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Triple weather convergence
The United States faced a triple meteorological threat as wildfire smoke from Canada blanketed the East while severe thunderstorms and flash flooding warnings spread across parts of the north-eastern US and new fires burned across the West.
“Texas flooding turns deadly as wildfire smoke spreads across U”
In the north-east, the first wave of powerful storms moved through northern New Jersey and New York City on Saturday, prompting a flash flood warning through 2pm, and by the afternoon more than 2.5in (6cm) of rain had fallen in some locations with flooding under way or expected in areas covered by the warning.
In Texas, the National Weather Service forecast the Devils River in south-west Texas to reach major flood stage on Saturday morning and to climb as high as 22ft (6.7 meters), while the Rio Grande was expected to peak at 21ft (6.4 meters) by Sunday morning.
The same period saw wildfire smoke return to New York City and surrounding communities on Saturday, sending air quality back into unhealthy levels after a brief break on Friday.
In the West, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 68 large wildfires burning across 15 states, with 17 new blazes igniting overnight in the Pacific Northwest after lightning strikes.
Air quality and expert framing
Smoke from Canadian wildfires turned skies orange-brown from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., and Washington resident Stewart Verdery described waking to smoke-filled skies saying, "It's pretty crazy to wake up at sunrise and not see the sun when it's not even raining," and "And it smells like somebody's having the world's largest cookout."
The Telegraph India report also quoted National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec warning that the smoke source was going to continue "for certainly a week, probably," and that it would depend on "which way the wind's blowing as to where the smoke is going to affect the most."
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott warned that even as rainfall eased, "The rivers are going to continue to rise," and the state confirmed two deaths linked to this week's flooding.
Jesse Berman, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, framed the simultaneous hazards as "These are compound events, and that can sometimes make the impacts of them far worse than what we would experience with any one of these events individually," while Michael Mann said the events were linked by a jet stream pattern known as "resonance."
Mann added that his research shows human-driven climate change has led to a tripling of these stalled jet stream events since the 1950s.
What comes next
Across the affected regions, authorities urged residents to limit outdoor activity and stay indoors as air quality alerts spread, with the Telegraph India report noting that Chicago was rated "very unhealthy" and that AirNow predicted air quality would improve over the course of the day.
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The Express Tribune reported that the Canadian military was preparing to evacuate Fort Hope, a remote Ontario community of 600 people threatened by forest wildfires, and it said federal natural resources ministry reported 69 new fires overnight in Canada bringing the number to 955.
In Texas, the Guardian reported that emergency crews carried out more rescues on Friday as additional heavy rain expanded the flood threat, and it said the flooding had killed at least two people and left hundreds more needing rescue.
The Independent reported that the NWS forecast rains to begin easing in Texas on Friday while hot and dry weather was expected in the coming week, and it described the Hill Country as enduring its third consecutive day of severe flooding.
With the fires and smoke continuing to interact with the weather system, the National Weather Service placed much of the tri-state area under a level 3 (out of 5) risk, indicating numerous severe storms were likely.
