Tropical Storm Franklin makes landfall with major flood threats to Dominican Republic and Haiti

Tropical Storm Franklin brings torrential rain to Dominican Republic and Haiti on Wednesday

Crews work to clear mud and debris from California roads after Storm Hilary

Tropical Storm Franklin was moving inland from the southern coast of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, bringing torrential rains to the country and neighboring Haiti.

Tropical Storm Harold, which had formed only hours before Franklin, was downgraded to a depression after making landfall in south Texas on Tuesday. The system has since crossed into northern Mexico where it was threatening the region with heavy rains.

The cyclones, which scientists say are being supercharged by the impacts of the climate crisis, are part of a record-breaking pattern unfolding in the Atlantic.

Aside from Harold and Franklin, two other systems formed in the Atlantic - Emily and Gert - in 39 hours, making it the fastest time on record for four named Atlantic storm formations, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University Meteorologist.

This weekend, Tropical Storm Hilary wreaked havoc across Mexico, California and Nevada. Hilary, which caused one death in Mexico, was the first tropical storm to hit California in almost a century and deluged cities including Los Angeles and San Diego, leading to widespread flooding and mudslides.

Key points

• Storm Hilary brings a year’s worth of rain to Death Valley
• Storm Hilary to batter Oregon and Idaho after flooding California
• Texas braces for flooding as Tropical Storm Harold barrels towards state
• Rescuers drive bulldozer through mud to reach senior citizens stuck in California care home

[21 August 2023 20:45 · Louise Boyle]

Climate crisis 'supercharging' tropical storms

Tropical Storm Hilary is hammering swathes of California with “life-threatening” floods after making landfall in Mexico on Sunday.

Forecasters warned that a year’s worth of rainfall could swamp the region in a matter of days during the first tropical storm system to hit California in almost a century.

The impacts of the downpours were becoming apparent on Monday: officials in Palm Springs announced that the city had been completely cut off by flooding.

In Los Angeles, The Dodgers baseball stadium was marooned by water as the city’s mayor warned that it could still “get much worse”.

Tropical storms and hurricanes are being “supercharged” by the human-caused climate crisis, according to non-profit Climate Signals, and this year are receiving an extra boost of heat from El Nino, a recurring weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean.

Climate scientists have discovered that not only is the global heating from fossil-fuel burning causing cyclones to pop up in unexpected locations but they are also more rapidly intensifying and producing more rain - leading to a greater toll on people, property and infrastructure.

[21 August 2023 21:00 · Gustaf Kilander]

VIDEO: Southern California deserts slammed by Hilary

[21 August 2023 21:15 · Gustaf Kilander]

Hilary bringing rain to Northwest and British Columbia wildfires

[21 August 2023 21:30 · AP]

First tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years

The first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, Hilary dropped more than half an average year’s worth of rain on some areas, including Palm Springs, which saw more than 3 inches (8 centimeters) of rain by Sunday evening.

In September 1939, a tropical storm that roared into California ripped apart train tracks, tore houses from their foundations and capsized many boats, killing nearly 100 people on land and at sea.

[21 August 2023 22:00 · AP]

‘Continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding’ expected

The National Hurricane Center in Miami downgraded Hilary to a post-tropical storm in its early Monday advisory, but warned that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” was expected over portions of the southwestern U.S. on Monday. All coastal warnings were discontinued.

Forecasters warned of dangerous flash floods across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, and fire officials rescued 13 people from knee-deep water in a homeless encampment along the rising San Diego River. Meanwhile, rain and debris washed out some roadways and people left their cars stranded in standing water. Crews pumped floodwaters out of the emergency room at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.

[21 August 2023 22:30 · Gustaf Kilander]

VIDEO: Tropical Storm Hilary forces school closures

[21 August 2023 23:00 · AP]

Wettest day on record in San Diego

Sunday was the wettest day on record in San Diego, with 1.82 inches (4.6 centimeters), the NWS said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The previous record was on Aug. 17, 1977, when 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) of rain fell in the area post-Hurricane Doreen.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest school system, said all campuses would be closed on Monday, along with other districts across the region. San Diego schools postponed the first day of classes from Monday to Tuesday.

[21 August 2023 23:30 · AP]

Disturbance in Mexican Gulf has 80% chance of developing into tropical disturbance

The Palm Springs Police Department said in a statement Sunday that 911 lines were down and that in the event of an emergency, residents should text 911 or reach out to the nearest police or fire station.

As skies were clearing Monday in California, the National Weather Service warned of flooding underway in the Mount Charleston area west of Las Vegas. Forecasters said the threat for flooding in states farther north on Monday was highest across much of southeastern Oregon into the west-central mountains of Idaho “with record breaking precipitation” forecast for Monday morning.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center, meanwhile, were watching a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico that now has an 80% chance of developing into a tropical disturbance or tropical storm before reaching the western Gulf coastline on Tuesday. Forecasters urged people along the coast in northern Mexico and Texas to monitor the system, adding that tropical storm watches or warnings may be issued later Monday.

[22 August 2023 00:00 · Gustaf Kilander]

VIDEO: Tropical storm Hilary batters Mexico, California

[22 August 2023 00:45 · Gustaf Kilander]

Fox News attempts to pin Hilary on Biden