Weather

Most of the country is predicted to be warmer than normal with that warmth stretching north from Tennessee, Missouri, Nebraska and Nevada, along with nearly all of California, say federal forecasters.

Barbuda and the Leeward Islands are in the crosshairs of Hurricane Tammy and as Tropical Storm Norma bears down the northern Mexico coastline.

Strong winds and floods struck several countries in northern Europe as the region endured more heavy rain on Friday that forecasters say will continue into the weekend.

Forecasters say the storm system is expected to be at or near hurricane intensity as it makes landfall in the Leeward Islands on Friday. Up to 10 inches of rain and 3 feet of storm surge could follow.

Even if the planet warms more than 2 degrees Celsius, the ice sheet can be protected if temperatures cool back down quickly enough.

At the heart of the festival are the worm-racing contests. The winning worm has the honor of serving as kind of a local fall version of Groundhog Day’s Punxsutawney Phil, predicting the severity of the upcoming winter. 

Lidia was expected to rapidly weaken over the mountains and dissipate, but was still capable of soaking the region with heavy rain.

Heavy rains knocked out several subway and commuter rail lines, stranded drivers, flooded basements and shuttered a terminal at LaGuardia Airport for hours. More downpours were expected Saturday.

Ophelia could bring up to 5 inches of rain across the Mid-Atlantic region into Sunday. Threats of storm surges have dissipated, but flooding risk remains, even as Ophelia is on track to weaken.