Lee rapidly intensifies into a Category 5 hurricane over Atlantic – the Washington Post
Hurricane Lee intensified with breakneck speed Thursday over record-warm Atlantic waters, its peak winds catapulting from 80 to 160 mph in just 18 hours. Lee is now a top tier Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, and will probably strengthen even more…
24 trillion gallons of water have drenched California, and storms aren’t over – the Washington Post
Since late December, California has seen it all. More than a foot of rain has come down in the lowlands, with eight feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada. For the state as a whole, the equivalent of about 24 trillion gallons of water has poured down from the sky — or an average of more than 8.5 inches of rain over every acre.
It’s not just water that has blasted the state. Winds nearing hurricane force have torn from the coast to the Central Valley and into the mountains, downing untold numbers of trees and cutting power to hundreds of thousands. A tornado danced south of Sacramento.
At least 18 people have died in the onslaught of storms, and it’s not over yet…