Storms & CAT

SPC issued an Enhanced Risk across parts of the middle Ohio Valley and a Slight Risk spanning the northern Plains and from eastern Illinois through Virginia and North Carolina.

NOAA reported on August 11, 2026 that the mainland US averaged 76.9 degrees Fahrenheit in July, about a tenth of a degree above the 1936 record, across 132 years of tracking.

A Caltech team led by geochemist François Tissot pulled 300-plus samples from 52 homes after the Eaton Fire and found lead tracking the smoke plume, at elevated levels more than seven miles from where anything burned.

Munich Re's first-half 2026 tally: $112B in total disaster losses, only $44B insured, a 60% protection gap.

Edison International's CEO told investors it's now "likely" the utility's equipment was associated with igniting the 2025 Eaton Fire, up from earlier "could have been" language, saying no other viable cause has surfaced.

The NWS preliminarily rated a July 27 tornado in northeastern Wisconsin an EF3 that stayed on the ground more than 20 minutes, damaging homes and businesses.

NOAA's outlook calls for a below-average 8 to 14 named storms and 1 to 3 major hurricanes as El Niño suppresses Atlantic activity.

Inside one week, FEMA issued fire-management assistance declarations for fires in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, and approved a second Texas emergency declaration (EM-3649) for the July flooding, on top of last week's major disaster declaration (DR-4879).

Severe storms and flooding hit South/Central Texas starting July 12: Kerr, Guadalupe, Travis, Williamson, and more.

A tropical depression ~110 miles south of Panama City may strengthen into Tropical Storm Bertha.

3,168,102 acres burned as of June 30 to 157% of the 10-year average.

Wildfire smoke and heat drove major-city air quality to the worst in the country (Chicago), with Colorado similarly degraded, hundreds of miles from any fire line.

Forecasters warned the wildfire threat across the U.S. West would climb Friday and stay dangerous into the weekend, with dry lightning over cured-out vegetation across Northern California a top ignition concern.