Hurricane Rafael could strengthen to Category 3 before landfall in Cuba: Latest track and forecast
ABC News
(FLORIDA KEYS, Fla.) — Hurricane Rafael, now a powerful Category 2 hurricane, could strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane later in the day before making landfall in Cuba on Wednesday night.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, where heavy rain, gusty winds and even tornadoes are possible on Wednesday and into Thursday morning.
By the weekend, Rafael will weaken as it stalls in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rafael isn’t posing a major threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast, but some of the tropical moisture could move toward the coast and add to the rain from an approaching cold front.
Most models predict Rafael sitting in the Gulf into next week and possibly moving southwest toward Mexico.
(NEW YORK) — Another dazzling display of the wonders of outer space will be visible from Earth in the coming days.
The annual Orionid meteor shower, which originates from Halley’s Comet, is expected light up the night sky starting this weekend.
Considered by NASA as “one of the most beautiful showers of the year,” the Orionids are the latest astronomical event this month, which already has included a strong solar storm that led to widespread northern lights, the Tsuchinshan-Atlas comet, and the brightest supermoon of the year.
“There’s been a lot of great celestial events this year alone,” Shawn Dahl, coordinator for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, told ABC News, describing them as “a lot of glorious things to see in the sky.”
The Orionid meteor shower is produced every year when Earth passes through the debris – composed of ice and dust – left behind by Halley’s Comet, according to NASA.
When the debris trail intersects Earth’s atmosphere, the debris disintegrates and creates streaks in the sky, according to NASA.
The intensity of the peak activity tends to vary, but they are “much higher than usual” this year, Elizabeth Macdonald, a space physicist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told ABC News.
In a normal year, the Orionids produce 10 to 20 showers per hour, but during exceptional years, such as 2006 to 2009, the peak rates were on par with the Perseids, at about 50 to 75 per hour, according to the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
The Orionids can be seen from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres without a telescope, according to NASA. In the Northern Hemisphere, face southeast, and if in the Southern hemisphere, face northeast.
However, the light from the supermoon, which began to wane on Friday, is expected to limit a lot of visibility, Macdonald said.
“The moon is going to bleach out a lot of meteors,” she said.
But even with the full moon, “relatively bright” meteors from Orionid tend to streak across the sky, said Dahl, who does backyard astronomy as a hobby.
Traveling to the darkest spot possible will likely increase the chances of seeing the shower, Macdonald said. It is also important for stargazers to keep their eyes dark-adapted in order to see the meteors, which includes avoiding constant interaction with the bright screen of a cell phone, Dahl said.
“In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors,” NASA advised. “Be patient – the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse.”
Awareness of the direction to look toward is important as well, Dahl said. The meteors tend to be “pointing back” as they’re streaking through the sky, so looking toward the radiant in the sky – that is, the point where the paths of meteors appear to meet – will increase the chances of seeing them, Dahl said.
“You have to be kind of know the general area of the sky to look,” Dahl said. “That’s why [meteors] have a name.”
The radiant of meteors is the constellation from which they appear to originate, according to NASA. For the Orionids, the radiant is the constellation Orion.
But it is not necessary to only look toward the radiant, as the Orionids are visible across the night sky, according to NASA, which advised viewing the Orionids from 45 to 90 degrees away from the radiant.
The Orionids tend to peak during mid-October every year, according to NASA, with the hours after midnight typically the best viewing times.
The meteor shower is expected to peak on Sunday and Monday, at which point the moon will be 83% full, according to the AMS.
The best time to see the meteor shower will probably be Monday night, once the supermoon has waned, Macdonald said.
(GRAND CANYON VILLAGE, Ariz.) — An 80-year-old man died in Grand Canyon National Park over the weekend after his boat flipped in the Colorado River, marking the 13th person to die in the park this year.
The man was on a commercial rapids trip Sunday and fell into the water at Fossil Rapid, according to the National Park Service.
He fell in at around 3:40 p.m., according to officials, with an emergency being reported to the National Park Service via satellite phone.
The group said CPR was already in progress as park rangers responded to the emergency.
However, efforts by the group and park rangers, who were flown in by helicopter, were not able to resuscitate him.
The National Park Service and Coconino County medical examiner are investigating the incident. The victim was not identified by officials.
Several people have died in Grand Canyon National Park just in August alone. A 33-year-old woman, Chenoa Nickerson, was washed away in flash flooding was found on Sunday, the same day as the 80-year-old man died in the boating accident.
Three people died in the park on the last day of July and into the first week of August, including a 20-year-old man who fell off a scenic overlook on July 31, a BASE jumper who fell to his death on Aug. 1 and a 20-year-old female hiker who was found dead 150 feet below the rim after she entered on Aug. 3.
A park official told The Associated Press this week that about 10 to 15 people die in Grand Canyon National Park every year, with just 11 dying last year.
(JACKSON, Wyo.) –A beloved grizzly bear has been struck and killed by a vehicle in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, officials said.
The famed grizzly bear — known simply as “Grizzly Bear 399”due to the identity tag attached to her ear — was fatally struck on Tuesday evening by a vehicle on Highway 26/89 in Snake River Canyon, just south of Jackson, Wyoming, and her identity was confirmed through ear tags and a microchip, according to a statement from the National Park Service on Wednesday.
“Grizzly bear 399 had a yearling cub with her, whose whereabouts are currently unknown,” park officials said. “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the yearling was also involved in the incident, but the US Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring the area.”
Vehicle collisions with wildlife, including grizzly bears, are not uncommon. From 2009 to 2023, there have been 49 grizzly bear mortalities due to vehicle collisions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the National Park Service is now working with state and local agencies to gather more information surrounding this latest incident.
“People from around the world have followed grizzly bear 399 for several decades. At 28 years old, she was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Hilary Cooley, Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Wildlife vehicle collisions and conflict are unfortunate. We are thankful the driver is okay and understand the community is saddened to hear that grizzly bear 399 has died,” said Angi Bruce, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director.
In 2024, including this incident, there have been 2 grizzly bear mortalities from vehicle strikes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with the average number of grizzly bear mortalities in the region due to vehicle collisions during 2009-2023 standing at 3.3 bears deaths per year, authorities said.
“The grizzly bear is an iconic species that helps make the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so extraordinary. Grizzly bear 399 has been perhaps the most prominent ambassador for the species. She has inspired countless visitors into conservation stewardship around the world and will be missed,” said Grand Teton National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins.
No additional information has been made available at this time and the investigation into the incident is currently ongoing.
