100 million Americans on alert for extreme heat, humidity
ABC News
(NEW YORK) — At least 100 million Americans are on alert for dangerous heat and humidity — stretching from Texas to Maine — on Friday, with parts of the Eastern Seaboard feeling like it’s in the triple digits.
Heat advisories are in place from Texas to West Virginia on Friday, with temperatures reaching between 105 and 110 degrees.
In Boston, the heat index — how hot it feels with humidity — could reach 103 degrees; New York City could feel like 104 degrees and Washington, D.C., could feel like 109 degrees.
The heat will reach levels that could impact “anyone without sufficient cooling” or proper hydration, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS added there will be “little to no overnight relief.”
An incoming cold front will provide a slight relief late Friday afternoon, with showers and thunderstorms leading to cooler temperatures in New England.
The sweltering temperatures will continue into the weekend and into next week from the Midwest to the Southeast, with heat indices expected to react 113 in parts of North Carolina and 110 from St. Louis to Tampa.
An extreme heat risk is in place from Sunday through Thursday for large portions of the Southeast.
While St. Louis deals with the heat wave, parts of Kansas City, Missouri, are under a flash flood watch on Friday. Some parts were under a flash flood warning early Friday morning with 1 to 3 inches of rain having already fallen by 4:30 a.m.
According to the Kansas City Fire Department, multiple vehicles have been reported in high water and at least 10 water rescues have occurred as of Friday morning.
More rain, from southwest Kansas to central Illinois, is likely to continue through Friday morning, but will break up in the afternoon. However, a redevelopment of this storm is expected later in the day on Friday, bringing additional heavy rain overnight and possible flooding for some of the areas already hit earlier in the day.
During these extremely warm temperatures, the National Weather Service recommends those in impacted areas “limit outdoor activity, stay hydrated and ensure access to air-conditioning and other cooling areas.”
For tips on how to stay safe in a heat wave, click here.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s administration is pausing over $6 billion of congressionally-appropriated federal funding for after-school, student support, teacher training, English language and other education programs, according to a Department of Education memo obtained by ABC News.
In a letter to Congress from the agency’s office of legislation and congressional affairs Monday afternoon, the DOE said a notification would be sent to certain grantees alerting them that funding for the upcoming school year would be reviewed on July 1 and decisions concerning this academic year have “not yet been made.”
“The department will not be issuing grant award notifications obligating funds for these programs on July 1 prior to completing that review,” the memo reads in part. “The department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the president’s priorities and the department’s statutory responsibilities.”
The statutorily mandated special education funding through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have been awarded to states on time, according to a DOE source.
But school budgets for the year are typically approved in May or June and are ready to be allocated by July 1, according to education finance experts. The abrupt messaging from the administration gave scant details on how the key programs would be impacted moving forward and comes just weeks before many state education agencies return students to the classroom.
The 2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman, an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor in Tennessee, told ABC News any withholding of funds will affect schools.
“School budgets are already very tight, so withholding funds for required programs — such as those for English learners — will certainly place a burden on school systems,” Testerman wrote in a statement to ABC News.
“This likely will mean that systems will face the difficult decision to make budget cuts in other areas, affecting students. In rural systems like mine, this could mean a reduction in overall staff or the elimination of crucial supports for students such as afterschool and tutoring programs,” Testerman added.
House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., called the move to withhold the appropriated funds a violation of federal law with potentially devastating consequences.
“The halting of these critical funds harms the students, educators, and schools that strive to provide quality public education with the meager funds and challenges they face,” Scott wrote in a statement to ABC News.
“Cash-strapped school districts, particularly those in low-income and rural areas, cannot afford this delay and will likely be forced to either lay off staff or cut back on programs and services while the White House Office of Budget and Management ‘reviews’ the funding,” Scott said.
State attorneys general are expected to sue the administration over the reviews, according to a source familiar with the matter. Parents groups and education advocates decrying the decision are also mounting lawsuits against the administration, the source confirmed. Advocates accuse the administration of undermining public education in a “cruel betrayal” of students.
“Schools are already grappling with severe teacher shortages, burnout and under-resourced classrooms, and here comes the federal government ripping resources away from public schools. It is outrageous and unconscionable,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle.
“Educators and parents will not be silent while students are undervalued, unheard and unsupported,” Pringle wrote in a statement, adding, “We will stand up, speak out and take action to ensure every classroom is a place of dignity, opportunity and respect.”
Education providers are sounding the alarm about the funding that impacts millions of students, teachers, and families, telling ABC News they fear that low-income students and families will be left in a bind with no other options of care for their children.
The Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit organization, said, “If these funds are not released very soon, we will quickly see more children and youth unsupervised and at risk, more academic failures, more hungry kids, more chronic absenteeism, higher dropout rates, more parents forced out of their jobs, and a less STEM-ready and successful workforce as our child care crisis worsens dramatically.”
The pause comes as efforts to dismantle the Department of Education have been blocked by lower courts. The Supreme Court is also expected to weigh in on the firing of nearly 2,000 employees at the agency.
The DOE referred additional questions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
An OMB spokesman told ABC News the pause is due to an “ongoing programmatic review” of education funding, adding no decisions have been made yet.
Many of the programs “grossly misused” government funds to promote a “radical leftwing agenda,” the OMB spokesperson added. In some cases, the programs allegedly promote illegal immigration advocacy and queer resistance in the arts, according to the spokesman.
(NEW YORK) — Hundreds of wildfires still burning in Canada are expected to undermine air quality across the Upper Midwest and Northeast into Tuesday.
At least 738 wildfires are currently burning in Canada, with at least 201 out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
As a result, at least eight states from Wisconsin to Maine were under air quality alerts as of Monday morning due to wildfire smoke.
Heavy smoke will run through that corridor on Monday, with hazy skies expected from Green Bay, through Detroit and New York City to Boston.
Detroit and Chicago begin Monday listed among the world’s 10 worst major cities for air quality.
Those living under alerts should limit outside exertion and keep their windows closed, officials said. Alerts may remain in place through Tuesday with smoke still lingering.
(WYOMING) — More geological changes are occurring at Yellowstone National Park, as another hole forms in one of the park’s basins.
The hole is a blue water spring, discovered by geologists in April as they conducted routine maintenance of temperature logging stations at Norris Geyser Basin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The pool, located in the Porcelain Basin sub-basin west of a patch of vegetation known as “Tree Island,” was not there during their last visit to the area in the fall, according to the USGS.
The water is light blue in color and is about 1 foot deep below the rim. It’s geological features indicate it formed as a result of a hydrothermal explosion — an event caused by pressure changes that result from the transition of liquid water to steam, according to the USGS.
The pool measures about 13 feet in diameter and is surrounded by numerous small rocks about 1 foot across. The rocks are covered by light gray, sandy mud.
It is “not surprising” that a hydrothermal explosion occurred at the site, as it has happened several times in recent decades, according to the USGS. The North Geyser Basin is the “most dynamic” area in Yellowstone, the agency said.
High-resolution satellite imagery indicates that the hole was not present on Dec. 19, but images taken on Jan. 6 show a depression that had formed in the area. By Feb. 13, the pool had been filled with water, the satellite images show.
More will hydrothermal explosions will likely be recorded, as a monitoring station installed in 2023 can detect geophysical data indicating an explosion.
In April 2024, a “small” explosion at the Porcelain Terrace left a crater measuring several feet across in diameter, according to the USGS.
A hole that formed in Yellowstone’s Biscuit Basin, near Old Faithful, in July 2024 was also attributed to a hydrothermal explosion, according to the National Park Service.
While that hole likely formed in a single major explosive event, the newest thermal feature appears to have formed by multiple small events that initially threw rocks but later threw silica mud a short distance, creating a small pit that became filled with silica-rich water.
Geologists estimate that the feature probably started to develop on Dec. 25, with further activity occurring through late January and early February, according to the USGS.
Beneath Yellowstone National Park lies a complex and extensive volcanic system. The park is thoroughly monitored by the USGS and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
