A heat dome — plus the "corn sweat" phenomenon in some areas — is bringing dangerous levels of heat and humidity to much of the country east of the Rockies this week.
Why it matters: Heat warnings and advisories stretch from Louisiana and the Florida panhandle up to Chicago and beyond as of Tuesday afternoon, covering nearly 85 million Americans.
Three Democratic senators wrote to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian Monday to raise concerns about company plans to use AI to set individualized fares, which the airline maintains won't target customers with offers based on personal details.
Why it matters: Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote that Delta's personalized "current and planned individualized pricing practices" would present data privacy concerns and "likely mean" fare price rises "up to each individual consumer's personal 'pain point'" at a time when many families were struggling.
Mount Rainier is rattling with the most powerful earthquake swarm scientists have ever recorded at the volcano.
Why it matters: Rainier's reputation as the Cascades' most dangerous volcano means even minor tremors can fuel both scientific investigation and public anxiety — though experts say there's no immediate cause for concern.
Nearly 300 current and former NASA employees rebuked the Trump administration's "dismantling cuts and devastating attacks" in an open letter shared Monday.
The big picture: The federal budget for fiscal year 2026 cuts NASA's science spending by 47%, though billions in funding were included in President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" and could be restored.
Much of the eastern U.S. and Midwest was facing the threat of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, while heat alerts were issued Sunday for over 50 million people from Kansas to the Carolinas.
The big picture: NOAA's Weather Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall over parts of the Ohio Valley through Monday morning, with storms containing 3-4"/hour rainfall rates developing Sunday evening. Forecasters said parts of Missouri and Illinois could see "locally significant" flash flooding.
The number of people missing in Texas' catastrophic flooding has fallen to three from 160 in the immediate aftermath of the extreme weather event, said Kerr County officials as the search enters a third week.
The big picture: The July 4 flooding killed at least 135 people — with 107 fatalities occurring in Kerr County, including children at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The last missing persons count six days ago was 97.
