Claudette Hits Fla. as Hurricane Bill Forms

Nate expected to hit Mexico, while Maria churns in Caribbean

(NEWSER) - Irene, Katia, and Lee all made not-so-nice headlines, and unfortunately there’s more where they came from: Tropical Storms Nate and Maria are currently taking shape in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Nate, formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, is expected to drop anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of rain on parts of Mexico, and could start moving north by tomorrow—by which point it could also strengthen into a hurricane. More»

Expected to affect Florida, could hit Georgia, Carolinas

(NEWSER) - The first hurricane of the Atlantic season has officially developed. Irene is currently moving over Puerto Rico; it could eventually rattle Florida and skim Georgia and the Carolinas later this week. First, though, it’s headed toward Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The storm has maximum sustained wins of 75mph and is pushing west-northwest at 12mph, the AP reports. More»

Distant storms cause deadly riptides

(NEWSER) - A surfer is dead, a swimmer is missing, and authorities are warning people to be careful in the water along much of the Atlantic seaboard as distant hurricanes generate rip tides. The body of 47-year-old surfer Tazwell Brown was recovered by his peers in central Florida on Saturday, and police called off the search for another person who never returned from a swim in Ocean City, Md., yesterday, the AP reports. Hurricane Earl, one of the storms causing the riptides, intensified into a Category 3 storm and is predicted to become a Category 4 in the next few days, and could threaten the US directly. More»

No drunk horseback riding in Colorado, and other weird rules

(NEWSER) - Growlers may be the new hipster trend , but good luck finding one in Alabama. Any beer bottle larger than 16 ounces is banned there, along with "sensuous" wine labels. That's just one of a dozen crazy liquor laws complied by Mother Jones :

• No sunrise mimosas in Alaska: you can't buy booze between 5am and 8am.
• Stay out of the driver's seat and the saddle if you've been imbibing in Colorado, where drunk horseback riding is illegal.

Oil companies shutting down rigs, evacuating workers

(NEWSER) - Hurricane Ida is surging toward the Gulf Coast, triggering emergency warnings in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. Ida "threatens the safety and security" of citizens along the state's southeast coastline, said an emergency declaration by Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Forecasters are hoping Ida will lose force as it heads north, but winds were clocked last night at 105 mph. Ida and an accompanying low pressure system killed 124 people in San Salvador in floods and mudslides over the weekend. More»