Weather, Rain | featured news

Middle America was overwhelmed by weather Thursday, with snow in the north, tornadoes in the Plains, and torrential rains that caused floods and transportation woes - and a sinkhole in Chicago.

Much of the U.S. East Coast has a good chance of getting blasted by gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow early next week by an unusual hybrid of hurricane and winter storm, federal and private forecasters say....

Two people were dead and more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania were without electricity Friday morning after severe thunderstorms swept through the region late Thursday.

The Chinese capital's heaviest rainstorm in six decades killed at least 37 people, flooded streets and stranded 80,000 people at the main airport, state media and the government said on Sunday.

Residents evacuated their homes and animals escaped from pens at a zoo as floods fed by a steady torrential downpour struck northeastern Minnesota, inundating the city of Duluth, officials said Wednesday.

States of emergency were in force Tuesday in four Louisiana parishes after torrential rain left homes and roads under several feet of water. Hundreds fled their homes and dozens of motorists had to be rescued.

NASCAR postponed the Daytona 500 because of rain, the first time in the 54-year history of the event that it has been delayed a day.

Try New England, Colorado and New Mexico, where some resorts are seeing snowfall ranges of 40 inches to over 105 inches.

More hot days? "Virtually certain." Heat waves? "Ninety to 100 percent probability." And as the 21st century unfolds, more heavy precipitation and more intense hurricanes are "likely." The forecast comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a global body of scientists who make periodic pronouncements on global warming and its likely effects.

The playoff opener between the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees was suspended because of rain in the second inning Friday night, probably wiping out the ace of each pitching staff for a few days.