Weather

Climate models released this weekend are pointing to what could be the most powerful El Niño event in recorded history — raising the possibility of a rare “super” episode developing later this year.

The stratospheric polar vortex, the winter engine that traps Arctic cold high above the North Pole, is entering its seasonal collapse.

DENVER — Colorado is experiencing its lowest snowpack levels since record-keeping began statewide in 1941. Statewide snowpack, as of Thursday, was at 26% of the median — about a quarter of what the state typically has this time of year, according to data from the USDA National Water and Climate Center. That means there is roughly 74% less snow than normal feeding rivers like the Colorado ...

LOS ANGELES – A pair of fast-moving brush fires erupted in Southern California on Friday afternoon, forcing evacuations in Los Angeles and Riverside counties as the first major blazes of the season after a winter of intense rains and periods of scorching heat.

After a brief break, severe weather is returning to the forecast as April begins – mainly across the central United States, with severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding downpours all possible.

The calendar is flipping to April, and with it comes an atmospheric shift more conducive to severe thunderstorms and heavy rains over much of the United States. That includes expected severe weather this week.

As the calendar soon turns to April, it appears that we can finally shed all talk of the polar vortex until next winter as milder weather takes hold across much of the eastern U.S. and a cool-down ends the western heat wave.

LOS ANGELES – Imagine waking up early, eager to peep dazzling carpets of brilliant orange flowers at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. Instagram posts promised a spectacle.

Despite a prediction of a slow hurricane season, up to five tropical systems could still make an impact on the United States this year, according to the forecast released Wednesday by AccuWeather. One of the first annual prognostications for the season, which officially runs June 1-Nov. 30, calls for 11 to 16 named storms — of which four to seven would become hurricanes. Of those, two to four ...

Nearly 9.5 million people across the U.S. Southwest face extreme high temperatures, as an ongoing heat wave continues to topple records and raise the risk of wildfires as far away as the Great Plains. Las Vegas reached 96F Saturday, a record for the date, while the nearby local National Weather Service office hit 97F for the second day in a row, an all-time high for March. Phoenix Sky Harbor ...

Spring officially arrived Friday, and new forecasts say it’s shaping up to be a warm few months for most Americans.

Heavy rains were being dragged across Hawaii by a “Kona low” for the second time in two weeks, prompting residents to flee their homes and closing roads across the island chain. Evacuations were ordered in the Waialua and Haleiwa sections of northwest Oahu after flooding threatened a dam in the area, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said on its website. Roads across Oahu have been closed ...

After last summer’s deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country, it became clear some things needed to change.

The most destructive wildfires in Southern California history. The region’s wettest holiday season. The hottest March heat wave on record.

Emergency officials in Hawaii ordered people near a dam in the northern part of Oahu to evacuate on Friday and warned that it was in danger of failing after heavy rain overnight pushed the reservoir to critically high levels.

A small Arizona community broke the record for highest temperature ever recorded in March in the United States, reaching a scorching 110 degrees Thursday amid an early heat wave in the Southwest.