Torrential rains in the Northeast will bring a flood risk on Thursday and Friday. Heat and humidity return to the southern latitudes this weekend. Warm seas cancel crab fishing season. Today’s alerts and 3-day forecast.
Warm seas cancel crab fishing season
Alaska has canceled two of its Bering Sea fishing seasons, the Bristol Bay red king crab harvest for the fall, as well as, for the first time ever, its winter harvest of smaller snow crab, which threatens to put third-generation fishermen out of business.
The reason is being blamed on the warming Bering Sea leading to bleak populations in summer surveys by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anchorage Daily News reports. Biologists made the tough decision to shut down the harvests.
“Management of Bering Sea snow crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the conditions of the stock,” the department said in a statement.
Last year, the snow crab harvest was the smallest in more than 40 years, totaling only 5.6 million pounds.
NWS weather alerts: Flooding, expansive red flag warnings
Here are the latest weather alerts from the National Weather Service (NWS) for Thursday.
Flood watch: central and northern New Hampshire, Maine.
High wind warning: North Dakota and South Dakota.
Wind advisory: northwestern Montana, central and northern New York, and northern Vermont.
Red flag warning for portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Weekend forecast: Northeast to see heavy rain and possible flooding, warming for southern latitudes
Here is the weekend forecast from the National Weather Service (NWS).
Thursday: Heavy rain and possible flooding in Northeast
Very strong, windy conditions in the central US, upper Midwest, and parts of the mid-South and Ohio Valley (see alerts above) will ramp up fire danger.
Thunderstorms along the Gulf, throughout Florida, and along the eastern Atlantic all the way to Maine. Scattered thunderstorms over parts of Southern California, throughout Michigan, and into parts of Ohio.
Heavy rain over portions of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast will bring the potential of flash flooding over parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (see alerts above).
Mixed precipitation in the upper Midwest could also bring snow to parts of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan.
Friday: Heavy rain and possible flooding in Northeast
Thunderstorms over the New England area will bring heavy rain to the Northeast, with the potential of flooding over parts of New Hampshire and Maine.
Mixed precipitation over the northern regions of North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan could bring snow. Rain over Michigan.
Scattered thunderstorms over portions of Southern California, the southeastern Gulf of Texas, as well as central and southern Florida.
Saturday:
Thunderstorms will stretch from the Southwest and east-by-northeast direction into parts of the Midsouth and Ohio Valley. Heavy rain will bring the potential of flash flooding to parts of California’s eastern deserts into western, central, and southern Arizona.
Thunderstorms also over southern Florida and from Houston to Louisiana in the Gulf.
Rain over parts of the eastern Ohio Valley will extend into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Scattered showers over the Northwest for parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, and Nebraska.
Mixed precipitation over parts of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado.
Sunday
Warm temperatures return to the southern latitudes stretching from Texas, across the South to Florida, and along the southeast to Virginia. Some areas will see temperatures reach into the upper-80s in Texas.
Scattered thunderstorms could linger over the Southwest into parts of the Midsouth and southern Ohio Valley, as well as over the northern Great Lakes area.
