#drought

#drought

By Wednesday night, most parts of Los Angeles have a roughly 20% to 30% chance of getting a measurable amount of rain. Winds are expected to pick up late Wednesday into Thursday, especially in mountain and desert areas, with gusts in the 25- to 35-mph range.

If the lake level drops below 3,490 feet - termed the minimum power pool - the turbines that generate electricity have to be shut down. When the water level reaches critically low thresholds, air is sucked down like a whirlpool into the penstocks, forming explosive bubbles which can cause massive failure inside the dam.

Dry air should move into South Florida this week, along with warm sunshine. Overnight Tuesday, a drier and more stable air mass will descend upon the state, creating a near-zero chance of rain throughout the week and into the weekend. Chances of rain are very low, with the exception of a brief coastal shower toward the end of the week. Sunny skies will prevail as well, pushing afternoon highs to the mid-upper 80s toward the weekend.

The weather this week looks ideal, with sunny to modestly sunny skies each day, temperatures in the mid-70s to low-80s. Evening temperatures should drop to around the 60s throughout the workweek. Winds should be relatively calm, and humidity will be moderate. Things could change a bit over the coming weekend, with chances of showers increasing Saturday night into Sunday. Conditions also will remain dry.

Strong cattle prices, record beef demand, and renewed policy attention are giving the North American cattle sector reasons for optimism - but supply constraints and cross-border issues remain front and centre, says Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). RealAgriculture's Shaun Haney was at CattleCon 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, this week, to discuss the state of the cattle industry, trade relationships, and the policy challenges shaping the years ahead.

In 2020, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced that the company would reduce its water consumption and even become "water positive" by 2030. This means that Microsoft would replenish more water than it consumes. At the time, this goal seemed achievable, but the rapid rise of generative AI has completely changed the playing field. The construction of new data centers has accelerated, and with it the need for water for cooling.

In the slanting, late-afternoon summer sun, the fields around the small Australian town of Ouyen almost 450km north-west of Melbourne turn the colour of honey. The edges shimmer with silver, that old cruel trick of feigning water where it hasn't rained for weeks. Summer is always hot out here in the sparse, flat Mallee, but this year is shaping up to be particularly harsh.

Vail Mountain has recorded its lowest snowpack in 47 years, with just 67 inches of snow so far this season. It has been a tough season so far for many resorts located in the Rockies and out West. "We experienced one of the worst early-season snowfalls in the Western U.S. in over 30 years," Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer, said in a press release. This has limited Vail Mountain and other resorts from opening new terrain and has decreased skier visits.

Air pollution has reached "alarming" levels in the Iranian capital, Tehran, leading authorities to close schools and universities and ban truck travel in the region in the latest environmental crisis to strike the Middle East nation. The Air Quality Index in Tehran and surrounding cities on November 29 climbed to between 170 and 200 -- considered to be "unhealthy" for all age groups, Iranian media reported.

Water, and its absence, has become Iran's national obsession. In the mosques of northern Tehran the imams have been praying for rain, while the meteorologists count down the hours until the weather is forecast to break and rain is finally due to fall from the sky. Forecasts of rain-producing clouds are front-page news. More than 50 days have passed since the start of Iran's rainy season and more than 20 provinces have not yet had a drop.

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The first recorded death from West Nile virus this year in L.A. County was confirmed Friday by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The individual, whose details have been kept anonymous, was hospitalized in the San Fernando Valley for neurological illness caused by the mosquito-borne virus. In Southern California, October is the middle of mosquito season. Across Los Angeles County, 14 West Nile virus infections have been documented in 2025; half have been in the San Fernando Valley.