The Bay Air Air District decided Tuesday to usher in 2026 with a directive: No burning wood. Such were the consequences from a Spare the Air alert the agency issued for Thursday, the first day of the new year. Personal fireworks and residential wood burning are expected to cause localized elevated pollution levels, the air district said in a social media statement announcing the alert.
Storm Bram will bring very strong to gale force southerly winds with the strongest winds along the coast. All counties will see very strong and gusty winds coming into place at 3am tonight until 9pm tomorrow. A Status Orange Wind warning will be in place for counties Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Wexford from 7am tomorrow until 3pm. While another Status Orange Wind Warning will be in place for counties Clare, Limerick, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo from 10am to 6pm.
Breaking waves between 10 and 14 feet are expected Monday through Wednesday. The strong swell coming from the west will increase the potential for hazards such as sneaker waves - which run up beaches, rocks and jetties and can catch unsuspecting people off guard - and rip currents. Lulls of 10 to 20 minutes are expected between some of the largest sets of waves, making it even more difficult to spot danger before it rushes up the beach, according to the weather service.
A supermoon - the closest such moon to the Earth this year - is wreaking havoc with ocean tides up and down the state's coast just as an atmospheric river storm moved through Northern California. The "Beaver Moon" has brought with it king tides. And forecasters say that Southern California could see dangerous rip currents and an increased risk of drowning from large breakers, as well as the chance of coastal flooding over the next two days.
A deep, low-pressure storm system moving from the Pacific Northwest to California's Central Coast arrived Monday and, along with it, periods of heavy downpours and turbulent seas that parked a loose sailing vessel on the beach in Santa Cruz overnight and sent a possible localized tornado to an organic farm along the North Coast.
More rain and wind were forecast Wednesday along the Alaska coast where two tiny villages were decimated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong and officials were scrambling to find shelter for more than 1,500 people driven from their homes. The weekend storm brought high winds and surf that battered the low-lying Alaska Native communities along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the south-western part of the state, nearly 500 miles (800km) from Anchorage. At least one person was killed and two were missing.
