A hazardous weather weekend is shaping up across much of the Lower 48 states, with a potentially historic late May snowstorm cranking up across the Rockies and a heat wave hitting the East Coast.
Why it matters: More than 100 million Americans are experiencing dangerous weather conditions this weekend, as a cold front slams Colorado and southern Wyoming with heavy snow and a potentially record breaking heat wave surges toward the Northeast.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore suspended all prescribed fires on land owned by the federal government on Friday, citing extreme fire danger, recent burn escapes and a need to review the service's prescribed fire protocols.
Why it matters: The Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire in New Mexico in part caused by a prescribed burn escaping containment amid gusty winds in early April and joining with a separate wildfire.
Finland's state-owned energy company warned Friday that Russia will halt natural gas exports to the country on Saturday after it refused to make payments in rubles, as the Kremlin demanded in March.
Why it matters: Finland will be the third European country to lose gas imports from Russia since the start of the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The expected cutoff comes on the heels of Helsinki formally applying to join NATO.
