Dangerous Heat Builds and Expands; Critical Fire Weather for the Southwest; Severe Thunderstorms for Plains and Midwest

Dangerous to record breaking heat will build across the center of the nation and slowly build eastward this week. Wildfire conditions remain critical for the Southwest and portions of the Great Basin through Monday. For the northern Plains and upper Midwest, severe thunderstorms with the potential for large to very large hail and severe winds are the primary hazards. Read More >

Hurricane Rita:
A Comparison of Winds and Storm Surge

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The Southwest Louisiana graphic shows the chronology of storm surge and surface winds as depicted by surface observations and river levels. Northeast winds prevailed before landfall with widespread tropical storm force winds (39 -73 mph) beginning mid afternoon Friday, September 23rd. At this time, strong northerly winds resulted in gradually falling river levels. About 6 PM, hurricane force winds (74 mph or greater) began pounding the immediate coastline and continued through the night. Storm surge waters reached the tide gage at the mouth of the Calcasieu River around 7 PM with a steady increase until the gage failed around midnight. The rest of the inland river gages began rising after midnight and continued until early afternoon on Saturday. Storm surge waters 10-15 feet MSL impacted the Southwest Louisiana coastline. Actual flood levels can be obtained by subtracting property elevations above sea level.

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Dangerous Heat Builds and Expands; Critical Fire Weather for the Southwest; Severe Thunderstorms for Plains and Midwest

Hurricane Rita 2005