I'm not sure why we need a Winter Weather and a Non-winter Weather thread, but since it's not winter, and weather is an issue I'm starting this new thread. If the mods see fit to merge them into an all-encompassing Weather thread, I'm all for it.
7 Dead as Storm Soaks Central U.S., Raising Rivers and Flood Fears
Nearly 30 tornadoes were confirmed after the first wave of the storm, which will extend into the weekend. Mud smeared streets in Nashville, while Memphis and nearby towns eyed the rising Mississippi River.
Floodwaters covered highways from Arkansas to Ohio. Schools in waterlogged communities called off Friday classes. And river towns across the South and Midwest piled up sandbags ahead of a weekend when forecasters expect intense rain and major floods.
The preparations for heavy flooding intensified on Thursday following an outbreak of tornadoes and heavy winds overnight. The storm leveled homes and businesses and killed at least seven people in three states, including a fire chief in Missouri and a teenage girl in Tennessee.
Here’s what to know:
Prolonged threat: The storm system is stalled over a stretch of the country from Texas through the northeast, with the most intense rain falling around Arkansas and Tennessee. The rain is forecast to persist through Saturday, with totals of well over a foot. Here’s more on the forecast.
Tornado damage: More than 30 tornadoes were reported in Mississippi, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana and Tennessee.
Preparing for floods: In New Madrid, Mo., along the Mississippi River, city officials celebrated the arrival of sandbag-filling machines from the Army Corps of Engineers. In Arkansas, participants in a Corrections Department work-release program helped fill sandbags in Saline County.
Exhausted sirens: In Nashville, the continued wailing of tornado sirens drained some of their batteries, causing them to stop working, the Nashville Fire Department said. In places where the power was out, the sirens did not recharge until electricity was restored, the department said.
Click on the link for more
The Non-Winter Weather Thread
At Least 23 Dead After Tornadoes and Storms Tear Through 3 States
Holly Lammert had been working on a papier-mâché sculpture in the backyard of her St. Louis home when tornado sirens rang out. Before she could get her 10-year-old daughter into the basement, the winds began.
On Saturday morning, she surveyed the damage in her community from one of several tornadoes that tore across the nation since late Friday, killing at least 23 people. Pieces of her neighbor’s roof were in her backyard. There were dozens of jagged tree limbs and trunks in her community garden. And at a nearby church, the bell tower had crumbled into dusty piles of bricks and stones.
“This poor neighborhood,” Ms. Lammert said. “I don’t know how we will come back.”
And that was only a fraction of the destruction left after tornadoes ripped through homes and killed people in at least three states: Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. Officials warned the death toll could rise as they assessed the damage on Saturday, and dozens more were injured.
The spring tornado season has been especially brutal in this part of the country, coming just weeks after similar storms caused deadly devastation in the region. On Friday, these tornadoes were caused by a major storm over the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic.
In Kentucky, at least 14 people were killed, Gov. Andy Beshear said on Saturday morning.
Click on the link for the full article
Holly Lammert had been working on a papier-mâché sculpture in the backyard of her St. Louis home when tornado sirens rang out. Before she could get her 10-year-old daughter into the basement, the winds began.
On Saturday morning, she surveyed the damage in her community from one of several tornadoes that tore across the nation since late Friday, killing at least 23 people. Pieces of her neighbor’s roof were in her backyard. There were dozens of jagged tree limbs and trunks in her community garden. And at a nearby church, the bell tower had crumbled into dusty piles of bricks and stones.
“This poor neighborhood,” Ms. Lammert said. “I don’t know how we will come back.”
And that was only a fraction of the destruction left after tornadoes ripped through homes and killed people in at least three states: Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia. Officials warned the death toll could rise as they assessed the damage on Saturday, and dozens more were injured.
The spring tornado season has been especially brutal in this part of the country, coming just weeks after similar storms caused deadly devastation in the region. On Friday, these tornadoes were caused by a major storm over the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic.
In Kentucky, at least 14 people were killed, Gov. Andy Beshear said on Saturday morning.
Click on the link for the full article
Heavy storms, tornadoes and 'tennis ball-sized hail' to hit the southern Plains
Stormy weather on Tuesday is expected to bring severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, potentially strong tornadoes, and hurricane-force winds to the southern Plains and several Southeastern states.
An enhanced warning covered almost all of Tennessee and Kentucky, affecting 13.6 million people, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Isolated "tennis ball-sized" hail is possible in some places and tornadoes could reach speeds of 95 mph, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center said.
Another 23 million people are under a slight risk of severe weather, from Indianapolis to Atlanta.
Memphis, Nashville, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Knoxville are among the cities in the risk zone on Tuesday.
The storms come days after 28 people were confirmed dead following extreme weather over the weekend in the Lower Midwest and the South. More than 127,000 energy customers were without power as of Tuesday morning, including 48,000 in Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.
Click on the link for the full article
Just wait a couple of years when the effects to cuts at NOAA and FEMA are in full effect and Trump loving middle Americans don't get advanced warning of these storms, and then don't get help afterwards.
Stormy weather on Tuesday is expected to bring severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, potentially strong tornadoes, and hurricane-force winds to the southern Plains and several Southeastern states.
An enhanced warning covered almost all of Tennessee and Kentucky, affecting 13.6 million people, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Isolated "tennis ball-sized" hail is possible in some places and tornadoes could reach speeds of 95 mph, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center said.
Another 23 million people are under a slight risk of severe weather, from Indianapolis to Atlanta.
Memphis, Nashville, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Knoxville are among the cities in the risk zone on Tuesday.
The storms come days after 28 people were confirmed dead following extreme weather over the weekend in the Lower Midwest and the South. More than 127,000 energy customers were without power as of Tuesday morning, including 48,000 in Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.
Click on the link for the full article
Just wait a couple of years when the effects to cuts at NOAA and FEMA are in full effect and Trump loving middle Americans don't get advanced warning of these storms, and then don't get help afterwards.
A colossal cloud of Sahara dust is smothering the Caribbean en route to the US
A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States.
The cloud extended some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s very impressive,” said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather.
The hazy skies unleashed sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with local forecasters warning that those with allergies, asthma and other conditions should remain indoors or wear face masks if outdoors.
The dust concentration was high, at .55 aerosol optical depth, the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Ships sit in the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blankets most of the Caribbean, Monday, June 2, 2025.
The aerosol optical depth measures how much direct sunlight is prevented from reaching the ground by particles, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The plume is expected to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and into the weekend, DaSilva said.
However, plumes usually lose most of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted.
“Those islands tend to see more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can actually block out the sun a little bit at times,” he said.
The dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert in Africa and moves west across the Atlantic Ocean starting around April until about October, according to NOAA. It also prevents tropical waves from forming during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30.
Click on the link for the full article
A massive cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blanketed most of the Caribbean on Monday in the biggest event of its kind this year as it heads toward the United States.
The cloud extended some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Jamaica to well past Barbados in the eastern Caribbean, and some 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the northern Caribbean down south to Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s very impressive,” said Alex DaSilva, lead hurricane expert with AccuWeather.
The hazy skies unleashed sneezes, coughs and watery eyes across the Caribbean, with local forecasters warning that those with allergies, asthma and other conditions should remain indoors or wear face masks if outdoors.
The dust concentration was high, at .55 aerosol optical depth, the highest amount so far this year, said Yidiana Zayas, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Ships sit in the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a cloud of dust from the Sahara Desert blankets most of the Caribbean, Monday, June 2, 2025.
The aerosol optical depth measures how much direct sunlight is prevented from reaching the ground by particles, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The plume is expected to hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi late this week and into the weekend, DaSilva said.
However, plumes usually lose most of their concentration in the eastern Caribbean, he noted.
“Those islands tend to see more of an impact, more of a concentration where it can actually block out the sun a little bit at times,” he said.
The dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer forms over the Sahara Desert in Africa and moves west across the Atlantic Ocean starting around April until about October, according to NOAA. It also prevents tropical waves from forming during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30.
Click on the link for the full article