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    A Heat Wave Hits New York Earlier Than Usual for a Second Year in a Row

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    Climate change is increasingly making weather extremes more common.Scorching, record-breaking temperatures on Tuesday kept many people indoors throughout the metropolitan region, strained the electrical grid and stoked concerns among those who are the most vulnerable to the heat, including older New Yorkers and the very young.It was 99 degrees in Central Park this afternoon, the hottest June 24 temperature since records started there in 1869. Kennedy Airport recorded the hottest June day since the site was built in 1948, at 102 degrees.It is the second year in a row that a heat wave has hit the New York City region earlier than usual, as global warming is projected to worsen heat waves and make them more frequent, climate experts say.“Our warming climate underlies everything,” said David Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist and a geography professor at Rutgers University. “It’s not about the highest temperature; it’s about how long it stays hot and the area of coverage of that heat. It’s 100 up in New England today and down here as well.”Of the 69 weather stations in New Jersey, Mr. Robinson said, over 30 hit 100 degrees. He added that the 10 hottest summers on record for the state had all occurred since 2005.As climate change wreaks havoc with the traditional calendar, the familiar rhythms of the seasons have begun to shift. New York City pools, for example, are not scheduled to open for the summer until Friday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Primary Day, by the Numbers

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      Here’s what to know about the primary election for mayor and a number of other posts, which will take place on the hottest day of the year so far.Good morning. It’s a very hot Tuesday. We’ll get details on today’s Democratic primary.Supporters of Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo outside the second Democratic primary debate for the New York City mayoral race this month.Anna Watts for The New York TimesAt the end of a day like today, Primary Day in New York, it’s always about numbers.There’s the number of votes the winner won by.There’s the number of people who voted.And today, there’s also a number that election-watchers usually don’t watch: the temperature.With the city under an extreme heat warning until 8 tonight, it may hit 100. That is far warmer than the last time there was a primary for mayor, in 2021. That day, the high was a seasonable 78.This time around, the heat could affect the turnout in a race that could turn on whether former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s union supporters and paid staff members head off Zohran Mamdani’s volunteers.Here’s another number: 384,338.That’s the number of voters who don’t have to think about standing in a sweaty line at a polling site. They’ve already cast their ballots, having taken advantage of early voting, which ended on Sunday. (Here is yet another number: 78,442. That is how many voters checked in at polling places on Sunday, by far the busiest of the nine days of early voting.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Midwest Cities Bake as Heat Wave Blankets the Central U.S.

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      St. Louis, Omaha and Des Moines were among the cities that saw heat indexes rise toward triple digits, with similar temperatures expected on the East Coast by Monday.Dick Kraklow rolled into Minneapolis earlier this week with three generations of his family and several vintage vehicles in tow, excited for an annual gathering of the Minnesota Street Rod Association that celebrates classic cars.But instead of setting up on Saturday morning to display their collection, Mr. Kraklow, 42, and his family were loading up to drive back to Wisconsin. Several members of the group are in their late 70s, and the heat radiating off the asphalt at the state fairgrounds in St. Paul on Friday caused the family to change plans.“We love the show,” Mr. Kraklow, a welder from Muskego, Wis., said as his uncle angled a yellow 1957 Ford Thunderbird onto a trailer. But ultimately, he said, “It’s too hot.” Millions of Americans on Saturday faced sweltering conditions as a dangerous heat wave brought rising temperatures to the Midwest and Central Plains. By early afternoon, the National Weather Service reported that the heat index — a measure of how hot it feels that accounts for both heat and humidity — had hit 93 degrees in Minneapolis, 98 in Des Moines, 99 in Sioux Falls, S.D., and 105 in St. Louis. In Omaha, forecasters said that it would feel like it was 100 to 110 degrees this weekend — in the shade.The most extreme heat was expected to move east and south over the next several days. New York City, Washington and Philadelphia could all break 100 degrees on the heat index by the end of the weekend. Several cities could see heat records broken. Over the entire country, more than 64 million people were under an extreme heat warning.Climate scientists have found that climate change has made heat waves more common, more intense and longer lasting worldwide, though attributing a specific heat wave to climate change is tricky.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Windy Conditions Fan Forsyth Fire in Utah

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      The Forsyth fire in Utah threatened a small community in the state’s southwest corner. Farther west, the Conner fire burned rapidly near Lake Tahoe.A wildfire in southwestern Utah destroyed 17 homes, and threatened hundreds more, as it grew to more than 1,500 acres on Friday night, the authorities said.The blaze, known as the Forsyth fire, burned just north of St. George, a city near the state’s borders with Nevada and Arizona and about 30 minutes from Zion National Park. The damage was concentrated in Pine Valley, a community of just over 300 people about 40 minutes north of St. George.Hundreds of firefighters and other emergency personnel responded to Pine Valley on Thursday when the fire broke out, but a quick change in the winds on Friday led to the destruction of homes, Sheriff Nate Brooksby of Washington County said on Facebook.“The firefighters were shocked,” Sheriff Brooksby said. “I could see it in their eyes. They gave it all they had, and still lost to mother nature.”All the residents of Pine Valley had been ordered to evacuate and members of the public were advised to stay away until the fire was contained, the sheriff’s office said.Red flag winds, those averaging 15 miles per hour or greater during dry conditions, continue to drive the fire, according to Utah Fire Info, an interagency team for public information regarding wildfires.According to the agency, 150 personnel had been deployed to fight the fire and 400 structures remained under threat. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.About 500 miles west, in Douglas County, Nev., roughly 25 miles east of Lake Tahoe, the Conner fire exploded to almost 14,000 acres, from 2,000 acres on Friday.The fire started as a structure fire, according to the Bureau of Land Management of Nevada, spreading quickly in windy conditions as dry brush and grass fueled its growth.Resources from federal, state and local agencies from Nevada and California were responding to the fire and almost 500 emergency workers were involved in attempts to contain it. Evacuations had been ordered.Images shared on social media showed plumes of smoke from the Conner fire that were visible from Lake Tahoe, a popular vacation destination that straddles California and Nevada and is home to hiking trails, campgrounds and cabins.Wildfire risk remained high as large sections of the United States were expected to experience a heat wave over the weekend.According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sections of the country encompassing parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming were at critical risk of wildfires. More

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      Washington, DC, Forecast Shows Thunderstorms on Saturday

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      The weather could affect the military parade. Here’s the latest forecast.There is a significant chance of rain across the Washington, D.C., area on Saturday, the National Weather Service said, and thunderstorms late in the afternoon or evening could coincide with events near the National Mall to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.Thunderstorms can bring a variety of threats, including hail, lightning and damaging winds. Jeremy Geiger, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office that covers Baltimore and Washington, said the agency predicted up to an 80 percent chance of rain during the afternoon and evening.“I think it’s going to rain based on everything I’m seeing, but there is a small chance that it just misses parts of the District,” Mr. Geiger said on Saturday morning.Conditions are expected to be cloudy and humid for much of the day, with a high temperature of about 83 degrees Fahrenheit.Skies were cloudy on Saturday morning but conditions were dry. Scattered thunderstorms will come from northern Maryland as the day progresses, and it’s difficult to predict their exact trajectory and where the heaviest impact will be, Mr. Geiger said. “It could be anywhere within a 50-mile area from just south of D.C. up to Baltimore,” he said.Rainfall amounts are most likely to range from a half inch to 1.5 inches, but Mr. Geiger said there was a “reasonable worst-case scenario” of two to four inches, possibly even up to six inches, if the capital falls within the bull’s-eye of the heaviest thunderstorms.

      Forecast risk of severe storms for Saturday

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      Why TV Meteorologist John Morales’s Hurricane Plea Went Viral

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      A TV forecaster said he was not confident he could predict the paths of storms this year, touching a nerve amid concerns about how federal cuts could affect hurricane season.A meteorologist who has spent his career warning South Florida about hurricanes had a new warning for viewers last week: He’s not sure he can do it this year.John Morales of WTVJ in Miami said the Trump administration’s recent cuts to the National Weather Service could leave television forecasters like him “flying blind” this hurricane season. “We may not exactly know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline,” he warned.Clips of Mr. Morales’s comments have spread widely: one posted on MSNBC’s TikTok account has nearly 4,500 comments, and news outlets around the world have written articles about what he said. (This isn’t the first time Mr. Morales has been the subject of viral attention: In the fall, his emotional reaction to Hurricane Milton’s rapid intensification also hit a nerve.)Here’s what Mr. Morales had to say and more about what is going on with the Weather Service.He warned of less accurate forecasts.Mr. Morales’s presentation on Monday began with a clip of himself following the Category 5 Hurricane Dorian in 2019 as it moved over the Bahamas. He reassured his Florida viewers that the powerful storm would turn north before it reached their coastline. And it did, exactly when Mr. Morales assured anxious viewers it would.The clip cuts to him in present day, slightly older and now wearing glasses. He recalled the confidence he used to have in delivering an accurate forecast to his viewers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Severe Weather Expected Across Much of the U.S. on Saturday

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      Clusters of thunderstorms could kick up damaging winds in northern Mississippi and northern Alabama on Saturday.After a run of severe weather this week, another day of thunderstorm activity was on tap for the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast and the Southern Plains on Saturday, and the severe weather was expected to persist through the weekend, forecasters said.On Saturday, the threat will be focused over the Southeast, with the highest risk over northern Mississippi and northern Alabama, where clusters of thunderstorms could kick up powerful, damaging winds.When these clusters of thunderstorms become organized, they can “create their own environment and they become more powerful than a typical thunderstorm,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.There will also be a low threat of tornadoes on Saturday, “but the main threat will be wind and that will be across the northern half of Alabama and Mississippi,” he said.On Sunday, the highest area of risk shifts into the southern Plains, especially the Texas Panhandle into western-north Texas and southwest Oklahoma, where thunderstorms could deliver strong winds and large hail, with a moderate risk for tornadoes. Lubbock and Amarillo in Texas and Lawton, Okla., all fall within areas with an enhanced risk of thunderstorm activity.“I would say the best bet for tornadoes on Sunday would be the Texas Panhandle,” Mr. Kleebauer said. More

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      Rare Early June Rainfall Could Reach Phoenix

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      Measurable rainfall in the first week of June has only been recorded 21 times since 1896, according to weather records. The rain would be welcome after a winter of below-normal precipitation.A storm spinning off the coast of Baja California in Mexico on Saturday was poised to dive into the Southwest United States and drag with it remnants of post-tropical storm Alvin.This system, which is uncommonly wet for this time of year, will bring a rare chance for thunderstorms and brief heavy downpours to the region, especially to southeast California, southwest New Mexico and southern Arizona, including Phoenix, Sunday into Monday.The rain would be much welcome in an area with widespread drought conditions after a winter of below-normal precipitation.“For this time of year this is quite unusual,” said Mark O’Malley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Phoenix.The Weather Service’s official gauge for the Phoenix area is at Sky Harbor International Airport. It has recorded measurable rainfall in the first week of June on 21 occasions, with records going back to 1896.“Normal rainfall is zero,” Mr. O’Malley said of the first week in June.There’s a 75 percent chance the airport will record rain on Sunday afternoon or evening, with rainfall chances continuing into Monday.A thunderstorm or two could move over the airport and bring half an inch of rain, or the downpour could hit 10 miles west of the airport, and there would hardly be any rain.This unusual weather setup will bring a chance for rain and thunderstorms to most of the Southwest on Sunday into Monday, including southeastern California, southern Nevada, all of Arizona, western New Mexico, the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and portions of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.“This is a fairly large swath of moisture, so I’d actually say, there’s not just a chance of rain, but rain is likely,” said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.The chances are highest across southern Arizona, southwest New Mexico and southeast California, and the Weather Prediction Center has put this area under a marginal risk — level 1 out of 4 — for excessive rainfall that could lead to flash flooding on Sunday. A slice of Southern Arizona is at a higher slight risk, level 2 out of 4.Mr. O’Malley said that minor flooding on roadways in the greater Phoenix area is possible.Storms occasionally pass over the Southwest in late spring but they’re usually dry. Rain is more common during the monsoon season that starts June 15 and lasts into September.“These storms come through and you’d never know, other than a little wind,” Mr. O’Malley said. “With this storm, you have that moisture that’s being pulled in from Alvin — that’s the big difference.”Mr. Mullinax said there’s also a strong southerly wind component that’s escorting the tropical moisture northward into the Southwest.Alvin formed over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of west Mexico on Thursday, sending pounding surf to west-central Mexico and southern Baja California. The system has since dissipated and was a post-tropical cyclone over the North Pacific Ocean on Saturday. More

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      Memorial Day Storms Cause Delays for Holiday Travelers

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      Thunderstorms in the south and central United States caused flight delays during Memorial Day weekend, the beginning of the summer travel season.Hundreds of thousands of people traveling in parts of the Southeast and central United States faced delays and uncertainty on Monday because of severe thunderstorms that caused damaging winds and heavy rains during the busy Memorial Day weekend.There were more than 5,000 delayed flights to, from and within the United States on Monday, according to FlightAware, a company that tracks flight information. The airports most affected were in Texas and Colorado.Dallas Fort Worth International Airport had warned that it was expecting a busy period of travel, estimating that about 1.4 million passengers would pass through the airport from May 22 through May 27. More than 1,000 flights to and from the airport were delayed on Monday.Another 600 flights were delayed in Houston, flying to and from George Bush Intercontinental Airport.Denver International Airport, where nearly 1,000 flights were delayed on Sunday, said it expected 443,000 passengers to travel through the airport during the holiday weekend. On Monday, nearly 1,000 flights were delayed to and from the airport.The Denver airport said in a statement that it had received a report that a flight was struck by lightning on its descent on Sunday. The flight arrived safely and no injuries were reported, the airport said. Southwest Airlines operated the flight, which departed from Tampa, and said the plane had been taken out of service for inspection. The storms on Monday could result in large hail, damaging winds and flash floods in parts of the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley, forecasters said.The potential for tornadoes loomed in some areas, and tornado warnings were issued on Monday in parts of Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. In parts of east-central New Mexico and western Oklahoma, there was a slight risk of hail and strong winds.In Texas and Mississippi, more than 29,000 customers in each state were without power on Monday night, according to PowerOutage.us. In Louisiana, more than 14,000 customers were without power.More storm activity was expected on Tuesday.For the five days that started on May 22 and will end on Tuesday, AAA forecast that a record 45.1 million people in the United States would travel at least 50 miles from home. AAA said it expected 3.61 million people to travel by plane and 39.4 million people to travel by car. More