Weather

Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow

Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate reports: Punxsutawney Phil has spoken: Six more weeks of winter await us. The beloved groundhog took his position for the 137th time in Gobblers Knob Thursday. Phil also saw his shadow in 2022, giving us six more weeks of winter. 2023 now marks the 108th time Phil’s shadow has been seen since the tradition began in 1887. …

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Florida Safari Park Kills Escaped White Rhino [VIDEO]

Tampa’s ABC affiliate reports: A white rhinoceros was shot dead less than a day after it arrived at a Florida wildlife park last year, wildlife officials said. According to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the incident occurred Sept. 19 at Wild Florida, a gator and drive-thru safari park about 60 miles south of Orlando in …

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1300 Flights Canceled As Ice Storm Sweeps The South

NBC News reports: Nearly 1,300 flights within, to and from the United States were canceled Tuesday as an ice storm swept over parts of the South. The storm was concentrated in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, leaving the region hit the hardest with travel issues, with 374 flights canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to the online flight tracker …

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Northeast To See Subzero Arctic Blast This Weekend

AccuWeather reports: An intense blast of Arctic air will barrel into the Northeast later this week to deliver quite a cold shock to the Northeast and neighboring Canada, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. For example, in Boston, after a high near 40 on Thursday, temperatures there will dip to 10 below zero on Saturday morning. “At peak during the outbreak from late …

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NYC Breaks Record For Latest Snowfall Of Any Winter

AccuWeather reports: No white Christmas to set a festive mood in Rockefeller Center. No snow to greet New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square for the first full-blown celebration since the start of the pandemic. New York City has hardly looked like winter over the past couple of months due to a lack of snowfall. The Big Apple’s snowless streak …

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NYC Set To Break Record For Snowless Days Streak

AccuWeather reports: The longest snowless streak lasted 332 days and ended on Dec. 15, 2020. This season’s streak is currently up to 323 days as of Jan. 26. No snow has been measured in the Big Apple since March 9, 2022, when 0.4 of an inch fell. AccuWeather forecasters say that with no significant chances of snow in the forecast …

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2022 Climate Disasters Caused $165 Billion In Damage

NBC News reports: The United States experienced 18 extreme weather events last year that each caused at least $1 billion in damages, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Weather and climate disasters across the country resulted in more than $165 billion in damages in 2022, making it the third-costliest year on record, NOAA …

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California Sees Widespread Flooding, Evacuations

NBC News reports: Thousands of people in California were forced to flee their homes as severe weather continued to batter the state, leaving one person dead this week and a child missing, while tens of thousands of utility customers were still without power Tuesday morning. Moderate to heavy rains were expected to continue to hammer much of California on Tuesday …

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560K CA Homes Without Power After Severe Storms

Reuters reports: Torrential downpours and damaging winds left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses without power in California early on Sunday as the area braced for the next onslaught of severe weather. More than 560,000 homes were reported to be still without power as of 5AM. At least six people have died in the severe weather since New Year’s …

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CA Gov Declares Emergency Over “Bomb Cyclone”

Just in via press release: Working to protect Californians from the incoming winter storms, Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency throughout California to support the ongoing response to recent winter storms. The emergency proclamation supports emergency relief efforts including authorizing the mobilization of the California National Guard to support disaster response, directing Caltrans to request immediate assistance through …

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Buffalo Braces For Up To Another Foot Of Snow

The Guardian reports: Buffalo residents gathered around space heaters, hunted for cars buried in snow drifts and looked for more victims on Monday, after 28 people died in one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit western New York state. Up to 12 inches more snow could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, the National …

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Air Travel Chaos As Southwest Cancels Most Flights

The New York Times reports: Thousands of travelers were stranded at U.S. airports on Monday as a wave of canceled flights — many of them operated by Southwest Airlines — spoiled holiday plans and kept families from returning home during one of the busiest and most stressful travel stretches of the year. More than 3,700 flights in the United States …

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Blizzard Death Toll Now At 27 For Buffalo NY Area

The Associated Press reports: The death toll from a pre-Christmas blizzard that paralyzed the Buffalo area and much of the country has risen to 27 in western New York authorities said Monday as the region dug out from one of the worst weather-related disasters in its history. The dead have been found in their cars, homes and in snowbanks. Some …

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Buffalo Still Paralyzed After Record Blizzard [VIDEO]

Buffalo’s NBC affiliate reports: A glimmer of sunshine on Christmas Day provided Western New Yorkers with hope that the region is ready to dig itself out from the longest sustained blizzard in history. Not so fast, was the message from government officials. “It is not over,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Sunday. “I cannot overstate how dangerous conditions …

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Rescues Continue After Storm Buries Buffalo [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: The storm unleashed its full fury on Buffalo with hurricane-force winds causing whiteout conditions. Emergency response efforts were paralyzed. Three people died in the Buffalo area, including two who suffered medical emergencies in their homes and couldn’t be saved because emergency crews were unable to reach them amid historic blizzard conditions. Deep snow, single-digit temperatures and …

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Texas Gets Pollution Waiver Due To Power Grid Stress

The Texas Tribune reports: The U.S. Department of Energy has cleared the way for Texas power plants to pollute more than is usually allowed, such as by burning dirtier fuel oil instead of natural gas, to keep the electricity on through Christmas morning. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked for permission to exceed normal federal air quality restrictions after …

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Deep Freeze Breaks Xmas Eve Records In Much Of US

Reuters reports: An arctic blast that has gripped much of the United States this week, disrupting daily life and holiday travel for millions of Americans, was expected to produce the coldest Christmas Eve on record in many cities. Temperatures are forecast to top out on Friday at just 8 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 Celsius) in Pittsburgh, surpassing its previous all-time coldest …

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Over One Million Homes Without Power Due To Storm

Reuters reports: More than a million homes and businesses were without power on the U.S. East Coast, Midwest and Texas on Friday as winter storms battered much of the country, according to data from PowerOutage.us. Most outages were in North Carolina, with over 164,000 customers without power, followed by Virginia with over 92,000 and Connecticut with more than 89,000. The …

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NY Gov Declares Emergency Over “Bomb Cyclone”

The New York Post reports: Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency for the entirety of New York in preparation for the massive storm that’s forecast to wallop the northeast over the holiday weekend. The measure will go into effect at 6 a.m. Friday when Winter Storm Elliott — dubbed a “once-in-a-generation” weather event by the National …

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8000+ Flights Canceled As Holiday Storm Worsens

The Daily Beast reports: Airlines have canceled more than 5,000 flights for Thursday and preemptively nixed more than 3,200 for Friday as extreme winter weather sweeps the nation right before Christmas, according to tracking website FlightAware, spelling trouble for people trying to rush home for the holidays. Airports in Chicago and Denver have been hit hardest, with around 25 percent …

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