Weather

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."

A rain-triggered landslide buried two military barracks where dozens of soldiers were sleeping, killing at least four of them, Defense ministry officials said. Twenty-eight soldiers were rescued within an hour after the pre-dawn landslide Friday near Chorwon, a city near the North Korean border, the officials said. Rescue work was hampered by bad weather. Fifteen of the 47 soldiers in the barracks at the time were still missing. Friday's rainstrom hit South Korea's central and eastern regions, flooding low-lying areas.

Typhoon Gloria gained strength as it barreled through the Philippines' northernmost islands Thursday, leaving at least 12 people dead and forcing thousands from their homes. Farther west in Vietnam, Tropical Storm Frankie left a least 17 people dead and dozens missing after battering the northern Red River delta for nearly two days, officials said Thursday. The crew members of 40 fishing vessels were among the missing after Frankie swept in from the Tonkin Gulf late Tuesday with winds of 56 miles an hour and dumped up to 8 inches of rain on Hanoi, the port city of Haiphong and five provinces, Vietnam News said. Skies cleared Thursday. In the Philippines, Typhoon Gloria was heading toward southern Taiwan, packing winds of up to 106 mph, the Manila weather bureau said.

Don Lloyd, a Lomira, Wis., dentist, photographed this tornado shortly before it hit Oakfield, Wis., Thursday night. Photo by Associated Press

Prayers for rain were answered briefly in Pinetop, Ariz. Photo by Associated Press

How hot was it? Last year was the hottest year on record, according NASA's top world temperature taker. The globe's average temperature for 1995 was an estimated 59.8 degrees Fahrenheit, barely edging out 1990 and about 0.8 degree above the 1950-1980 average. That's according to James E. Hansen, writing in the June 15 issue of Geophysical Research Letters.

Hurricane Bertha slapped Cape Fear and then battered a string of coastal towns Friday, ripping off roofs, washing away piers, flooding roads and toppling a Ferris wheel. More than 250,000 people fled the beaches before the storm, which crashed ashore with top winds of 105 mph, drenching the coastline and spinning off tornadoes hundreds of miles inland.

Hundreds of thousands of coastal residents from Florida to North Carolina moved inland Wednesday while forecasters puzzled over the eventual path of Hurricane Bertha, which was slow dancing northward off the Eastern Seaboard. A long-anticipated turn to the north seemed to steer Bertha and its 100-mph winds away from Florida, but forecasters warned that the South Carolina shore, North Carolina's Outer Banks and other barrier islands could be in danger by Thursday or Friday.

Military helicopters landed in snow 3 feet deep Tuesday to rescue 50 people trapped by South Africa's heaviest snowfall in three decades. At least 13 people have died in the sudden storm, which hit five days ago. More search missions are planned Wednesday for 48 people still missing, most of them hikers in mountains near Johannesburg.

The grocery shelves were emptying rapidly in Puerto Rico Monday morning. Photo by Associated Press

Tropical Storm Bertha reached hurricane strength Sunday, expanding in size and strength as it bore down on a strip of Caribbean islands. A U.S. Air Force hurricane plane recorded sustained winds of 75 mph when it flew into the storm Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said. The storm grew larger as it headed straight for the Virgin Islands, spinning off winds that extended for 175 miles from its center. A band of lead showers that did no more than rustle trees and water some parched islands announced the storm's advance Sunday night.

Tropical Storm Bertha emerged from the warm waters off Africa on Friday and began the westward trek that could send it into the eastern Caribbean at full hurricane strength by early next week. On Friday evening, though, it remained a modest storm, with peak winds of about 40 miles per hour. Satellite photos at 5 p.m. placed Bertha about 1,180 miles - several days - east of the Lesser Antilles. It was traveling west-northwest at 21 miles per hour.

The past week of cool, rainy weather should become a soggy memory as summer temperatures heat up the Inland Northwest. Highs in the 80s are forecast starting Sunday and should continue through the Fourth of July holiday weekend. "It's going to warm up," said Lyle Hammer, forecaster with the National Weather Service in Spokane. "It should be real nice Monday and Tuesday."