Hurricane Kay is poised to worsen record-breaking heat in the West, severe winds and critical fire weather in the Northwest, and flood alerts for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Earl strengthens to hurricane, will impact US late-week.
Hurricane Kay to worsen record heat in the West, bring flooding rain by Friday
Hurricane Kay has gained strength in the Pacific, lashing Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Wednesday. Mexican authorities opened shelters and closed some roads, CBS reported.
According to the forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS), by Friday Kay is expected to produce heavy rain with potential flash flooding over Southern California, as well as southwestern Arizona.
As the West has baked in record-breaking heat for the past six days, the flow of air around Hurricane Kay will bring easterly winds to the area, which could bring extreme heat all the way down to the beaches, CNN reported.
NWS heat alerts
The NWS issued the following heat-related alerts for Wednesday.
Excessive heat warning: California; southern and northeastern Nevada; southern Utah; northern, eastern, and central Arizona.
Heat advisory: southern and eastern Oregon; southern Idaho; northern California; northern and central Nevada; eastern, southern, and west-central Utah; northeastern Colorado.
Northeast, mid-Atlantic remains at risk of flooding
Thunderstorms will continue over the mid-Atlantic and Northeast adding to the potential of heavy rain and flooding.
The NWS issued a number of flood-related alerts for Wednesday.
Flood warning: central and southern Pennsylvania.
Coastal flood advisory: New Jersey, Delaware, eastern Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania.
Flood watch: Washington, D.C., central and western Maryland, northern Virginia, and eastern West Virginia.
Northwest: Severe winds and widespread red flag alerts
The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 severe weather alert on two separate fronts in the Northwest, which have the potential to merge into one. The main threat is damaging winds, with no prediction of hail or tornadoes and a low threat of flooding rain. The first front is over northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, southeastern and east-central Oregon, and southwestern Idaho. The second front is over southwestern, central, and east-central Montana.
NWS red flag alerts
Red flag fire warnings are in effect for central and eastern Washington, central and northern Idaho, Montana, western North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota, Wyoming, central and eastern Oregon, and northern California.
Earl strengthens into hurricane
Earl strengthened into a Hurricane in the Atlantic, northeast of Puerto Rico, after dumping heavy rain across the Leeward Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, CBS reported.
As of Wednesday a.m., Earl was located about 460 miles south of Bermuda, heading north at 8 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Earl is expected to grow into a category 3 major hurricane later this week while turning toward the open Atlantic.
Earl will affect eastern US late-week
Although Earl is 900 miles away from the US East Coast, the storm is expected to reach Bermuda by Wednesday night, and shortly thereafter, become a major hurricane on Thursday. The East Coast is likely to experience life-threatening surf and rip conditions through the weekend, WKYT reported.
