Southern California under ‘extreme fire’ warnings as dry, windy conditions spread 2 wildfires

(NEW YORK) — A large storm over the central U.S. is bringing a range of weather issues, from flooding rain and severe weather to heavy snow in the Rockies.

This early season snowstorm has brought more than three feet of snow to portions of New Mexico.

Angel Fire, New Mexico, is home to a popular ski resort that has picked up 40 inches of snowfall in the last 36 hours. That’s still 8 inches below their record snowfall for one storm.

Las Vegas, New Mexico, has picked up 31.7 inches of snow from this storm, breaking their all-time record snowfall of 27 inches in 1958.

Rociada, New Mexico, had 36 inches of snow; 28 inches of snow fell in Genoa, Colorado; 24.5 inches fell in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 20 inches fell in Kenton, Oklahoma.

Denver, Colorado’s snow total of 19.2 inches makes this their third-largest November snowstorm on record.

Winter Storm Warnings have been allowed to expire across parts of Colorado Saturday morning, as the snow tapers off and quieter weather moves in.

Rafael feeds flood threat

Tropical Storm Rafael is meandering around the central Gulf of Mexico with winds of 50 mph.

After seeing so much activity in the Gulf of Mexico this hurricane season, it’s a relief to see a storm that will not be making landfall as a dangerous storm.

There will be indirect impacts from Rafael as some of the moisture from this storm is pulled into a front as it moves across the south Saturday.

There is a High Risk for Excessive Rainfall in parts of Louisiana today with up to 8 inches of rain in the forecast. That flash flood risk extends as far north as Kentucky today.

Rafael is also churning up the seas enough to bring a dangerous rip current risk to several beaches along the Gulf Coast this weekend.

Waves up to 7 feet have prompted High Surf Advisories through Sunday, with minor coastal flooding also possible in parts of Louisiana.  

Wildfire risk

While there are several dangerous wildfires still burning in the west, the conditions have improved enough to limit fire growth this weekend across California.

In the Northeast, a Red Flag Warning remains in effect for portions of 6 states on Saturday due to elevated fire weather concerns.

Wind gusts up to 35 mph and humidity as low as 25% could help to rapidly spread any fires that flare up, so residents are urged to avoid open flames this weekend.

Rain will move into the northeast by Sunday night, offering a bit of relief to an area that hasn’t seen much measurable rainfall in more than a month.

While any rainfall is better than nothing, this is not looking to put a dent in the severe to extreme drought across much of the northeast.

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(NEW YORK) — A NASA employee testified during a weekslong hearing on the implosion of OceanGate’s Titan submersible that the agency had disagreements over the sub maker’s press materials mentioning NASA.

Justin Jackson, a materials engineer with NASA, testified Thursday during the U.S. Coast Guard’s hearing into the June 2023 implosion of the OceanGate submersible, which killed all five passengers while on a deep-sea dive to the Titanic shipwreck.

Jackson said OceanGate’s then-chief operating officer initially reached out to NASA to manufacture a composite hull and they signed an agreement under the Reimbursable Space Act Agreement in early 2020.

NASA had an interest in the fabrication of a thick composite hull for “exploration applications,” though the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the agency from manufacturing or testing one for OceanGate, he said.

NASA did provide remote consultation to OceanGate on a one-third scale mockup, including a plan to try to fabricate a thick-walled hull, Jackson said. Conversations with the company ended in 2021, shortly after a disagreement over press materials invoking NASA, he said.

Asked by investigators why NASA refused OceanGate’s request to use its name in a media release, Jackson said, “It was the language they were using was getting too close to us endorsing. So it was, our folks had some heartburn with the endorsement level of it.”

As previously reported by ABC News, in some public statements, OceanGate suggested that its Titan submersible was designed and engineered with the assistance of entities such as NASA and Boeing. In statements to ABC News in the wake of the catastrophic implosion of the Titan, each entity described its role in the Titan submersible, or lack thereof, as more limited than sometimes stated by OceanGate.

Investigators also heard from a witness with Boeing regarding the company’s past dealings with OceanGate over a carbon-fiber hull during the hearing on Thursday.

Boeing entered an agreement with OceanGate in 2013 to conduct a preliminary feasibility study for a concept vessel, the Coast Guard said. Boeing was asked whether it was feasible to “have a design with a certain amount of buoyancy and safety factor,” Mark Negley, a materials and process engineer with Boeing, said during his testimony.

Negley said Boeing did not manufacture any parts for OceanGate or give advice on the type of carbon fiber to purchase, and was not involved in materials testing.

Negley said Boeing did not work with OceanGate on subsequent requests from the submersible maker.

“I don’t know [why] exactly, you know, I think maybe we were too expensive,” he said.

OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion, which killed five people, including its co-founder, Stockton Rush.

The hearing on the incident began on Sept. 17 and is scheduled to run through Friday in North Charleston, South Carolina, though the proceedings might be impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Coast Guard said.

The main purpose of the hearing is to uncover the facts related to the implosion and to make recommendations, the Coast Guard said.

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(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein’s criminal sexual assault case is scheduled to return on Wednesday to a Manhattan courtroom — and if Weinstein shows up he will be arraigned on a new indictment.

The charges remain sealed until Weinstein appears. The former movie mogul missed his last court date after being rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office presented to the grand jury allegations of three separate women who said Weinstein sexually assaulted them. Their allegations were not part of the initial trial of Weinstein that ended in a conviction, which was later overturned on appeal.

“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement earlier this year, when the conviction was overturned.

Weinstein has denied all claims of sexual misconduct, saying his encounters were consensual.

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