the victims to a hotel near St. Louis Lambert International Airport for the same purpose. Green admitted placing ads on escort service web sites, managing those ads, renting hotel rooms, setting prices, and taking all the money from the victims for their illegal sex acts. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Green's girlfriend, Chantel Robinson, 20, also participated in the activities. Robinson admitted engaging in commercial sex acts, taking sexually explicit or suggestive photos of the victims for the online ads and posting the online ads. Prosecutors said she would manage the prostitution services whenever Green was absent. Green pleaded guilty to one count of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in prostitution. Robinson pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of possession of child pornography. According to court documents, Green will be sentenced on June 25. He faces between 10 years and life in federal prison. Robinson will be sentenced on April 8. She faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
