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Atlantic season's first tropical storm unleashes heavy rain on North Carolina

A NASA image of Tropical Storm Arthur. Photo: NASA/Facebook

Tropical Storm Arthur lashed North Carolina's Outer Banks with heavy rain before moving out to sea Monday, but its effects could cause "dangerous rip currants" on the U.S. East Coast for at least another day, per the National Hurricane Center.

The big picture: It dumped more than 4 inches of rain on Newport and Havelock and 2 inches elsewhere, "causing some secondary roads to flood," notes AP, which reports wind gusts of "40 mph or more" were recorded in "at least two places on the Outer Banks." Arthur was the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, forming off the east-central coast of Florida after strengthening from a tropical depression late Saturday, per the NHC. The season officially begins June 1.

Go deeper: FEMA braces for COVID-infected hurricane season

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer
Updated Aug 27, 2020 - Science

Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Louisiana as "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm

Photo: NOAA

Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, southwestern Louisiana, early Thursday as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm. The National Hurricane Center warned to expect "catastrophic" extreme winds, flash-flooding and "unsurvivable" storm surges.

What's happening: The storm was packing winds of 150 mph — 7 mph short of a Category 5 hurricane — when it began pummeling the region near the Texas border — knocking out power to almost 160,000 customers in Louisiana and almost 32,000 others in Texas, per PowerOutage.US. 

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Ursula Perano
Updated Aug 27, 2020 - Science

Hurricane Laura lashes Gulf Coast amid "unsurvivable" storm surge threat

Texas and Louisiana are in grave peril overnight from the landfall of Hurricane Laura, an "extremely dangerous" and strengthening Category 4 storm — which is expected to bring "catastrophic" winds, storm surges and flash flooding.

Details: Laura's eyewall — the most powerful part of a hurricane — was moving onshore over southwestern Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said just after midnight ET.

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Bryan Walsh, author of Future
Aug 26, 2020 - Science

The "expanding bull's-eye" of hurricane risk

The growth in housing density over the past 40 years in the region that's in Hurricane Laura's path. Credit: Stephen M. Strader

The population density of the Texas-Louisiana coastal region where Hurricane Laura is set to make landfall as a Category 4 storm has increased significantly over the past 40 years.

Why it matters: The damage a storm can do is a function not just of its sheer strength, but the number of people in its path. As more people live in coastal regions, we will get an increasingly "expanded bull's-eye" of hurricane risks.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow