Topic: National Weather Service

For Oklahoma tornado survivors, shock follows storm

The powerful tornado that swept through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday left 24 dead. As survivors survey the wreckage, they contemplate their luck, faith and building construction. The community has seen four tornados since 1998. 

Oklahoma tornado was stronger than Hiroshima bomb: How?

When the conditions are exactly right – and they were, for the tornado that devastated Oklahoma City yesterday – a tornado can unleash more power than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Oklahoma tornado: How accurate were predictions?

The devastation that the tornado wreaked on Moore, Okla., highlights both the progress forecasters have made and the remaining challenges they face in predicting such events.

Search and rescue efforts under way in Moore, Okla. (+video)

A monstrous tornado barreled Moore, Okla., Monday, demolishing an elementary school and a hundreds of homes. At least 24 people were killed. President Obama declared a major disaster and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.

Tornado season off to a late but deadly start

Tornado season usually starts in mid-April, but this year's first big tornado will go down in the record books not only for its tardiness but for its deadly scale: It reached half a mile wide and killed at least 51, including 20 children.

Oklahoma tornado hits grade school: Search continues for survivors (+video)

Oklahoma tornado hits grade school and flattens Oklahoma City suburban neighborhoods. Oklahoma search and rescue teams are working through the night, and the death toll from the tornado is expected to rise.

Oklahoma braces for more tornadoes, as severe storm system lingers (+video)

Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, and southern Missouri faced a new series of tornadoes, heavy rain, and hail on Monday, as a massive storm system takes longer than usual to move through the nation's midsection.

Oklahoma tornadoes: More forecast for Monday (+video)

Oklahoma tornadoes leave one dead on Sunday. But tornado warnings saved lives in Oklahoma, say officials. The National Weather Service says more tornadoes are forecast for Monday afternoon.

Pavlof Volcano ash cloud shows Alaska's threat to air travel (+video)

Ash billowing from Pavlof Volcano is not high enough to affect international air travel, but Pavlof is just one of a string of active Alaska volcanoes that sits beneath the flight corridor between the US and Asia.

After tornado, Texas town begins to pick up the pieces

Though devastation is widespread, residents of Granbury, Texas will be able to return to their homes and retrieve what may be left after a huge tornado struck the town on Wednesday.

USA Update Severe Texas tornadoes 'hopscotch' through rural communities, killing six

Severe storm system produced a cluster of tornadoes and grapefruit-size hail that ripped through north Texas rural communities, flattening homes and driving residents to shelter.

Texas tornadoes leave six dead, hundreds homeless (+video)

Texas tornadoes: Several tornadoes tore through three towns in Texas Wednesday night, leaving six dead and 14 missing. One of the Texas tornadoes was a mile wide.

Ice wave comes ashore in Minnesota

Ice wave comes ashore: High winds on a Minnesota lake have pushed a wave of ice right into people's front yards. 

California wildfire: 1,900 on the lines as firefighters labor to limit damage (+video)

Saturday's more favorable weather and the heroic work of 1,900 firefighters have limited damage from a fast-breaking California wildfire in Ventura County. State outlook is for an active fire season; elsewhere in the US conditions are less ominous.

How much water in that snowpack? Scientists seek a better gauge.

More accurate, more frequent measurements of mountain snowpacks will allow water managers to mete out reservoirs with greater confidence. Two watersheds in the western US are testing grounds for a new aerial approach.

USA Update Wildfire on California coast: On Day 2, more Santa Ana winds (+video)

Fire officials expect a southern California wildfire to spread Friday, fueled by continuing Santa Ana winds. They are resuming overflights to drop flame retardant, but urge area residents to be prepared to evacuate.

May snowstorm dumps nearly a foot on Wyo. and Colo.

Cheyenne received 10 inches by sunrise Wednesday with another 2 to 4 inches of snow predicted. Up to 14 inches was measured in areas west of Cheyenne where a winter storm warning was in effect.

Along the Mississippi, river views trump flood protection

Mississippi floods don't have the impact today that they had during the Great Flood of 1993, thanks to better flood walls and levees and thousands of flood-plain homes converted to green space. But in some river towns, flood protection is a non-starter.

How to join climate team

Chicago flooding closes airports and highways, opens sinkhole

Chicago flooding opened a sinkhole, shut down expressways, delayed commuter trains, flooded basements, and caused officials to close schools, cancel flights, and evacuate a hospital.

USA Update Powerful spring storm heads into the Carolinas and Virginia

A severe storm system, stretching from Texas to New York, caused flooding and tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, and downed power lines in Minnesota and South Dakota with ice and heavy snow.

Spring storm brings ice and snow, sure, but why tornadoes?

A record-setting spring storm has killed three people, downed power lines, snapped large trees, and closed roads, schools, and businesses across the Midwest and Southeast.

USA Update Tornadoes, ice, and snow knock out power across the Midwest (+video)

Cleanup begins in Missouri and Arkansas, as a strong storm system heads for eastern Ohio and the mid-Atlantic. Meanwhile, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin face ice and snow.

Snowstorm hits Denver: why that might be a good thing

A snowstorm can push back the beginning of snowmelt runoff, which can help counter hot, dry conditions in the summer. The 'normal' snowfall accumulation for Denver in April is nine inches.

Why was March so cold? Blame Greenland.

You're not imagining it: March 2013 was chilly — the second-coldest March since 2000. The culprit is a stubborn mass of warm air over Greenland that blocked the jet stream.