CNN-Weather/Environment

By Pedram Javaheri, CNN Extreme, climate-fueled rainfall broke records this week in a part of Italy known for its rain and an area in Oman not known for rain at all. On Monday, a series of storms put on the parking brakes over northwestern Italy, unleashing rainfall rates never before seen in all of Europe

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist Sam started Thursday as a tropical storm, with winds of 35 mph, and ended the day at 70 mph — a rapid intensification that occurs when a tropical cyclone strengthens by at least 35 mph in 24 hours. By Friday morning Sam had strengthened into a hurricane, and it may

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist Sam is now the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical storm is churning in the open Atlantic Ocean more than 1,600 miles east of the Leeward Islands. While it is still far away from land, impacts are possible early next week. More importantly, the storm is

By Drew Kann, CNN The falling water levels at Lake Powell, the second-largest man-made reservoir in the US, could make the dam’s hydroelectric power generation impossible as soon as next year, according to new projections released Wednesday by the US Bureau of Reclamation. The new modeling shows a 3% chance that Lake Powell, which is

By Pedram Javaheri, CNN Cooler weather is landing right on cue for the first day of autumn. But first, the system delivering the cooler temps will soak the eastern third of the country, bring strong winds and 10 to 18-foot waves on some of the Great Lakes. A strong storm system is forecast to develop

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN California firefighters have made significant headway in taming one of the largest blazes in the history of the wildfire-prone state, but heat and wind are likely to persist, challenging those on the front lines of multiple fires. The Dixie Fire — the second largest in California’s history — is 94% contained

By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist While the tropics continue to pump out storms, the US coast has been spared during the last week. Nicholas has dissipated, but lingering moisture is still pumping into the Southeast, bringing pesky showers that won’t seem to go away. “Over 15 million people are under flood alerts across the Southeast,

By Jackson Dill and Dakin Andone, CNN Northern California is bracing for critical fire weather conditions as firefighters struggle to contain at least 10 large wildfires burning across the state. A level two of three critical risk for fire weather is in effect through Monday night for a large portion of California, stretching from Redding

By Hannah Gard, CNN Weather This year’s busy tropical season continues as more activity ramps up in the Atlantic. Tropical Depression Seventeen intensified into Tropical Storm Rose Sunday afternoon, about 370 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands, says the National Hurricane Center. The other active storm currently in the Atlantic basin is Tropical Storm

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist The second half of hurricane season is here and there have already been 17 named storms to keep hurricane hunters busy. But have you ever noticed hurricane hunters’ flight patterns shown by meteorologists on TV look like random, odd shapes? Those flight patterns may look like boxes or stars, but

By Derek Van Dam and Haley Brink, CNN Meteorologists On a warm September afternoon, Mona Scott sat on the front porch while her home baked like an oven. As she ran a frozen water bottle across her forehead and arms, Scott told CNN her air conditioning broke 10 days earlier and had not yet been

By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist Nearly 20 fires are currently burning in Washington and Oregon, but a little relief could be coming soon in the form of rain. An atmospheric river event is taking shape, which will bring lots of moisture and rain to the region. An atmospheric river is a plume of moisture that

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN Millions are under flash flood watches Thursday as Post-Tropical Cyclone Nicholas lingers over the central Gulf Coast, threatening to dump even more rain in the upcoming days. Nicholas initially made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in southern Texas early Tuesday morning, packing 75 mph winds with higher gusts. The storm

By Jason Hanna and Aya Elamroussi, CNN Tropical Depression Nicholas has stalled and is threatening to bring dangerous flash flooding along the central Gulf Coast over the next few days — including in Louisiana, which still is staggering from the devastation of last month’s Hurricane Ida. Nicholas dropped heavy rain Wednesday in parts of Louisiana,

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN Heat already kills more Americans than any other weather-related disaster, according to the National Weather Service — and climate change is making these extreme events even more dangerous. The Northwest’s record-breaking heat wave in June, which scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, for instance, killed hundreds

By Madeline Holcombe, Eric Levenson and Steve Almasy, CNN As Tropical Depression Nicholas ambles across Texas, Houston residents are being asked to stay home Tuesday night and people in Louisiana, including some still trying to recover from Hurricane Ida, are being told to prepare for a lot of rain. Though Nicholas doesn’t pack the high

By Jennifer Gray, CNN As we are now at the official peak of hurricane season, I remind myself that hurricane season is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a long season of constantly looking at forecasts and being nervous about when the next big storm will show up in forecast models. I also wanted to

By Madeline Holcombe and Jackson Dill, CNN Nicholas has strengthened into a hurricane and is threatening to bring heavy rain, storm surges and strong winds to portions of the Texas Coast, the National Hurricane Center said late Monday. Hurricane Nicholas — with wind speeds of 75 miles per hour — was located about 20 miles

Kelly McCleary, CNN California’s Dixie Fire is burning its way toward the record books as it nears the devastating milestone of one million acres scorched. The fire, which has been burning across five counties in Northern California for 60 days, had consumed 960,335 acres as of Sunday evening, fire officials said. It was 67% contained.

By Jackson Dill, CNN Weather Parts of the Texas coast are under a hurricane watch as Tropical Storm Nicholas is forecast to gain in strength, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is forecast to gain peak sustained winds of 65 mph Monday into Monday night, with the center of the storm located over the

By Jackson Dill, CNN Weather A developing tropical disturbance near the southern Gulf of Mexico could become the Atlantic basin’s next named storm and has the potential of impacting the US as early as Sunday. This tropical wave is currently located over Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula but will track over the Bay of Campeche

By Claire Colbert, CNN Parts of South Florida will experience higher than normal seasonal tides, potentially causing coastal flooding periodically through December, according to officials in two counties. Monroe County, which includes Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys, and neighboring Miami-Dade County will both be affected by the King Tides, a term used to

By Judson Jones, CNN Meteorologist A wave of thunderstorms moved through California overnight, igniting the night sky as well as more wildfires across the state. “Approximately ~1100 cloud to ground strikes in the state since last evening,” tweeted the National Weather Service in San Francisco. In the Bay Area alone, around 110 confirmed cloud-to-ground strikes

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist Friday is the statistical peak of hurricane season, yet a monster named Larry is forecast to transform into a winter storm that will deliver feet of snow in Greenland. Yes, you read that correctly. A hurricane producing feet of snow. It’s been a crazy year for tropical systems already, so

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. Past coverage of the 2020 and 2019 hurricane season and the latest weather news can also be found on CNN. Follow the storm tracker for the path and forecasts of the latest storm. Facts The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June

By Brandon Miller, CNN Meteorologist The summer of 2021, which produced numerous extreme weather and climate disasters, was also the hottest on record in the US and tied with the Dust Bowl summer of 1936, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The average temperature from meteorological summer — June, July and August —

By John Keefe, Angela Fritz and Rachel Ramirez, CNN The Western US experienced extreme drought this year that severely strained water resources and primed the landscape for perilous wildfires. In California, this summer’s drought was the most extreme in the state’s entire 126-year record, with July 2021 as the driest month ever since data gathering

By Jason Hanna, CNN Tropical Depression Mindy was dropping heavy rain on southern Georgia and parts of South Carolina on Thursday morning and could produce scattered flash flooding and a few tornadoes as it pushes to the coast, forecasters said. Mindy, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday afternoon and made landfall over

By Judson Jones, CNN Meteorologist The first storms since Ida will move through the Northeast into Thursday, bringing the chance for severe weather and possible flash flooding. Flood watches have been issued for over 12 million people just west of New York City, in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York state. A flood watch means

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN California could be dealing with massive wildfires until the end of the year, a top fire official said, warning people to keep their guard up. “This season is far from over,” Cal Fire Chief Thom Porter cautioned Tuesday. “We are on par with where we were last year. That’s sobering and

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Some areas of the Northeast hit last week by the immense rains of the remnants of Hurricane Ida will be under a flash flood watch Wednesday. Thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rain are forecast to move into the region Wednesday evening. They could potentially dump 1-2″ of rain, according to the

By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist Hurricane Larry may be well out in the Atlantic, but the dangerous Category 3 hurricane will have impacts in the US later this week that will be felt up and down much of the Eastern Seaboard. “Larry will remain a forceful hurricane that continues to produce significant swells with far-reaching

By Kelly McCleary and Alta Spells, CNN The Dixie Fire in northern California is on its way to becoming the largest wildfire in the state’s history, officials say. It has burned 917,579 acres and was only 59% contained as of Tuesday. Currently, the largest fire by acreage for the state is the August Complex, which

By Madeline Holcombe, Eric Levenson and Jenn Selva, CNN About 14,000 people in one Louisiana parish are without homes after Hurricane Ida damaged or destroyed 75 percent of the structures there, Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson said Monday. “We are working feverishly, as hard as we can to get all people what they need to

By Jennifer Gray and Haley Brink, CNN Meteorologists As meteorologists, we are still stunned by what happened in the Northeast last week. The flooding was forecast, but to see New York City underwater was not something anyone could have imagined. “As you see it unfold, you’re just gripped with this growing pit in your stomach

By Kelly McCleary and Alta Spells, CNN Firefighters in California made significant progress against the Caldor Fire over the weekend, allowing for some evacuation orders in the Lake Tahoe region to be downgraded. But as residents there began to breathe a sigh of relief, three new fires ignited in the state Sunday, according to Cal

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN Some of the areas in Louisiana that were hit hardest by Hurricane Ida could be looking at more than three weeks before power is restored, Entergy Louisiana said. They include the parishes of Lafourche, Plaquemines with the exception of Belle Chasse, St. Charles, Terrebonne and part of Jefferson, the utility company

By Monica Garrett, CNN meteorologist As millions pick up the pieces after Hurricane Ida ravaged the eastern United States from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, meteorologists are keeping an eye on Hurricane Larry in the Atlantic. While Ida was generating its 1,500 mile long path of destruction, Tropical Storm Julian and Tropical Storm Kate

By Jason Hanna and Travis Caldwell, CNN As hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents struggle in sweltering conditions and without power six days after deadly Hurricane Ida struck, some are trying their luck elsewhere. New Orleans on Saturday started a shuttle program for electricity-deprived residents wanting to leave, sending them by charter bus from the

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN Crews continued their search Saturday for two missing childhood friends whom witnesses say were swept into a New Jersey storm drain when Hurricane Ida’s remnants soaked the Northeast with lethal floodwater that killed at least 50 people across the region. Nidhi Rana, 18, and Ayush Rana, 21, are among the six

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN A mother, father and son died by drowning when the remnants of Hurricane Ida poured catastrophic amounts of rain across the East Coast on Wednesday, leaving at least 50 people dead. Rosa Espinal, 72, and her husband Jose Torres, 71, along with their 38-year-old son Jose Torres died when more than

By Allison Chinchar, CNN Meteorologist Labor Day is usually the signal that summer is coming to an end, and this summer has been one for the record books. After record drought, wildfires and multiple tropical weather systems making landfall, the United States could use a break — especially people cleaning up from Hurricane Ida. The

By Madeline Holcombe and Jason Hanna, CNN After Ida’s remnants swept through the East Coast and left at least 50 people dead, New York City’s mayor said the extreme rainfall should get everyone “to act very differently” — including expanding expectations for evacuations. “This is a new world,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN on

By Dakin Andone and Madeline Holcombe, CNN Many Louisiana residents are still struggling days after Hurricane Ida slammed the state, as they try to rebuild and move on amid dangerous heat, continued power outages and a fuel shortage that’s hindering relief efforts. “We’re in the heat. We ain’t got no lights. It’s been almost like

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN Firefighters battling a devastating wildfire season in California are exhausted as they face the state’s massive Caldor Fire that has been threatening a popular tourist city for days — and the likelihood of more fires in the weeks ahead. “Firefighters are getting tired, they’re getting drained,” Cal Fire spokesman Dave Lauchner

By Steve Almasy, Jason Hanna and Madeline Holcombe, CNN The death toll from flooding after the remnants of Hurricane Ida pummeled cities in the East rose sharply to 46 on Thursday after New Jersey announced at least 23 people had died there. Gov. Phil Murphy said the majority of the deaths were people caught in