Utah firenado rated EF2 and lightning causes N.J. fatality

Odds of Dexter developing from a Gulf of Mexico disturbance are low, but it will continue to deliver rain risks in and around Louisiana on Thursday. While some storms could again dot the Mid-Atlantic, they should be fewer than Wednesday which brought another round of seemingly never-ending rain to the region.

Weather Watch

Gulf of Mexico rainstorm. A Level 3 out of 4 flood risk exists for a portion of south-central Louisiana on Thursday as an area of disturbed weather moves west along the northern Gulf Coast. While several inches of rain are likely in the wettest spots — the speed and messy nature of the system should keep flooding on the isolated to scattered side.

Firenado! Yesterday, I shared a link to a fire-caused vortex in Utah. It has since been confirmed to have contained an EF2 tornado that lasted for about 12 minutes, was nearly stationary and damaged a home plus several outbuildings. Although it formed under different circumstances than a thunderstorm tornado, many of the processes are similar, including rapidly rising air and a rotating updraft on a convective cell.

Lightning links

Drone captures tornado racing across Wisconsin. (Fox Weather)

Lightning season

A lightning strike in New Jersey killed one and injured more than a dozen late Wednesday during the latest round of storms in the Eastern U.S.

It’s the second deadly strike in a week across the country and the second in New Jersey this year. There have been 12 total lightning deaths in 2025, 10 of which have happened since June.

We’re running pretty close to average to date, per the last 10 years, although also already near the totals of the last several. July and August are typically the peak of lightning deaths, due to a confluence of widespread thunderstorms and outdoor summertime activities.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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