Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Warnings Follow Excessive Heat Warning in DC

A fast-moving line of dangerous storms has knocked out power to more than 1 million customers in the D.C. area, and one person has died do to a fallen tree.

A day of record-shattering heat ended with severe thunderstorms that rushed through the metro area with strong winds and an impressive lightning display.

Trees are reported down across the area.  The storms produced hurricane-force winds in excess of 80 mph. Gusts of 82 mph were reported in the Reston area.

The National Weather Service reported a tree fell on a car in Springfield, Va., killing one person inside.

Extensive power outages have been reported. As of about midnight., Pepco was reporting 386,550 customers without power in D.C., Prince George’s County and Montgomery County and Dominion Power was reporting 831,912 outages in northern Virginia and 182,636 outages in Shenandoah Valley/Western Piedmont. As of about 11:20 p.m. Allegheny reported 7,781 outages in Montgomery County, 1,021 in Howard County and 12,248 in Frederick County. SMECO was reporting 9,104 outages.

Pepco and Dominion said some customers could be without power for multiple days, which could be very dangerous for some as the heat wave continues through the weekend.

There are several reports of trees and power lines down and roads blocked in the area.

Metro reported a downed tree caused single-tracking between Dunn Loring and West Falls Church.

Metro also reported suspended rail service between Grosvenor and Shady Grove due to a power outage and delays on all lines because of the weather. Blue Line service between Largo Town Center and Addison Road was restored when a power outage was resolved about midnight.

Metrobuses also are delayed, as they are stuck in the same traffic as other motorists dealing with downed trees.

News4′s Shomari Stone reported portable toilets were blown on to Independence Avenue near the Washington Monument, blocking the roadway.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued with this line of storms. A tornado warning for Allegany and Washington counties in Maryland expired at 9:45 p.m.

A severe thunderstorm watch expires at 1 a.m. for D.C.; Allegany, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Washington counties in Maryland; and Arlington, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties in Virginia.There is potential for hail, but the biggest threat is strong winds that could knock down trees and cause power outages. These storms have produced major wind damage in West Virginia and Ohio with gusts up to 75 mph. There was also a tornado warning with this line of storms in West Virginia. There have also been many lightning strikes.

The line of storms is expected to be off the coast by 5 a.m.

The high temperature was 104 degrees at Reagan National Airport Friday afternoon, setting a record not only for the day, but for the entire month of June. Last year we set a record with a 102-degree day in June.

The previous June 29 record of 101 degrees was set in 1874 and tied in 1934. In the past 142 years, D.C. has seen the temperature reach 104 degrees only 10 times.

A record was set at Dulles International Airport, too. It’s reached 102 degrees there. The previous record was 95.

The storms aren’t likely to offer the mercury much of a break. We could be in the record heat business again Saturday, and all the rain will make it feel even muggier.

The heat index — which factors in humidity — reached 112 degrees for Washington and got up to 117 in Leesburg, Va.; 112 in Fredericksburg, Culpeper and Manassas in Virginia; 114 in LaPlata, Md.; and 112 in Frederick, Md., according to Storm4 meteorologist Doug Kammerer.

On the Billy Goat Trail, a hiker was overcome by the heat and had to be rescued by boat.

Nine Girl Scouts at an event in Benedict, Md., were taken to hospitals because of heat exhaustion. Several others were taken to the Benedict Fire Department to cool off.

At the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, seven children were taken to a local hospital with heat exhaustion. They are expected to be OK.

There’s a chance for more storms Saturday and Sunday. The storms are not expected to be as severe as Friday’s, but Kammerer is not ruling it out because of the heat, which gave Friday’s storms their energy.

Read more on NBC Washington.

#FashionFridays is today and JM brings us Alexander McQueen designs. Get inspired!

Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose strength with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows.

Mica brings us his most outrageous designs from woman’s pre Spring/Summer 2013 this Friday for you to get inspired! Enjoy

Click here to see Mica’s daily fashion blog.

Debby Leaves Flooded Homes and Broken Roads in FL

Tropical Depression Debby moved off into the Atlantic on Wednesday, as many Florida communities started the long process of drying out and cleaning up.

Flooding damaged thousands of homes, washed out roads, opened up sinkholes and closed a section of Interstate 10 — the state’s main east-west highway.

In the Tampa area, more than 20 sinkholes opened up from the flash flooding, Tampa Bay Online reported.

Water was up to the roofs at some homes in low lying areas of Live Oak, Fla., on Wednesday. Several feet of water remained around businesses in downtown near the courthouse and many roads were impassable.

“The water came in so fast last night,” said Live Oak resident Jorge Torres. “We were lucky to get out what we could. My shed is under water.”

Tuesday night, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Debby from a tropical storm as it slogged across northern Florida toward the Atlantic coast. Debby’s maximum sustained winds Wednesday were near 35 mph.

Pasco County near Tampa on Tuesday ordered a mandatory evacuation for up to 20,000 people living between the Anclote and Pithlachascotee rivers. The Anclote rose from 9 feet before Debby’s approach to more than 27 feet, well above major flood level.

Major flooding was also reported at Black Creek, as well as several other rivers in the Jacksonville region.

Portions of Interstate 10 in Lake City, Fla., remained closed early Wednesday due to flooding. The Florida Highway Patrol said two sections of the interstate were still under water. Both sections were near the area where the highway intersects with Interstate 75.

Meanwhile, authorities reopened the Sunshine Skyway Bridge near St. Petersburg early Wednesday, more than two days after it was closed due to high winds.

Vacationers were wearing ponchos instead of swimsuits at the peak of the summer season because of the tropical storm, which has drenched Florida for at least four days straight like a giant shower head set up over the state’s Gulf Coast. Debby has dumped more than 26 inches of rain in some spots.

Disney World wasn’t as crowded as usual Tuesday, and one of its water parks closed because of the soggy, windy weather.

Debby finally blew ashore Tuesday afternoon near Steinhatchee in the Big Bend area, the crook of Florida’s elbow. At that point, it had sustained winds near 40 mph — barely a tropical storm — hours before it was downgraded.

A woman was killed in a tornado spun off from the storm Sunday, and a man disappeared in the rough surf over the weekend in Alabama.

The storm knocked out power to 250,000 homes and business starting last weekend, but electricity had been restored to all but about 15,000 Progress Energy customers by midday Tuesday.

President Barack Obama called Florida Gov. Rick Scott and promised the state will have “no unmet needs” as it deals with the flooding, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

MSNBC Reports.

Buenos Aires Strike; Public Services Affected

EN: Due to today’s teamster union strike certain public services will be affected, including rubbish collection, fuel and food distribution. The subway, trains and short and long-distance buses will operate normally. Flights will be affected between 11am and 6pm.

In addition, service stations will be closed from 12pm-6pm.

Public and private healthcare centres, banks and public offices will be opened, while Judiciary workers will work until 11am.

Regarding flights, unions have not taken a unanimous position. APTA air traffic technical personnel and ATCPEA Sol, Lan and Andes crews support the measures.

Flight services will be affected between 12pm-6pm. APLA pilots union stated that there will be flights after midday but with some delays and APA air traffic personnel rejected the strike.

 

ES: Debido al paro de hoy, los servicios publicos se verán afectados incluyendo la recolección de basura, los proveedores de gasolinas y comida. Los subtes, trenes, premetros de largo y corto trayecto operarán normalmente. Los vuelos se veran afectados desde las 11AM hasta las 6PM.

Los servicios de salud públicos y privados operarán normalmente, mientras que los servicios judiciales trabajarán hasta las 11AM.

Colorado Fire Doubles Its Size

Fire crews outside Colorado Springs, Colo., expected more weather trouble on Wednesday in what the local fire chief called a “monster event” that doubled in size overnight and has forced 32,000 people to flee.

Heavy smoke made for unhealthy air in and around the city. After jumping fire lines Tuesday, the towering blaze has now burned 24 square miles and an undetermined number of homes.

While crews should get a break from the heat, a forecast for thunderstorms could mean unpredictable winds.

“We expect further trouble from the weather today,” incident commander Rich Harvey said at a press briefing. “We do expect all of our lines to be challenged today.”

Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown called the Waldo Canyon Fire a “monster event” that is “not even remotely close to being contained.” The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Tuesday night, the community of Mountain Shadows, northwest of Colorado Springs, appeared to be enveloped in an orange glow.

People were “freaking out” as they fled Tuesday night, local resident Kathleen Tillman told the Denver Post. “You are driving through smoke. It is completely pitch black, and there is tons of ash dropping on the road.”

“This is a fire of epic proportions,” Brown said at a briefing Tuesday night.

“It was like looking at the worst movie set you could imagine,” Gov. John Hickenlooper added after flying over the fire. “It’s almost surreal. You look at that, and it’s like nothing I’ve seen before.”

Brown insisted that “many, many homes” were saved by firefighters.

Hickenlooper told anxious residents that “we have all the support of the U.S. government. We have all the support of the state of Colorado. And we want everybody here to know that.”

He emphasized that Colorado was open to tourism, saying various fires had affected just a half-percent of all public lands and perhaps 400 of 10,000 campground sites.

Among the evacuees were cadets and staff living in one section of the sprawling U.S. Air Force Academy. Flames crested a ridge high above the campus on Tuesday, forcuing more than 2,100 residents there to flee.

A new class of 1,045 cadets will still check in on Thursday but at a different section of the campus. The academy said the entire campus would be closed Wednesday to all visitors and non-essential staff.

Colorado is battling 12 large fires, its worst fire season in history, and other states across the West are being taxed as well.

To the north in Boulder County, 26 homes were evacuated Tuesday when lightning sparked a wildfire. No structures were immediately threatened, but the National Center for Atmospheric Research closed as a precaution.

Read more on MSNBC.com

Good Morning America on this Tuesday June 26, 2012

Supreme Court rejects some parts of AZ immigration law

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court threw out key provisions of Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigrants Monday but said a much-debated portion could go forward – that police must check the status of people stopped for various reasons who might appear to be in the U.S. illegally.

The court upheld the “show me your papers” requirement, but even there the justices said the provision could be subject to additional legal challenges. And they removed some teeth by prohibiting officers from arresting people on immigration charges.

The Obama administration had assailed the Arizona law as an unconstitutional intrusion into an area under Washington’s control, and the court struck down provisions that would have made state crimes out of federal immigration violations.

But several lawmakers and civil rights groups said the part of the law left in place by the high court was an invitation to racial profiling.

The court announced that Thursday would be the last day of rulings this term, which means the decision on President Barack Obama’s landmark health care overhaul probably will come that day.

The Arizona decision landed in the middle of a presidential campaign in which Obama has been heavily courting Latino voters and Republican challenger Mitt Romney has been struggling to win Latino support. During a drawn-out primary campaign, Romney and the other GOP candidates mostly embraced a hard line on illegal immigrants, though Romney has lately taken a softer tone.

Obama said he was pleased that the court struck down key parts of Arizona’s law but concerned about what the high court left intact.

“No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like,” the president said in a written statement. He said police in Arizona should not enforce the provision in a way that undermines civil rights.

“What this decision makes unmistakably clear is that Congress must act on comprehensive immigration reform,” Obama said.

Romney did not immediately comment on the court decision Monday, but he said, “I believe that each state has the duty – and the right – to secure our borders and preserve the rule of law, particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities.”

In Monday’s decision, the court was unanimous on allowing the immigration status check to go forward. The justices were divided on striking down the other portions.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said the law could – and suggested it should – be read to avoid concerns that status checks could lead to prolonged detention.

The court struck down these three major provisions: requiring all immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers, making it a state criminal offense for an illegal immigrant to seek work or hold a job and allowing police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants without warrants.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the ruling marked a victory for people who believe in the responsibility of states to defend their residents. The case, she said, “has always been about our support for the rule of law. That means every law, including those against both illegal immigration and racial profiling. Law enforcement will be held accountable should this statute be misused in a fashion that violates an individual’s civil rights.”

Civil rights groups that separately challenged the law over concerns that it would lead to rights abuses said their lawsuit would go on.

Even with the limitations the high court put on Arizona, the immigration status check still is “an invitation to racial profiling,” said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Omar Jadwat.

The Obama administration sued to block the Arizona law soon after its enactment two years ago. Federal courts had refused to let the four key provisions take effect.

Five states – Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah – have adopted variations on Arizona’s law. Parts of those laws also are on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court case.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined all of Kennedy’s opinion.

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas would have allowed all the challenged provisions to take effect. Justice Samuel Alito would have allowed police to arrest undocumented immigrants who seek work, and also make arrests without warrants.

Scalia, in comments from the bench, caustically described Obama’s recently announced plans to ease deportation rules for some children of illegal immigrants.

“The president said at a news conference that the new program is ‘the right thing to do’ in light of Congress’ failure to pass the administration’s proposed revision of the Immigration Act. Perhaps it is, though Arizona may not think so. But to say, as the court does, that Arizona contradicts federal law by enforcing applications of the Immigration Act that the president declines to enforce boggles the mind,” Scalia said.

The Arizona case focused on whether states can adopt their own measures to deal with an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the face of federal inaction on comprehensive reform, or whether the federal government has almost exclusive authority in that area.

Kennedy wrote obliquely about the impasse at the national level.

“Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law,” Kennedy said.

Justice Elena Kagan sat out the case because of her work in the Obama administration.

The case ia Arizona v. U.S., 11-182.

Associated Press writer Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.

ABC 7 Eyewitness News Reported earlier today.

Final steel beam goes up at 4 World Trade Center

The steel construction of 4 World Trade Center has drawn to a close.

Construction workers removed their helmets and looked on teary-eyed as the final steel beam of the tower was lifted into place Monday, accompanied by a rendition of “God Bless America” performed by gospel singer BeBe Winans.

Developer Larry Silverstein says his aim and that of the workers has been “to give New Yorkers back the city terrorists tried to take away.” More than 100 construction workers signed the beam before it was hoisted by a crane and placed on top of the building.

The tower is scheduled to open late next year. It’s expected to be the first tower completed on the 16-acre site since the 9/11 attacks. The interior of the building, which is the sixth tallest in New York City at 977 feet and 72 stories, is still under construction.

4 World Trade will be home to offices, stores and the Port Authority’s new headquarters.

Sally Rexach, a nurse who aids workers at the site as she did during the rescue and recovery work following 9/11, had tears streaming down her face as she watched the beam rise into the sky.

“Ten years later, it’s pretty remarkable,” she said. “This is a very proud moment. It’s full circle.”

John Rzeznik, a project manager at the site, spoke of his pride in the endeavor.

“Everybody’s put their blood, sweat and tears into this,” he said.

Speaking to the crowd, Silverstein said his aim and that of the construction workers had been “to give New Yorkers back the city terrorists tried to take away.”

After years of funding disagreements that at times seemed to threaten progress at the site, Silverstein acknowledged, “It’s been a very tough time.” But, he said, “I’ve always believed in downtown New York.”

Silverstein’s company also owns the already-completed Seven World Trade Center.

At the anchor building of the site, One World Trade Center, steel has been erected to the 104th floor.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

Eyewitness News.

Good Morning America on this Monday June 25, 2012

Photos: Debby Hits Gulf Coast

North Redington Beach, FL.

The Gulf of Mexico reaches the pool at this hotel in North Redington Beach. Parts of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana were under a tropical storm warning Sunday as Debby churned off the Gulf Coast, leaving wary residents to closely watch a storm whose path has so far been difficult to forecast. It was not completely clear when or where Debby would make landfall, though current models showed it reaching hurricane strength eventually. Here are photos of Debby’s impact.

Lido Beach, FL.

The Gulf of Mexico pours onto Lido Beach, near Sarasota, on Sunday afternoon during high tide. Forecasters said Debby could reach hurricane strength sometime over the next few days.

Longboat Key, FL.

Canoes float in the street across from the city pier in Longboat Key, Fla., near Sarasota. Forecasters said that up to 10 inches of rain were possible along the coast, with isolated amounts possibly reaching 15 inches.

Sunset Beach, FL.

A dog named Sheba enjoys the floodwaters on Sunset Beach, near St. Petersburg, Fla. Debby dumped heavy rain on parts of Florida and spawned some isolated tornadoes, causing some damage to homes and knocking down power lines.

THE WEATHER CHANNEL Reports.