Bomb cyclone to enhance powerful atmospheric river targeting West Coast
ABC News Illustration
(NEW YORK) — A massive plume of moisture from the Pacific called an atmospheric river will hit the West Coast on Tuesday afternoon and last into Friday.
The storm is expected to become a bomb cyclone — which means the pressure in the center of the storm will drop 24 millibars within 24 hours.
The storm could be so strong that it even drops close to double that rate — meaning more than 40 millibars in 24 hours.
Numerous alerts for snow, flooding, high wind and high surf have been issued along the West Coast, from the San Francisco Bay area to Oregon to Washington.
Rain totals could surpass 1 foot in Northern California and southern Oregon. More than 3 feet of snow is possible in the higher elevations.
Wind gusts could reach 85 mph along the coast and waves could climb to 34 feet.
By the weekend, some of the rain from this system will make its way to Southern California.
(NEW YORK) — Users of the nation’s largest subway system will start seeing New York City police officers on every overnight train starting Monday as Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a strategy Thursday to tamp down rider anxiety that has been rising amid a series of horrific high-profile crimes.
“I’m not waiting,” Hochul said during a news conference. “Monday you will start seeing the increased presence on the overnight trains.”
The $77 million strategy will put 750 additional police officers on platforms and in stations and 300 more officers on overnight trains, Hochul said.
“We’ve doubled the number of law enforcement personnel in the New York City subway system in one year,” Hochul said.
The governor said most of the crime committed on the subway system occurs during overnight hours.
“There is a lot of anxiety on these trains late at night. I want to tamper that down,” Hochul said.
The move comes even as New York Police Department statistics show that crime in the transit system has plummeted 36% from this time last year.
However several high-profile attacks in the subway system have prompted calls from riders for government leaders to address the problem.
On Dec. 22, a woman sleeping on a stationary F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station died after being set on fire. The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested after a brief manhunt and charged with first- and second-degree murder and arson in the death of 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, who authorities said was homeless and originally from Toms River, New Jersey.
Zapeta has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Christmas Eve, a man allegedly used a knife to slash a man and a woman at Manhattan’s Grand Central subway station, police said. The suspect faced assault and menacing charges Wednesday.
The man was arrested on assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, harassment, disorderly conduct and a weapons charge after the attack, which left a 42-year-old man with an injured wrist and a 26-year-old woman with a neck injury, police said.
On New Year’s Eve, a 45-year-old man was shoved onto subway tracks ahead of an incoming train at the West 18th Street station in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, according to police. The victim, Joseph Lynskey, survived the attack that was caught on security video and is expected to make a full recovery, police said.
The suspect in the subway shoving, Kamel Hawkins, 23, was taken into custody and charged with attempted murder and assault. He has yet to enter a plea.
On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of a 23-year-old man in the slashing attack that occurred in December at the 50th Street subway station in Manhattan. Bragg alleged that the suspect, Orsen Reyes, stomped on a 48-year-old man’s head and slashed him with a knife. Reyes was indicted on charges of first-degree assault, three counts of assault in the second degree and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
He has pleaded not guilty.
“New Yorkers deserve to be safe in our subway system, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to combat transit crime,” Bragg said in a statement. “I hope the victim continues to heal from this horrifying assault.”
Hochul’s move comes after she ordered New York National Guard troops and New York State Police troopers to be deployed into the subway system to help riders feel safe. The deployment came after after six people were shot, one fatally, at a subway station in the Bronx on Feb. 13, 2024.
(NEW YORK) — A man has sustained serious injuries after leaping to the rescue of his wife who was ambushed by a polar bear in an early morning attack, police said.
Members of the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service working out of the Fort Severn First Nation detachment in Ontario, Canada, were dispatched to a residential address in the early morning hours of Tuesday to reports of gunfire, according to a statement from the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service.
When authorities arrived, they discovered during their investigation that an adult male and adult female “had exited their home before 5 a.m. to find their dogs. While in the driveway of their home, a polar bear lunged at the woman,” police said.
“The woman slipped to ground as her husband leapt onto the animal to prevent its attack. The bear then attacked the male, causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries to his arm and legs,” Nishnawbe Aski Police Service continued.
During the attack, a neighbor reportedly arrived with a firearm and was able to shoot the bear several times before it retreated to a nearby wooded area and subsequently died from its injuries.
When police arrived on scene, they located the deceased polar bear and learned “an adult male had been transported to the community nursing station to have his injuries assessed and treated,” police said.
Officials continued to patrol the area to ensure no other bears were roaming the community following the attack.
The unnamed man is now recovering from serious injuries to his arm and legs, but is expected to survive.
The scene of a shooting in Midtown NYC on Dec. 4, 2024. WABC
(NEW YORK) — Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed by a masked man near a Midtown Manhattan hotel early Wednesday, according to police sources.
The shooting appears to be targeted but police do not know why, sources said.
Thompson was not staying at the Hilton outside of which he was shot, sources said.
Thompson was in New York City for an investors conference and his schedule was widely known, police sources said.
The gunman, who was wearing a ski mask, fled down an alleyway near West 55th Street and remains at large, police said.
The suspect is described as a skinny man wearing all black who stands at about 6-foot-1, police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
