Raleigh North Carolina News

Tropical Storm Odette formed east of the Outer Banks on Monday is is racing northeast. Odette is expected to lose tropical characteristics Saturday afternoon or tonight as it moves to the northeast. First Alert Meteorologist Steve Stewart says there will be increased surf and the threat for rip currents will occur from North Carolina through Maine and farther north into Atlantic Canada through early next week.Odette will remain offshore of North America and begin to…

By The Associated Press THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Cooler weather on Friday helped crews trying to keep California wildfires away from a grove of gigantic ancient sequoias, including the world’s largest tree, the base of which had been wrapped in a fire-resistant material in case the flames reached it. Unlike raging wildfires that have burned vast swaths of the drought-stricken U.S. West this summer, the blazes in Sequoia National Park were not explosive. Flames were…

By The Associated Press MIAMI — Tropical Storm Odette formed off the mid-Atlantic coast Friday and is expected to weaken Saturday night as it approaches eastern Canada. Odette was traveling to the northeast at 15 mph (24 kph) Friday evening and was located about 225 miles (365 kph) southeast of Cape May, New Jersey, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). Swells generated by…

By NOAH BERGER and JOHN ANTCZAK, Associated Press THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Multiple forest fires on Thursday were threatening groves of gigantic sequoias in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains that are home to some of the world’s largest trees. Flames would likely reach the famous Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, where two fires have been burning since lightning ignited them on Sept. 9, according to a briefing for fire crews. It comes after a wildfire…

By SAM METZ, Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. — When a wildfire crested the mountains near North America’s largest alpine lake, embers and ash that zipped across a smoky sky pierced Lake Tahoe’s clear blue waters. The evacuation order for thousands to flee their homes has been lifted, but those who returned have found black stripes of ash building up on the shoreline — a reminder that success fighting the Caldor Fire won’t…

SPRING LAKE, N.C. (WTVD) — When Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina on Sept. 14, 2018, it was only the beginning of the destruction the storm would cause throughout the state. In the days and weeks that followed, flooding damaged an estimated 74,000 buildings throughout the state and led more than 140,000 residents to apply for disaster assistance, according to the final National Hurricane Center report. Three years later, flood victims still vividly remember…

We’ve already had 14 named storms, the average for an entire Atlantic hurricane season, even though there are still 77 days left. Hurricane Nicholas made landfall in Texas early Tuesday morning as the eighth landfalling storm for the United States. WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said, out of the 14 storms, five were hurricanes and three were major hurricanes. We are approaching the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2021 forecast for the Atlantic season, which predicted…

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press HOUSTON — Tropical Storm Nicholas slowed to a crawl over the Houston area Tuesday after making landfall earlier as a hurricane, knocking out power to a half-million homes and businesses and dumping more than a foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain along the same area swamped by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Nicholas could potentially stall over storm-battered Louisiana and could bring life-threatening floods across the Deep South over the coming…

HOUSTON — Hurricane Nicholas made landfall along the Texas coast on Tuesday, bringing the threat of up to 20 inches of rainfall to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana. Nicholas touched down on the eastern part of the Matagorda Peninsula, about 10 miles (17 kilometers) west southwest of Sargent Beach, Texas, with maximum winds of 75 mph (120 kph), according to the National…

MIAMI — Nicholas has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches Texas. The storm is likely to strike the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana. Although the system is expected to generate only a fraction as much rain as Harvey, nearly all of the state’s coastline was under a tropical storm warning that included potential flash floods and urban flooding. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state has…

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press HOUSTON — Tropical Storm Nicholas gathered strength Monday and threatened to blow ashore in Texas as a hurricane that could bring up to 20 inches of rain to parts of the Gulf Coast, including the same area hit by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and storm-battered Louisiana. Nearly all of the state’s coastline was under a tropical storm warning that included potential flash floods and urban flooding. Texas Gov. Greg…

By ARITZ PARRA, Associated Press MADRID — Firefighting crews near southern Spain’s Costa del Sol were hoping for much-needed rainfall Monday to help them extinguish a major wildfire that has ravaged 7,700 hectares (19,000 acres) in five days and forced the evacuations of 2,600 people. Authorities are describing the blaze in Sierra Bermeja, a mountain range in Malaga province, as an extreme “mega-fire” brought on by climate change — a catastrophic event that kill, blacken…

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Nicholas was moving up the Gulf Coast on Monday, threatening to bring heavy rain and floods to coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and storm-battered Louisiana. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Nicholas was strengthening, churning up top winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was traveling north-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph) on a forecast track to pass near the South Texas coast later Monday, then move onshore…

By The Associated Press MIAMI — Tropical Storm Nicholas headed toward the Texas coast Sunday night, threatening to bring heavy rain and floods to coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and storm-battered Louisiana. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said a hurricane watch was issued for the central portion of the Texas coast with much of the state’s coastline now under a tropical storm warning. Nicholas is expected to approach the middle Texas coast…

MIAMI — Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Tropical Storm Nicholas has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm warnings were issued for coastal Texas and the northeast coast of Mexico. Nicholas is expected to produce storm total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches 13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches, across portions of coastal Texas into southwest Louisiana on Sunday through midweek. Over the…