Judge sets new trial date in Sarah Palin’s libel lawsuit against The New York Times

(BURLINGTON, Vt.) Residents of parts of upstate New York and Vermont awoke to winter-like weather Thursday morning, including the earliest a foot of snow has fallen in the higher elevations of the Green Mountain state in 14 years.

The overnight snowfall brought 12 inches to Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, and 15 inches to the summit of Whiteface Mountain in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

The snowy weather ties 2010 as the earliest date that the snow depth at Mount Mansfield has reached a foot, according to the National Weather Service in Burlington, Vermont.

Winter storm watches and warnings were also issued in the West from Oregon to Colorado, where one to more than two feet of October snow is forecast through Saturday for the Rocky Mountains.

Millions of people from Oklahoma to Maine were feeling their coldest air of the season Thursday morning. Frost and freeze alerts were issued in 20 eastern states or about half of the country.

Frost alerts were also issued for Little Rock, Arkansas, Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta. Asheville, North Carolina, which is still recovering from devastating floods caused by Hurricane Helene last month, was under a frost alert Thursday.

The weather was also chilly in Tampa Bay, Florida, where temperatures dipped to the 50s Thursday morning.

The cold spell is expected to be short-lived. A warm-up is on the way for much of the eastern half of the United States. Temperatures are forecast to jump to the 70s in the Northeast and the 80s across the South over the weekend.

The high forecast for New York City on Sunday is 73 degrees, while Tampa could reach 83 on Sunday.

The first major winter storm of the season is moving through the Pacific Northwest on Thursday. Ahead of this storm, gusty winds and dry conditions are sparking fire weather alerts across the West Coast.

Red flag warnings signaling elevated fire danger have been issued for the San Francisco Bay Area and much of Northern California. Red flag warnings were also in place Thursday for parts of Colorado and Minnesota, and extreme fire danger is forecast for Nebraska, where warm, dry and gusty winds could spread fires quickly.

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(NEW YORK) — As Florida struggles to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Milton, and the lingering effects from Helene two weeks earlier, the long-term health consequences could be devastating, studies suggest.

A recent study published in the journal Nature examining nearly 500 tropical cyclones from 1930 to 2015 in the U.S. suggested that big storms lead to thousands of extra deaths after the storms, and leave lasting impacts on public health.

The reasons for the extra deaths aren’t yet clear, but studies speculate that they may be related to socioeconomics, infectious diseases, and exacerbating effects on chronic health conditions like heart disease and mental stress.

“We find that there are elevated rates of mortality that extend far beyond that immediate aftermath of a storm, and it persists for up to 15 years,” Rachel Young, an environmental economist at University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of the study, told ABC News.

“We estimate that these indirect deaths that occur through a number of channels over many, many years are equal to between 7,000 to 11,000 deaths per storm, which is 300 times greater than the official death count,” she continued.

That translates to between 55,280 and 88,080 excess deaths every year. The study also found that hurricanes and their aftereffects are estimated to have caused more deaths in the U.S. than all recorded car accidents, infectious diseases and war fatalities combined, totaling between 3.6 million and 5.2 million deaths.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined the aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Maria and noted 1,139 additional deaths reported, compared to the official count of 64 deaths officially attributed to the storm.

Other studies have shown that tropical cyclones can increase hospitalizations by up to 10% for older adults, primarily for respiratory and infectious diseases.

Some studies also suggest that people with lower incomes often have less access to healthcare, and communities of color are more likely to be exposed to harmful pollution, making them more vulnerable to a storm’s immediate effects and aftereffects.

Infants and Black communities are particularly at risk after a storm, the Nature study revealed. About 99% of infant deaths happen more than 21 months later, meaning even babies born after the storm are affected. Additionally, those in Black communities face about three times the risk of death compared to white communities.

Although the Nature study doesn’t specifically explore why these differences exist, researchers are still working to better understand the phenomenon.

“We know that the Southeastern portion of the United States has elevated rates of mortality for infant and young populations compared to the rest of the country,” Young said. “And we find that tropical cyclones – that these states are being impacted by tropical cyclones a lot – [are] a major driver of this sort of difference in the mortality rates between the Southeast and the country.”

Storm surges are another phenomenon that could harm health long after a major a weather event is over. After Hurricane Milton, the water surged as high six feet in some areas of Florida. The risk of waterborne diseases can increase as much as 50% after such surges, which in turn can trigger respiratory illnesses due to mold, allergens and contaminated water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to Young, the public health challenges that last far beyond clean-up and recovery are something that needs to be evaluated and considered when determining how to respond to natural disasters.

“We don’t want to see people having significant delays in getting aid,” Young added. “There’s been a push for a more proactive disaster policy and less just responding in the aftermath of the event.”

Dr. Faizah Shareef is an internal medicine resident physician and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NASSAU, Bahamas) — Search efforts have been suspended for a 66-year-old woman who fell overboard on a Taylor Swift-themed cruise Tuesday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The Coast Guard previously said they were assisting with the search, which was being led by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.

“We were informed by @TheRBDF this afternoon that they are suspending the active search efforts pending further developments & were no longer requesting further @USCG assistance,” the U.S. Coast Guard wrote on X.

The missing passenger fell off the Royal Caribbean ship Allure of the Seas about 17 miles north of Nassau, Bahamas, the Coast Guard said.

The woman has not been publicly identified.

The four-night Swift-themed voyage, known as “In My Cruise Era,” set sail from Miami for the Bahamas on Monday. It was not officially affiliated with Swift.

About 400 people registered for the cruise, which was scheduled to include karaoke, a dance party and friendship bracelet trading.

In a statement from the cruise company, Royal Caribbean said it initiated search efforts as soon as the woman fell overboard.

“Our crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort and is working with local authorities We are also providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our guest’s family, we have no additional details to share,” a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said.

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