Arctic Plunge, Then Weekend Storm, to Lash Southeast Coast With High Surf, Rip Currents, Flooding

Strong winds, high surf, rip currents, coastal flooding and beach erosion will add up to a prolonged nuisance along parts of the Southeast coast through this weekend.

This coastal threat will occur in two rounds.The first round will take place in the wake of a powerful arctic front on track to set hundreds of mid-November cold records in the U.S.

Behind that front, strong northeast winds will howl over the Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. coast Tuesday night through Thursday.

These onshore winds will whip up waves and push them toward the coast from the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina and southeast Virginia to Florida's Atlantic beaches. In addition, the full moon Tuesday will make higher tides higher and lower tides lower as the pull of gravity from the sun and moon combine on Earth's oceans.The high tide of peak concern appears to be Wednesday morning, with moderate coastal flooding possible in both downtown Charleston, South Carolina, and near Tybee Island, Georgia. 

Minor flooding is possible along the northeast Florida coast and St. Johns River Basin, according to the National Weather Service.Beginning Friday, forecast models have an interesting setup along the East Coast.Strong high pressure will settle into the Northeast behind a reinforcing Canadian cold front. At the same time, low pressure is expected to develop somewhere near or off the Southeast coast. These two features could hang in place for a few days.The contrast between the high and low pressure systems will again drive persistent strong winds near the Southeast coast.Strong winds blowing over the ocean for a long time will generate significant waves. The waves will be pushed toward the coast from Florida at least to the Virginia Tidewater this weekend, generating more high surf, rip currents and coastal flooding.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2019-11-11-east-coast-high-surf-rip-currents-coastal-flooding

This week's Arctic blast will be so cold, forecasters expect it to break more than 300 records across US

Don your jackets and mittens, East Coasters. You're going to need them.

The next five to seven days won't just be cold -- they'll be record-breaking.

That's according to data from the National Weather Service, which predicts more than 300 record cold temperatures could be tied or set from Monday to Wednesday.

It's all part of the Arctic blast that's hitting the East Coast, bringing the coldest air of the season to the eastern two-thirds of the country. On Monday, temperatures are expected to plummet in the Great Plains before moving farther east on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lows Monday night into Tuesday morning will be more like January temperatures across the Central US. Readings below zero are forecast for parts of Minnesota and temperatures down into the teens are forecast for as far south as Texas.

On Wednesday, almost 100 record lows could be set from the Deep South to the Northeast.

Some places in the East could experience temperatures on Wednesday afternoon that are up to 30 degrees below average, said CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward.

Freeze watches and warnings extend as far south as Florida.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/11/us/record-arctic-blast-weather-trnd/index.html

Calmer Weather Pattern Coming to U.S. After Snow, Record Cold, Wildfires and Severe Storms

Weather conditions in the United States will turn calmer this weekend from coast to coast after what has been an active final week of October.

Consider the wide-ranging weather impacts we've seen in parts of the country during the past seven days:

• Three bouts of dangerous fire weather conditions in California since last Thursday.
• Two rounds of early season snow from the Rockies into the Plains and Midwest Sunday through Thursday.
• All-time October record cold in parts of the West and adjacent Plains.
• Severe thunderstorms and flooding rain in the East on Halloween.
• Wind damage from former Tropical Storm Olga in an area from southeastern Louisiana to the Ohio Valley.

The weather pattern across the nation won't have any of these kind of impacts beginning later Friday and continuing through the weekend.

A broad southward plunge of the jet stream will be in place from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes. Rippling through that band of strong upper-level winds will be a couple of weather disturbances.

But those disturbances won't have much luck tapping into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That's because cool, dry air will cover much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation.

What that means is there will be little precipitation across the United States through the weekend.

This all kicks off Friday, when much of the nation will be dry except for a few patchy areas of light snow in the upper Midwest and some lingering rain in South Florida.

Saturday's forecast has just a few rain or snow showers in the Great Lakes, as well as scattered rain showers in parts of the Florida Peninsula. The rest of the country should remain dry.

https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2019-10-31-calmer-weather-pattern-returns-united-states

Strong Santa Ana Winds Stoke the Maria Fire in Southern California

Strong Santa Ana winds howled through parts of Southern California Thursday, creating yet another round of dangerous fire weather conditions and fueling a fast-moving fire in Ventura County on Thursday night.

Red flag warnings for the fire danger were posted by the National Weather Service in parts of Southern California. The NWS said a red flag warning in effect for wind-prone parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties would continue through Friday.

A new fire, the Maria Fire, started in Ventura County just southeast of Santa Paula about 6:30 p.m. local time Thursday night, CBS Los Angeles reported. As of 11 p.m., the fire had already burned more than six square miles and was spreading rapidly, according to Cal Fires.Mandatory evacuations covered a large area late Thursday night west of the fire, across the Santa Clara River from Santa Paula and north of Camarillo.

About 1800 structures and 7500 residents were within the mandatory evacuation zone that existed as of 11 p.m., according to the Ventura County Fire Department.Winds gusted to 48 mph at Oak Mountain in Los Angeles County on Thursday, and relative humidity plummeted toward the single digits. Gusts hit 52 mph on Happy Camp Road in the Ventura County mountains.

"These winds will result in a significant threat for large fast-moving fires and wind damage (like downed trees, power lines and broken signs or overhangs)," warned the Oxnard/Los Angeles NWS forecast office.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2019-10-28-california-wildfire-danger-forecast

Snowstorm to Blanket Rockies, Plains and Midwest as October Comes to a Close

Another round of snow will sweep from the Rockies to the Plains and Midwest as a cold weather pattern grips those regions in the final days of October.

A southward plunge of the jet stream from the Rockies into the central United States has entrenched a pipeline of arctic air over those regions. An area of low pressure will tap into that cold air and produce a stripe of snowfall from the Rockies to the Plains and Midwest.

The Weather Channel has named this system Winter Storm Bessie.Moderate to heavy snow has moved into the Denver metro area for the Tuesday morning commute.

Denver International Airport had already picked up 2 inches of snow between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. MDT.

Tuesday-Tuesday Night

Snowfall from this system on Tuesday will mostly be in parts of northern Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and the High Plains of Nebraska and Kansas.

Snow will continue in Denver much of the day. Roads are expected to be snow-covered and slippery for the Tuesday morning and evening commutes, so plan accordingly.

Overnight, the snowfall and some freezing drizzle will expand south and east toward the Texas Panhandle, much of Kansas, southern Nebraska, northern Missouri and northwest Illinois.

Wednesday

An area from the Colorado High Plains and the Texas Panhandle northeastward through Kansas, southern Nebraska, northern Missouri, southern Iowa and northwest Illinois could see light to moderate snowfall during the daytime.

Snow will wind down in the Rockies early Wednesday.

The heaviest snow from this storm will be in the mountains and adjacent High Plains of Colorado. Denver could pick up another 6 to 12 inches of snow Tuesday into Tuesday night.

The snowfall forecast in the Plains and Midwest is still somewhat uncertain and will depend on how much moisture from the storm system overlaps into the cold air.

At least light to moderate accumulations are possible from the Texas Panhandle and northwestern Oklahoma into Kansas, southern Nebraska, northern Missouri, southern Iowa, northern Illinois and northern Lower Michigan. Most areas will see less than 6 inches of snowfall through Thursday.

https://weather.com/storms/winter/news/2019-10-28-two-rounds-of-snow-rockies-plains-midwest-late-october

Severe weather, tornado rocks Mid-South early Monday morning

Counties across the Mid-South were under severe weather alerts Monday as storms rolled through the area during the early morning hours.

The National Weather Service issued both Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings for counties in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The National Weather Service said preliminary information indicated an EF-1 tornado in Tyronza, Arkansas, blowing off part of the elementary school’s roof. The mayor says Tyronza will have a 9 p.m. curfew tonight.

At one point Monday morning there were at least three Tornado Warnings in the immediate Memphis metro area.

The city of Memphis’s Office of Emergency Management said Parkway Village, Fox Meadows and Balmoral all sustained heavy damage.

More than 43,000 customers were without power in Memphis, MLGW reported around noon due to downed trees, broken poles and downed wires across the city. They said approximately 85 percent of customers should be back up and running by midnight tonight.

After-school activities and after-care were canceled at seven Shelby County Schools Monday evening due to power outages: Balmoral-Ridgeway Elementary, Evans Elementary, Goodlett Elementary, Knight Road Elementary, Oakhaven Elementary, Ridgeway Middle and Westhaven Elementary.Power was out at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, about 155 miles northwest of Little Rock. The airport says flights were still departing, though security screenings were being done manually.The storms also caused damage in Oklahoma and Missouri.

https://wreg.com/2019/10/21/tornado-watch-issued-for-several-mid-south-counties/

Severe storms and flooding hit south of France

Nine departments in the south of France remain on orange alert for rainstorms and floods, after severe flooding has already caused campsites to be evacuated, and posed serious danger to livestock.

The departments of Aude, Aveyron, Gard, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Vaucluse are still on orange alert - the second-most severe level - for heavy rain and flooding, with the coastal departments at risk of high, flooding waves.

The tiny border country of Andorra is also on alert.

Forecaster Météo France described the weather as a “Mediterranean episode in progress”, which was moving from the Occitanie region, and was expected to be over Provence and the Côte d’Azur by the afternoon today (Wednesday October 23).

The alert is expected to be in place until midnight.

Interior minister Christophe Castaner called for residents to “take the greatest care, and respect guidelines” from local authorities.

Heavy rain has already caused flooding in the Aude, Hérault, Ardèche, and Pyrénées-Orientales departments, with two campsites requiring evacuation of all guests to a nearby gymnasium, roads cut off, and livestock washed away.

The worst of the weather hit in the early hours of this morning, with violent electric storms arriving overnight.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Severe-storms-and-flooding-hit-south-of-France-aas-Meteo-France-issues-orange-alert

Dallas Tornado a Reminder the Fall Second Severe Weather Season Is Here

Spring draws much of the attention when it comes to damaging tornadoes, but as Sunday night's destructive tornadoes and storms in the South show, fall is also notorious for an uptick in tornado activity.

The Dallas metro area suffered major tornado damage Sunday night, and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee saw damaging severe storms as well.Although it may seem unusual, October is the 3rd most tornadic month of the year in Dallas County. Not including Sunday night, there are 11 confirmed tornadoes in Dallas County during the month of October (1880-2018), according to the National Weather Service. Only April (23) and May (24) have had more tornadoes there.

The atmosphere can become unstable in the fall as cold fronts and jet stream winds become stronger and interact with warm, moist air. That allows severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hail, and sometimes tornadoes, to develop.

Most of the time, the second-season tornado outbreaks happen in the South where warm and moist air is more common, but they can sometimes spread farther north.

https://weather.com/safety/tornado/news/2019-10-21-fall-second-peak-for-severe-weather-tornadoes

Nestor heads into Georgia after tornados damage Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Nestor raced across Georgia as a post-tropical cyclone late Saturday, hours after the former tropical storm spawned a tornado that damaged homes and a school in central Florida while sparing areas of the Florida Panhandle devastated one year earlier by Hurricane Michael.

The storm made landfall Saturday on St. Vincent Island, a nature preserve off Florida's northern Gulf Coast in a lightly populated area of the state, the National Hurricane Center said.

Nestor was expected to bring 1 to 3 inches of rain to drought-stricken inland areas on its march across a swath of the U.S. Southeast. Forecasters said it also was raising an overnight threat of severe weather in the Carolinas as it continued to speed toward the Atlantic Ocean.

While all tropical storm and surge warnings had been cancelled by Saturday afternoon in Florida, the storm escalated weekend threats of possible twisters and severe thunderstorms elsewhere in the South.

The storm spun off at least three tornadoes in Florida as it moved north through the Gulf that caused damage.

Another suspected tornado in southwest Florida damaged at least a dozen homes in Cape Coral, some severely, the police department said in a statement. No injuries were reported. Another tornado was reported in Pinellas County, producing minor damage at a mobile home park.

In Georgia, remnants of the storm spread heavy rains and triggered two National Weather Service warnings of potential twisters in the state's south on Saturday evening. Radar indicated possible tornados separately in areas around Rhine and Vienna, Georgia. But there was no immediate confirmation of any tornadoes and no injuries or damages were reported.

https://www.cp24.com/world/nestor-heads-into-georgia-after-tornados-damage-florida-1.4646194

A life-threatening situation’: Dallas tornado devastates homes, leaves thousands without power

A tornado and several violent thunderstorms tore through the Dallas area Sunday night, destroying homes and businesses, lifting debris at least three miles in the air and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

The severe storms, featuring 70 mph winds, heavy rain, lightning and half-dollar-sized hail, left 65,000 people without power Sunday night, according to Oncor, the state’s largest utility company.“Damage is significant in the areas where the tornado touched down,” Oncor tweeted.

The city of Dallas said there are no reports of fatalities, but first responders were working overnight to check on residents in a door-to-door search, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Rocky Vaz, director of the Dallas Office of Emergency Management, told The Washington Post three people had been hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries related to the storm. Vaz added that six people also suffered noncritical injuries after an 18-wheeler overturned.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/21/dallas-tornado-preston-hollow-oncor-outages/

Wildfire Threat Diminishes for Parts of California; Thousands Remain Under Evacuation Order

The red flag fire warnings that had blanketed much of California earlier in the week have been lifted for many parts of the state, although evacuations remained in effect for areas where two deadly wildfires were still burning Saturday.

Of the estimated 738,000 homes and businesses that had electricity cut off by Pacific Gas & Electric as the fire threat intensified Wednesday, 98% had their power restored by Friday night, the utility said in a press release. Only about 13,000 remained without power.

At least two deaths were being blamed on the fires, and news reports said a separate death may be connected to the widespread power outages in California this week.

Flames from the Saddleridge Fire, which started about 9 p.m. local time Thursday in Sylmar, crossed over the 210 Freeway and later the 5 Freeway. Both highways were closed because of smoke. Interstate 405 was closed at State Road 118, and the 14 Freeway also closed.The fire spread to about 12 square miles in the northern foothills of the San Fernando Valley. It was and was 19% contained by Saturdya morning. The Los Angeles Fire Department deemed the fire a "Major Emergency," the highest classification there is for a fire emergency.At a news conference Friday, Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas blamed the fire for the death of a man who died of a heart attack overnight. Terrazas said one firefighter had a slight eye injury.

Officials ordered mandatory evacuations for more than 23,000 homes in the Porter Ranch, Granada Hills and Oakridge Estates neighborhoods. The order covers about 100,000 people, officials said.

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Hurricane Season Is Not Over Yet: Multiple Areas Are Being Monitored for Tropical Development in the Week Ahead

The Atlantic hurricane season typically begins to quiet down the deeper we head into October, but a few areas in the Atlantic Basin are now being monitored for development in the week ahead – a reminder that the hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.A vigorous tropical wave, accompanied by a well-defined low-pressure system, has emerged over the far eastern Atlantic Ocean after exiting the western coast of Africa on Sunday. Showers and thunderstorms are showing signs of organization, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said environmental conditions are conducive for a tropical depression to form within the next few days as the disturbance moves northwestward toward the Cabo Verde Islands. This system has been dubbed Invest 94L by the NHC. Invest is a naming convention used by meteorologists to identify areas that are under investigation for possible tropical development.

Eastern Pacific Also Bears Watching

A broad area of low pressure a couple of hundred miles southwest of the Baja California Peninsula is producing a large area of showers and thunderstorms.

The NHC has given this system a medium chance of development, and a tropical depression could form by Sunday night. However, it's predicted to move over cooler waters and run into stronger upper-level winds by Monday, a combination of factors which could cause it to weaken or dissipate.

Regardless of development, this system is forecast to produce heavy rain across the southern Baja California Peninsula into Monday.

Another broad area of low pressure off the Pacific coast of Central America has been highlighted by the NHC for a high chance of development in the next five days. It's currently producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

Gradual development is expected, and a tropical depression could form by midweek as it moves west-northwestward just off the southeastern coast of Mexico.

Depending how close this second system tracks in relation to Mexico's coast, locally heavy rain and gusty winds could be a threat along parts of the coastline in the week ahead.

California city hit by series of weird weather events, including tornado and hail

Weird weather struck Davis, California, over the weekend. The area experienced a tornado touchdown, pounding hail and record low morning temperatures.The tornado caused a bit of excitement, but apparently no damage.Shasta Fields told CNN that she and her boyfriend, Tom Nolan, came close to the twister. In video posted on Twitter, Nolan, an amateur storm chaser, can be heard yelling, "Look at you, you are beautiful," as the tornado starts to form.The National Weather Service of Sacramento issued a tornado warning at 6:39 p.m. PT on Saturday for a thunderstorm to the north of Davis, and advised people to take shelter. A University of California at Davis atmospheric student reported seeing the tornado touch down at 6:41 p.m. to the east of Highway 101A and Highway 27, the NWS said, adding that no damage was reported.CNN Weather producer Robert Shackelford said the tornado was much weaker than Midwestern tornadoes typically are. "California sees about 10 tornadoes a year, so this is rather rare for the area," he said. "They are more likely to see tornadoes in the winter and spring, but it isn't uncommon to see tornadoes in the fall." A little bit before the tornado, heavy hail fell on the Davis area. Again, no damage was immediately reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/29/us/davis-california-tornado-trnd/index.html

Wintry weather knocks out power for 2,000 homes, drops record snow Saturday night

As much as 3 inches of snow sat on the ground in parts of the Spokane area Sunday morning after wintry weather downed trees and knocked out power for more than 2,000 homes throughout the Inland Northwest.

The National Weather Service recorded 1.9 inches of snow at the Spokane International Airport on Saturday, setting new daily and monthly records. It was the first measurable September snowfall in Spokane since 1926.

Another 1.3 inches of snow fell between midnight and 6 a.m. at the airport, setting another daily record, according to the weather service. Overnight temperatures reached a low of 32 degrees, with a wind chill as low as 21 degrees at 1 a.m. when the wind was blowing at about 16 mph.

The extreme weather left about 730 Avista customers without power as of 4:45 p.m. Sunday after crews restored power to more than 2,000 homes overnight, the utility said on Twitter. About 700 of those homes were in the Colville area, where as much as 16 inches of snow fell overnight.

Kootenai Electric said close to 100 customers were affected by an outage in North Idaho at 9 a.m., KHQ reported. No outages were reported as of 11 a.m.

Stevens County dispatchers started receiving reports shortly after 11 a.m. that Verizon voice and data services were down for central and northern areas of the county, said Rick Anderson, the county’s 911 coordinator.

Anderson said sheriff’s deputies were unable to use their laptops in their patrol vehicles because they use Verizon to connect to the internet.

It was not clear if the outage was weather-related or when the issue would be resolved, Anderson said late Sunday afternoon.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/sep/29/wintery-weather-knocks-out-power-for-2000-homes-dr/

Could Karen Take Another Weird Loop Toward the U.S. Like Hurricane Jeanne Did 15 Years Ago?

Tropical Storm Karen has an uncertain, strange future ahead, and one possibility is a loopy track eerily reminiscent of Hurricane Jeanne, one of the big hurricanes of 2004.

Karen is currently gliding northward, but its forward speed is expected to come to a halt late this week.This can happen when large-scale features such as the Bermuda-Azores high weaken, leaving the storm without any appreciable steering winds for a period of time.

Stalled tropical cyclones with weak steering winds are among the most difficult scenarios for computer models to forecast correctly.

Even with less hostile shearing winds and warm ocean water, Karen could succumb to dry air and fizzle in or near the Bermuda Triangle.

For now, Karen is expected to begin moving west this weekend as high pressure responsible for a prolonged early-fall heat wave rebuilds over the eastern U.S. and western Atlantic Ocean and becomes the system's steering wheel.

But that doesn't mean it would be able to make the entire journey west toward the Bahamas or Southeast U.S. without falling apart.

The bottom line is that it's too soon to determine the path and intensity of Karen.

In September 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne moved through the Caribbean. Its slow movement caused catastrophic flooding and landslides in Haiti and killed more than 3,000 people.

Hobbled by land interaction with Hispañiola, Jeanne temporarily lost its atmospheric steering wheel.

This was due largely to Hurricane Ivan, which made landfall along the northern Gulf Coast and eroded Jeanne's steering high pressure to its north.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-09-24-karen-strange-loop-jeanne-2004

Severe weather: Strong tornadoes, very large hail possible in southern Minnesota

UPDATE 8 A.M. 

This is the latest severe weather risk from the Storm Prediction Center, which is slightly different from the map shown in the original blog posting. The orange area has the highest chance of seeing nasty storms. A late-September severe weather event is appearing more and more likely Tuesday as a strong cold front is forecast to move through Minnesota. 

"Tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind are all possible late this afternoon and evening across much of the area," says the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities. "The greatest threat, including for some strong tornadoes, will be from south central and southeast MN into WI. Hail larger than golf balls is also possible."

Minnesotans will experience cool, dry air in the morning but that will quickly change as moisture surges into the area, with dewpoints rising close to 70 by the afternoon. That will set the stage for explosive storm development during the afternoon and evening hours. 

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-weather/severe-weather-strong-tornadoes-very-large-hail-possible-in-southern-minnesota

The highest rainfall totals from Tropical Storm Imelda across southeast Texas

It's been less than a week, and Texans are still reeling from the effects of Tropical Storm Imelda, with many homeowners beginning to asses the damage caused by floodwaters.Imelda dumped more than 40 inches of rain in some parts of the Lone Star State. She has been compared to one of the most devastating natural disasters to wreck the Texas coast - Hurricane Harvey.Before the storm moved across Houston on Wednesday and Thursday, it had already dropped 22 inches of rain in 48 hours in Sargent, Texas. By the time it began drizzling across the Bayou City, many had let their guards down, assuming the worst of the storm had passed.But by Thursday, Imelda began to truly show her wrath, dropping several inches across Houston and the southeast Texas region, leaving many stranded on roadways, inside flooded homes and five unfortunate souls dead. Parts of Interstate 10 were shut down after floodwaters made the roadways impassable, one small town was completely flooded, and first responders worked around the clock overnight to rescue stranded motorists and homeowners.Texans will be picking up the pieces left by this storm, as well as the last, for many years to come.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/The-highest-rainfall-totals-Tropical-Storm-Imelda-14461306.php#photo-18293184

Tropical Depression Karen to Impact Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands Early This Week; Tropical Storm Warnings Issued

Tropical Depression Karen will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands early this week, but it's too soon to know if it will eventually affect any other land areas, including the mainland United States.

Karen is centered more than 100 miles south of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is moving north-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Tropical-storm-force winds (39-plus mph), especially in gusts, are expected in these areas by early Tuesday morning. Winds could be stronger on the windward sides of hills and mountains.Karen is forecast to track northward toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, where heavy rain and tropical-storm-force winds can be expected Tuesday into Wednesday. No significant intensification is expected since Karen is battling wind shear and dry air.

Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches (locally, up to 8 inches) are possible in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands through Wednesday.

The rainfall could trigger flash flooding and mudslides in parts of those islands, particularly in mountainous terrain. A flash flood watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The bottom line is that the forecast for Karen remains highly uncertain beyond late this week. It's too early to know whether Karen could eventually affect the mainland United States or the Bahamas late in the weekend or early next week.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-09-22-tropical-storm-karen-forecast-caribbean-puerto-rico

'They're forming like roaches.' The 6 tropical storms whirling at once have tied a record

Sure, it's the middle of hurricane season. But this is ridiculous.

The six named storms whirling at once this week in the Atlantic and Pacific hit a record first set in 1992, forecasters reported.

"While Humberto and Kiko were spinning in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, four new tropical cyclones formed Tuesday: Imelda and Jerry in the Atlantic Basin, and Mario and Lorena in the Eastern Pacific Basin," the Weather Channel reported.

This combined number of active storms in both basins was believed to tie a modern record, set in September 1992, according to National Hurricane Center forecaster Eric Blake.

He tweeted Tuesday that "they are forming like roaches out there."

"It's not something that you see all the time, but not unheard of, either," said Weather Channel meteorologist Danielle Banks. 

According to the National Hurricane Center, there have been as many as five active Atlantic tropical cyclones at once, which occurred Sept. 10-12, 1971. In the eastern Pacific, on Aug. 26, 1974, there were five simultaneous named storms of at least tropical storm strength, Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University, told weather.com.

September is the peak month for hurricane and tropical storm activity in both the Atlantic and Pacific, NOAA reports. 

"In September, ocean temperatures are nearly at their yearly peak, and shearing winds that can rip apart tropical storms and hurricanes are typically at their lowest," the Weather Channel reported.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/19/hurricanes-tropical-storms-atlantic-pacific-set-record-kiko-humberto-jerry-imelda-mario-lorena/2373241001/

Tropical Storm Lorena Is Moving Over the Gulf of California and Will Increase Rainfall in U.S. Desert Southwest

Tropical Storm Lorena is bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to portions of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and northwestern Mexico will likely enhance rainfall in the Southwest U.S. early next week.

Lorena is moving northward over the Gulf of California and is moving toward northwestern Mexico.Lorena made landfall over the southeastern portion of Baja California Sur near La Ventana, Mexico, at 10:35 p.m. MDT Friday, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Sustained winds just below hurricane force and a minimum pressure of 986 millibars were observed near La Ventana when it was in the eye of the hurricane.

This landfall tore Lorena apart and hurricane hunters found a much weaker tropical storm over the Gulf of California Saturday afternoon.While Lorena won't have any direct impacts on the United States, it will send a surge of moisture into the Desert Southwest later this weekend, continuing into early next week.

In addition, an upper-level low associated with a southward dip in the jet stream will dive into the West early next week, prompting showers and thunderstorms.

https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2019-09-18-tropical-storm-hurricane-lorena-mexico-flash-flooding-forecast