It is a week of extreme weather in the US
The first 24 hours of rains associated with the Alberto system have been a little over 10 miles long, according to the National Weather Service
Alberto drenched coastal Texas as it made its way to Mexico on Wednesday, soaking numerous Deep South cities with between 2 and 5 inches of rain. It became a tropical depression when it made landfall in Mexico.
Alberto has maximum sustained winds near 40 miles per hour, extending as far as 415 miles north of its center, according to the NHC. It is moving west at about 9 miles per hour, and expected to accelerate before reaching the coast of northeastern Mexico early Thursday morning.
The area was already experiencing some heavier rains associated with the system, with 6 to 8 inches of rain predicted across the southern coastal bend, according to the NWS.
Texas Public Radio reports that emergency management officials in Corpus Christi distributed sandbags to residents on Tuesday, in time for the winds and heavy rainfall that began early Wednesday, before Alberto even got its name.
The National Weather Service office for Austin and San Antonio said the first bands of rain associated with Alberto had reached the coast before 7:30 a.m. local time and were moving inland, with rain expected to impact the I-35 corridor by early afternoon.
“But we still got at least another 24 hours of relatively hazardous conditions,” he said. “So make sure you have multiple ways to get emergency information.”
The Rancho Santa Fe Wildfires on Wednesday night: Los Angeles and Ventura County officials confirmed two deaths and destroyed buildings in Ruidoso, Mexico
In addition they have made progress in containing the Post Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura County which has burned more than 15,000 acres since Saturday and is 47% contained as of Thursday.
Member station KQED reports that climate experts are warning of a busy California wildfire season, especially in September and October when conditions are even drier.
It was said that the storm surge flooded the city of Surfside Beach, but no injuries were reported. No one showed up at the emergency shelters so the city quickly closed them.
In Mexico, however, Alberto was deadly. The state of Nuevo Len has confirmed three deaths from the storm, including a man who died in a river and two children who died from electric shocks.
The next possible storm in the western Atlantic is currently being watched by forecasters, as the rains and wind associated with Alberto are expected to abate on Thursday.
The area of low pressure could become a tropical depression before hitting the coast of Georgia or northeast Florida on Friday.
Thunderstorms on Wednesday night brought flash flooding, mudslides and a massive dust storm known as a haboob to parts of the state. The weather will continue through Friday, and it is not certain how much help will be given to the fires.
Lujan Grisham called it “one of the most devastating fires in New Mexico history,” according to member station KUNM. She said that there will be more than 200 firefighters on the scene of the larger of the two fires.
And they confirmed that two people had been killed, a 60-year-old man found by the side of the road near a motel and another unidentified person in the driver’s seat of a burned vehicle — both in or near Ruidoso, the village between the two fires. Some 8,000 Ruidoso residents remain under evacuation orders.
The fires were completely out by Wednesday night. Officials said then that the blazes had damaged some 1,400 structures, including 500 believed to be homes.
Source: Heat and snowfall, rain and wildfires. It’s a week of extreme weather in the U.S
State of Emergency for the Salt Fire, South Fork Fire and High-Energy Grisham Winter Storms in New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency early Tuesday for regions impacted by the Salt Fire and South Fork Fire, which alighted the previous day and have since burned more than 23,000 acres — a combined area larger than the size of Manhattan.
The ski mountain of high elevation, including the Showdown, was hit with snow. The last day of spring, Wednesday, saw record breaking as the cold front continued to affect the state.
The U.S. is experiencing a number of extreme and varied weather events at once, from the prolonged heat wave scorching the Northeast to the deadly wildfires blazing in New Mexico to the tropical storm drenching Texas’ Gulf Coast.
The heat domes can last for a short period of time. As a result of climate change, more and more storms and droughts are becoming more common and intense.
Parts of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont, among others, shattered temperature records, some that stood for more than 100 years.
Everyone is urged to take precautions, especially people without air conditioning, because forecasters say record warm overnight temperatures will prevent natural cooling.
The temperature is predicted to rise in the western part of the country on Thursday and Friday before hitting the triple digits in California’s Central Valley and Great Basin over the weekend.
Parts of Montana and Idaho were under a winter storm warning, while nearly a million residents of the West are under a winter weather or frost advisory.
