Hurricane Bill Hits Category 4

(AP) - A weakening Hurricane Bill spun northward today, churning up rough seas, creating dangerous rip tides and closing beaches to swimmers up and down the eastern seaboard, including President Obama's planned vacation spot, Martha's Vineyard. The Category 1 hurricane was expected to pass the mainland well off New England, but was still packing high winds and waves that had safety officials urging extreme caution. More»

(AP) - Hurricane Bill prompted tropical storm warnings for parts of the East Coast today, including President Obama's planned vacation spot of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. The storm isn't expected to hit the mainland, but it could bring "extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents," warn meteorologists. The Obamas are due to arrive tomorrow. More»

(NEWSER) - Gabrielle made a relatively tame landfall—with top winds hitting the 50 mph mark—on North Carolina's coast today at 11:45am, reports CNN. It's more a relief than a worry for the drought-stricken region, but storm surge flooding of up to 3 feet was possible. The storm was to turn northeast tonight, heading back out into the Atlantic. More»

Kansas, Oklahoma warned of 'life-threatening' weather

(AP) - More than a dozen possible tornadoes were reported today as forecasters warned residents across the nation's midsection to brace for "life-threatening" weather. An apparent tornado took down barns, outbuildings, and large trees in southeast Nebraska, and Johnson County emergency director Clint Strayhorn said he was still trying to determine how long the twister was on the ground and how much damage it did. "I'm on a 2-mile stretch that this thing is on the ground and I haven't even gotten to the end of it yet," he said as he walked the path of destruction near the Johnson-Nemaha county line. More»

Toll could rise in Missouri, Illinois

(NEWSER) - At least nine people are dead as a violent storm system sweeps across the Midwest, causing tornadoes, pounding rain, high winds, golf-ball-sized hail, and "dangerous lightning." "It's like nothing I've ever seen, and something I don't care to see again," says the mayor of Harrisburg, Illinois, where Reuters reports that at least six people have been killed in a twister that caused a path of destruction as wide as three or four football fields. "There are semis toppled, cars thrown into lakes, and everything else," the mayor says. More»