Weather

EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — On Thursday night, many residents got a look at the northern lights covering the Northeast Pennsylvania skies.

When captured with a low-exposure camera, the starry night sky of NEPA showed bright pinks and greens against its typical blue.

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County. Courtesy: Julia PriestCanton, Bradford CountyScranton, Lackawanna CountyArchbald, Lackawanna CountyBuck Township, Luzerne CountyDallas, Luzerne CountyDallas, Luzerne CountyWest Pittston, Luzerne CountyLarksville, Luzerne County

(NEXSTAR) — A severe solar storm impacting Earth could bring the northern lights to portions of the U.S. on Thursday.

Earlier this week, a massive solar flare was detected on the Sun, followed by a fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) directed toward Earth.

The flare sparked solar radiation storm conditions on Wednesday, posing a risk to satellites, communication signals and GPS systems. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) also issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for the CME.

A rare deluge of rainfall has left lagoons of water amid the palm trees and sand dunes of the Sahara desert. Some regions are seeing more water than they had in decades. Residents surveyed the scene in awe. Southeastern Morocco’s desert is among the world's most barren and arid places and rarely experiences rain in late summer. This rainfall will likely help refill the large groundwater aquifers, but it left dozens dead in Morocco and Algeria.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Milton, which reached Category 5 strength Monday, is heading right for Florida's west coast, with a potential landfall near or at Tampa Bay.

The National Hurricane Center predicted that it could possibly weaken to a Category 3 before making landfall, but where it makes landfall could produce drastic differences in how the bay is hit by storm surge.

LEWISBURG — Longtime Union County Emergency Management Director Michelle Dietrich is retiring after nearly 37 years.

Hurricane Helene and its remnants created a humanitarian crisis from Florida’s Gulf Coast into Southern Appalachia, and thousands of volunteers are mobilizing to help those suffering from the natural disaster.

A new study says hurricanes in the United States are hundreds of times deadlier in the long run than the government calculates. In fact, the researchers say they contribute to more American deaths than car accidents or all the nation’s wars. Wednesday's study says the average storm hitting the U.S. contributes to the early deaths of 7,000 to 11,000 people over a 15-year period. That dwarfs the average of 24 immediate and direct deaths that the government counts in a hurricane’s aftermath.

SELINSGROVE — A Georgia family of four narrowly beat Hurricane Helene as they traveled to Selinsgrove late last week for a planned vacation.

(NEXSTAR/AP) — Even as Helene was downgraded from a powerful Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm, it continued to dump heavy rain as it blew through the South Friday. Emergency crews were rushing to rescue people trapped in flooded homes amid a massive storm surge and millions of customers in several states were left without power.

As officials and residents took stock of the damage, the death toll mounted to at least 41 victims Friday. At least seven people were killed in Florida, Nexstar's WFLA reported. At least two of the people killed appeared to have drowned.

With the first significant winter weather event forecasted this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), is providing the below winter driving advice for motorists to consider if traveling is necessary.