Raleigh North Carolina News

Colorado State University’s meteorology department released an update to their 2024 hurricane season forecast this week. The update increased the forecast and calls for “an extremely active Atlantic hurricane season in 2024”. The updated CSU forecast calls for a well-above normal number of named storms (25 – that’s the whole list of names), more hurricanes than usual, and double the normal number of major hurricanes (category 3-5). This year’s updated forecast calls for an above-normal…

After a nearly two-week track from Africa to Texas, Beryl is no longer a tropical system. While some areas recover from its wrath, others breathe a temporary sigh of relief – emphasis on temporary. It’s already been a busy start to the season. We’ve reached ‘C’ in the alphabet of storms. On average, that doesn’t happen until early August. Tracking tropical progress A plume of Saharan dust will keep the main development region in the…

MATAGORDA, Texas (AP) — Beryl began lashing coastal Texas with rain and intensifying winds Sunday as residents boarded up windows, left beach towns under evacuation orders and prepared for the powerful storm that has already cut a deadly path through parts of Mexico and the Caribbean. Beryl remained a tropical storm late Sunday as it churned toward the middle Texas coast but was expected to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf…

TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl weakened slightly to a Category 2 storm as it headed for what could be a direct hit on Mexico’s Caribbean coast resort of Tulum early Friday, where authorities urged tourists to leave white sand beaches. Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic before weakening to a Category 2 storm with windspeeds of 110 mph (175 kph) as it neared landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, according to…

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl ripped off roofs in Jamaica, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and damaged or destroyed 95% of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines before rumbling toward the Cayman Islands and taking aim at Mexico’s Caribbean coast after leaving at least seven dead in its wake. What had been the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, weakened…

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Hurricane Beryl was roaring by Jamaica on Wednesday, with islanders scrambling to make preparations after the powerful Category 4 storm earlier killed at least six people and caused significant damage in the southeast Caribbean.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Early last week, floodwater in rural Minnesota pushed debris against a more than century-old dam and then carved a path around it, eroding so much of the riverbank that most of a house fell into the river. Several days later, intense rain damaged a dam that holds drinking water for Houston, forcing officials to issue a potential failure warning. “Something like this could happen, and it has happened, all over the…

Hurricane Beryl’s rapidly intensifying strength and early arrival are very rare for the Atlantic hurricane season – and a troubling indicator that this season will be far from normal in a world warming due to human-driven climate change. The storm has already shattered numerous records. On Sunday it became the earliest major hurricane – defined as one that is Category 3 or higher – in the Atlantic in 58 years. It’s the only hurricane to…

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters on Tuesday as a monstrous Category 5 storm on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after earlier making landfall in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least two people. A hurricane warning was in effect for Jamaica and a hurricane watch for Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Beryl was forecast to start losing intensity on Tuesday…

By Brian Murphy, WRAL The Centennial Authority, owner of PNC Arena, is expected Thursday to give final approval to a 20-year lease with the Carolina Hurricanes and an agreement for the organization to develop land around the arena. The 21-member Centennial Authority board called a special meeting for 10 a.m. The board will spend part of the meeting in a closed session to consult with attorneys “to review matters pertaining to the location or expansion…

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Hundreds of Iowa residents have needed rescue from record-setting flooding that has swamped parts of the state, covering buildings up to their rooftops, shutting down major roads, and disrupting basic services like electricity and drinking water. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said water in some areas rose above records from 1993, a flood many in the Midwest remember as the worst of their lives. Floodwaters were so powerful they pulled down a…

TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto rumbled toward northeast Mexico early Thursday as the first named storm of the season, carrying heavy rains that left three people dead but also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought. Mexican authorities downplayed the risk posed by Alberto and instead pinned their hopes on its ability to ease the parched region’s water needs. “The (wind) speeds are not such as to consider it…

WITN reports a county commissioner has been charged with causing a fire that threatened homes and charred more than 500 acres in Carteret County. The North Carolina Forest Service says Chris Chadwick, of Stacy, was charged with setting Sunday afternoon’s fire. They say the cause of the fire was a debris burn. Chadwick, 53, represents District 6 on the county commission. The Forest Service said the Morris Marina Road Fire is 90% contained and is…

Air travelers are still facing delays and cancellation across the U.S. in the wake of severe weather that hammered South Florida this week. The ripple effect is causing headaches for passengers nationwide. Amani Armstrong and Kyle Daquanna finally touched down after a long travel day. Their flight from Tampa was just one of many hours delayed due to the South Florida storms. “It’s like one after another after another. The one before us was late,”…

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A tropical disturbance has brought a rare flash flood emergency to much of southern Florida as residents prepared to weather more heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday’s downpours and subsequent flooding blocked roads, floated vehicles and delayed the Florida Panthers on their way to Stanley Cup games in Canada against the Edmonton Oilers. The disorganized storm system was pushing across Florida from the Gulf of Mexico at roughly the…