Weather

Wind-blown dust and smoke obscure visibility Friday in Spokane. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Hurricane Edouard kicked up the surf along the East Coast on Friday as it churned in the Atlantic on a course so unpredictable it could hit land anywhere from North Carolina to New England during the Labor Day weekend. Forecasters weren't sure when, where or even if the 130-mph storm would come ashore, leaving vacationers to wonder if they should hit the beach or head for higher ground. If the storm stays on track, it will hit Long Island, N.Y., Monday, forecasters said.

Rugged surf threatened northeast Florida as a powerful Atlantic hurricane appeared ready to turn northward Thursday, and residents of this Caribbean town braced for a brush by yet another hurricane. The mid-Atlantic states were urged to keep a close eye on Hurricane Edouard, which was packing winds of up to 140 mph and was expected to turn slowly northward.

Much-needed rain fell Thursday on parched areas of northern Texas, so much that roads were flooded, forcing authorities into a dramatic rescue of a woman stranded in a rain-swollen creek. Two roads in Comanche County, about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth, were flooded by dawn following 4 inches of rain. A car that tried to cross a flooded bridge was swamped by a creek.

Edouard, the season's strongest Atlantic hurricane to date, appeared Monday to be headed well north of the Leeward Islands on the eastern rim of the Caribbean. Edouard's sustained winds had slacked to about 130 mph before dawn Monday, but climbed by late afternoon to 140 mph, the same top speed as Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Hurricane Edouard churned in the mid-Atlantic with 145 mph sustained wind Sunday, and forecasters said they expected the powerful storm to miss a chain of Caribbean islands. Still, the National Hurricane Center warned residents of the Leeward Islands, which are in the eastern Caribbean near Puerto Rico, to be ready in case Edouard takes a more westerly path. The storm was moving west-northwest at 15 mph, and could threaten the islands by Tuesday or Wednesday. Residents of the twin-island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis began stocking up Saturday at supermarkets and boarding up windows.

Navigating through torrential rains, an army helicopter pilot flew Saturday into the Himalayas to rescue two sick Hindu pilgrims from among thousands of people stranded on the slopes. A freak snowstorm and heavy rains have left at least 113 people dead near Pahalgam, a town about 65 miles south of the Jammu-Kashmir state capital, Srinagar.

The remnants of Hurricane Dolly dumped heavy rains over a broad swath of central Mexico on Saturday, as drought-stricken farmers celebrated the arrival of the storm. The heavy rains came a day after Dolly charged into the mainland for the second time, killing three people and driving thousands from their homes.

Dolly slammed into Mexico again with heavy rain and 80-mph winds Friday, killing at least three people and forcing hundreds on the Gulf Coast to flee their flooded homes. Dolly weakened from a hurricane to a tropical depression as it moved inland, but still carried torrential rain that threatened to cause more damaging floods. It was Mexico's second run-in with Dolly, which rolled across sparsely populated areas of the Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims were trapped in the Himalayas on Friday after monsoon rains and a freak snowstorm swept through their annual march to a mountain temple. At least 65 people have been killed. Some 80,000 people were in the mountains when the storm sent rain cascading down slippery lower slopes and piled up 6 inches of snow at higher elevations.

Thousands of homes near Hanoi were under several feet of water Thursday after a portion of a dike holding back the storm-swollen Red River burst. About 80,000 people were forced to flee.

Dolly spun across the Gulf of Mexico and regained hurricane strength Thursday, threatening the oil and fishing port of Tampico with floods and punishing winds. Hurricane warnings were posted along Mexico's northeastern coast from La Pesca, 155 miles from the Texas border, south to Veracruz.

Dolly surged to hurricane strength as it swept ashore along a remote stretch of Caribbean coast on Tuesday, only to weaken to a tropical storm again as it plowed across the Yucatan peninsula. Minor flooding and minimal damage was reported in the Yucatan. The government news agency Notimex said at least two fishermen were missing.

Severe storms uprooted trees across Nebraska on Monday and unleashed torrential rains that closed a highway. Seven inches of rain soaked Wisner, forcing U.S. Highway 275 to be closed, and two hog barns were destroyed by high winds near Stanton. Wind gusts ranged from 60 mph across northern Kansas to 90 mph at Webster Dam. Flood warnings were issued from near Omaha, Neb., to cities and towns east of Kansas City, Mo., along the Missouri River. The river could crest at 5 to 7 feet above flood stage later this week, causing extensive lowland flooding along its banks.

Fire swept across more than 6,000 acres on the Crow Indian Reservation Friday, the biggest in a swarm of lightning-caused fires across Montana. More thunderstorms were expected Friday night.

Typhoon Herb pummeled the southeastern Chinese coast Friday, sweeping at least one person out to sea and stranding a quarter-million people. In Taiwan, the death toll from Herb - the worst storm to hit the island in 30 years - rose to 19, with 39 missing, the government said.

Hurricane Cesar picked up force in the Caribbean on Saturday, drenching Colombia and the Central American coast with heavy rains blamed for at least two deaths. Both deaths were in Colombia, where rain triggered avalanches that killed two people and buried eight children as they slept in their parents' home.

Tropical Storm Cesar formed in the southwestern Caribbean on Thursday, whipping up sustained winds of 45 mph and drenching the region with up to 6 inches of rain. The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned Cesar's rains could cause mudslides and flooding. At 8 p.m. PDT, the storm was centered about 35 miles west-northwest of Punta Gallinas, Colombia. It was heading west at near 21 mph. Still in effect Thursday afternoon was a tropical storm warning for the island of Aruba, and the coast of Venezuela and Colombia. An earlier warning covering Curacao was dropped after the system passed by Thursday afternoon.

A tornado tore through this northern New Mexico town Thursday, demolishing a bank, a post office and a beauty salon as well as flipping several mobile homes. "It formed a funnel and came down and hit right in the middle of downtown," said Beaver Segotta, general manager of the Pacific Studs lumber yard. "The bank's gone - and the bank is made out of brick. It took the roof, parts of the walls."