Taban Sharifi grew up in Southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego. She is a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) with the American Meteorological Society (AMS). She has a B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Go Bruins! While in school, Taban was a meteorology intern with NBC LA. There she helped forecast daily weather for the greater Los Angeles region and created a playbook to deploy weather sensors for NBC owned-and-operated stations across the country. Her first on-air job took her to San Angelo, Texas, where she was a morning meteorologist and co-anchor. Working in West Texas gave her knowledge and experience covering severe storms. From there, she moved to Palm Springs, California. People think forecasting in California is sunshine all the time, but with temperatures in the 120’s, wildfires, damaging winds, floodings, and earthquakes, the forecasting kept her very busy! She also worked there as a general assignment reporter and told community stories. Taban is excited for the challenge and opportunity to forecast nationally with WeatherNation. She also looks forward to exploring all that Colorado has to offer!

Taban Sharifi

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Rachel came ashore in far northwestern Mexico, but the moisture, wind, and coastal hazards are still going to impact areas in the next few days. Heavy rain has already prompted flash flooding, with elevated winds reportedly leading to some damaged trees. Remnants of Rachel are also significantly impacting the Southern California coastline.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2109372509783232854" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2109372509783232854"></div><h1>Track &amp; Wind Potential</h1>Hurricane Hilary made headlines in 2023 as it nearly made landfall in California as a hurricane, with heavy rain impacting the deserts and mountains. This system won't have the same wind energy, but could still bring strong and gusty winds to the region that could cause damage, especially in mountainous terrain. The center of Rachel has stayed south of San Diego; however, some elevated winds have been felt already. Desert areas can expect gusts to 35-45 mph through the weekend. The fast forward movement could bring those strong gusts north in Utah or even parts of Wyoming and Idaho. Widespread power outages are not anticipated but a few isolated outages are possible.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 145917-1791752372422.png"><h1>Rain &amp; Flood Forecast</h1>Flooding will likely be the biggest impact from Rachel in the West, and even heavy snow! As moisture is pulled into the west, a cold trough from Canada will help usher the moisture north, sending it through Montana where temperatures will be dropping quickly.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 150115-1791752480057.png">Numerous and significant flash floods are possible for areas like Joshua Tree, Las Vegas, St. George, and Cedar City. There is a MODERATE threat for heavy rainfall and flooding through Sunday night.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 145950-1791752394968.png">Severe storms are possible, in addition to the flooding impacts. A few damaging wind gusts and tornadoes are possible for areas below. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has a MARGINAL risk for severe weather across portions of the Southwest through tonight.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 150144-1791752541201.png">More on your Western Regional forecast can be found :50 past the hour on WeatherNation.

Rachel Spreading Moisture into the Southwest

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Kevin Schneider

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The Twin Cities saw an afternoon high soar to 90 on Saturday - something out of the ordinary for them. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the month of October here is 92. We may threaten that again to close out the weekend.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 072124-1791724977328.png">A ridge will re-establish and start to take over the weather story in the midsection of the country over the next few days. While it won't bring the triple-digits back necessarily, the 90's are more than enough to set records.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 073123-1791725498664.png">For folks in the upper Midwest, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A front dropping through will break the heat, but farther south will take a little longer. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/NORTHERN TEMPSSSS -1791753317530.png">The southern plains and southeast will get back to and stay in another round of August-like heat. Temperatures across the southern plains will dig into the 90s.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/MON - WEDDD-1791753326375.png"><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/MON - WEDDD -1791753346239.png">

Jackie Brown

Hot Weather Baking the Heartland This Week

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WeatherNation Meteorologists

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Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, FL, around 8:30 pm CT as a Category 2 hurricane. Maximum sustained winds were reported at 105 mph with a minimum central pressure of 971 mb.On Wednesday evening, Isaias became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season. This breaks the decades-old record of the latest to form in the modern, satellite era.The storm got off to a slow start, but quickly strengthened Friday, becoming a Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph. Although it weakened slightly as it came ashore, there are widespread reports of wind damage and power outages along the coast. Isaias is now a post-tropical cyclone as it continues moving northward into the Mid-South.<div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2108724199535919547" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2108724199535919547"></div>As of Sunday morning, there are still over 300k customers without power in Florida, including the majority of Santa Rosa County.<h1>Lingering Flood &amp; Severe Weather Threats</h1>Flash flooding and severe storms will accompany strong wind gusts as the remnants of Isaias move north. Flash flood watches are in effect from North Carolina to Virginia, with the Weather Prediction Center highlighting a SLIGHT risk of excessive rainfall in these parts as well.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 145605-1791752182613.png">Sunday's severe weather risks will include strong downdraft winds, in addition to a few tornadoes. The area of greatest concern is again in the Mid-Atlantic<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 145730-1791752256347.png">Stay tuned to the forecast here on WeatherNation. We'll bring you the details you need, and cut out all the hype.

Isaias Makes Landfall as A Category 2, Impacts Spreading North

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A strong upper-level trough digging south from the Gulf of Alaska will bring some noticeable changes to the weather pattern. Wind, snow, and fire weather are possible, and this pattern will last into early this week. <h2>UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH</h2><h2><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/pic4-1791651989874.png">WINTER ALERTS</h2>Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect into Monday. The parts of Montana under the Warning could experience over 1 foot of snow accumulation. This will create very dangerous travel conditions. This includes extremely low visibility and fast accumulations that could deteriorate road conditions. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/into monoday snowssss-1791753610672.png">Some areas have already seen 10 inches of snow. An additional 3-6 inches will be possible for some folks.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/snow reportssss-1791753682583.png"><h2>FORECAST SNOWFALL</h2>Our in-house model is showing significant snowfall through Monday. Forecast models can overpredict snowfall in the Fall months, so this is not a given, but with it being the first big snow in these areas, impacts will be felt. These numbers are in addition to what has already fallen.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/forecast accumuliations -1791753754685.png">

Digging Trough Brings Wind and Snow to the Northern Rockies This Weekend

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Rob grew up in South Florida, where daily afternoon storms and hurricanes piqued his interest in meteorology early on. That interest was fostered by his teachers and his father, who one time brought him onto the roof of their home to watch a funnel cloud move through the Everglades several miles away. Years of filmmaking and tv production in high school gradually pushed him toward broadcast meteorology at Florida State University, where he joined and eventually led the student run daily weather show. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Meteorology, he began his career at KESQ in Palm Springs, California before heading to KFSN in Fresno and WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina. He has covered a diverse array of extreme weather events, including haboobs and flash flooding in the desert, extreme snow in the Sierra, hurricanes, and Appalachian ice storms. He also enjoys telling stories and reporting about weather issues.

Connect with Rob on <a href="https://twitter.com/WxRobBradley">Twitter</a>

Rob Bradley

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Isaias ended the late season streak of no hurricanes in the Atlantic, but how will the rest of the season shape up? Record breaking wind shear is likely to continue to limit most tropical systems in the Atlantic, but a few more storms are still possible. The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a low pressure system near the Cabo Verde Islands, giving it a low chance to develop as it moves NNW. This system is not a threat to the United States.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 042241-1791714411718.png"><h1>Pacific Basin</h1>The Pacific Ocean has been incredibly active so far this hurricane season and looks to continue to create additional activity through the next week. Several systems could bring impacts to the United States. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 043428-1791714875528.png"><h2>Rachel </h2>Rachel is now post-tropical and is moving through the Southwestern United States producing flooding, storms, and gusty winds - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/california-in-the-cone-rachel-heads-toward-the-southwest">click here to read a more detailed forecast.</a><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 043017-1791714626646.png">We also have Hurricane Simon which formed Wednesday afternoon off the coast of Acapulco. Simon is an impressive hurricane, very close to a category 5, and will be riding up the coast through Colima and Jalisco, bringing major impacts to those Mexican states.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 043121-1791714705711.png">Simon is expected to weaken considerably after moving over the state of Jalisco, before making another landfall as a tropical storm near Mazatlan on Tuesday, in the state of Sinaloa. <img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-11 043137-1791714779428.png"><h1>El Niño Fueling Pacific Activity</h1><img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-08 104818-1791478116096.png">The surge in tropical activity comes as El Niño continues to strengthen across the equatorial Pacific. El Niño is characterized by warmer-than-average ocean temperatures across portions of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. Those unusually warm waters can influence weather patterns around the globe while also creating an environment that can favor tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/09/Screenshot 2026-09-28 194202-1790646127358.png">This year’s El Niño has already strengthened considerably, and forecasts indicate it could become exceptionally strong later this year.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/09/Screenshot 2026-09-12 063433-1789216512410.png">

Tropics: Another Blob in the Atlantic, Pacific Stays Hyperactive

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Deep tropical moisture streaming north from the Gulf is combining with a slow-moving front, setting the stage for widespread showers and thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast. Apalachicola, Florida, saw 7.49 inches of rain on Monday; this was the wettest October day on record! More heavy rainfall and flash flooding are possible Thursday into Friday, along with an isolated tornado or two. <div class="twitter-tweet" style="display: flex; justify-content: center" data-twitt-post-id="2107561532381090282" src="https://x.com/WeatherNation/status/2107561532381090282"></div>A stalled front is taking the moisture from Isaias and pulling it across Central and Northern Florida. For more info on Isaias and its impacts, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.weathernationtv.com/news/Gulf-Braces-For-Tropical-Impact">read here</a>.<video src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-08 09-10-32-1791472273083.mp4" controls="true" width="100%"></video>Some localized totals of 5-6 inches of rain will be possible. Watch out for localized flash flooding and ponding on the roads in the usual spots.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-08 085923-1791472325822.png">In addition to heavy rain, extra rotational energy from Isaias could spawn a few tornadoes on Thursday. Stay tuned to WeatherNation TV for additional details and live coverage.

Flooding, Tornadoes Target Central Florida Thursday

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Brittany Lockley

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A major temperature divide is unfolding across the United States as millions experience a true taste of fall while parts of the West continue to deal with summer-like heat.&nbsp;A surge of cooler air has spread across much of the central and eastern United States, sending temperatures tumbling and bringing some of the chilliest conditions of the season so far. Meanwhile, unusually hot weather continues across portions of the West Coast, where temperatures are running well above what is typical for early October.&nbsp;Summer Hangs On in the West&nbsp;While jackets are coming out farther east, residents across portions of the West are still dealing with significant heat.&nbsp;Temperatures across parts of California and the interior West are running roughly 10 to 15 degrees above average in some locations. Triple-digit temperatures have even been recorded in portions of Southern California despite the calendar moving deeper into October.&nbsp;Los Angeles experienced consecutive October days with temperatures reaching at least 100 degrees, highlighting the intensity of the unusual fall heat.&nbsp;The persistent warmth stretches beyond Southern California, with above-average temperatures extending through portions of the Great Basin and toward the northern Rockies.&nbsp;Over the next 3 days, many cities will be near, tie, or break the current records.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 035357-1791366853404.png">Heat alerts remain in place through Friday. Los Angeles is under an extreme heat warning, meaning use caution if working outdoors and make sure to drink plenty of water.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 035446-1791366898851.png">Check out temperatures in Los Angeles: the average high is normally 80°, but temperatures will flirt again with the century mark even in the next few days. Temperatures will remain in the upper 90s for Las Vegas, and Phoenix will dig into the 100s.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 035550-1791366965841.png">The Northwest will also be threatening record-high temperatures. High temperatures will stay hot in most of the cities in the Northwest. These highs will be anywhere from 10-15° above average.<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 035630-1791367010235.png">Meanwhile, in the Northeast, Fall Air Settles In&nbsp;A strong cold front has helped usher cooler, drier air into a large portion of the country. Behind the front, daytime temperatures are struggling to climb out of the 50s and 60s in some areas.&nbsp;The cooler air is especially noticeable during the overnight and early morning hours. Temperatures are dropping into the 30s and 40s across parts of the northern tier, Great Lakes and Northeast, creating the potential for frost in some of the coldest locations.&nbsp;For areas that have enjoyed a relatively warm start to fall, the change may feel especially dramatic.&nbsp;The arrival of the cooler air is also pushing temperatures below seasonal averages across portions of the central and eastern U.S., signaling a more traditional October weather pattern.&nbsp;<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 040003-1791367220514.png">A Coast-to-Coast Temperature Contrast&nbsp;The dramatically different conditions are creating a weather map that looks more like two different seasons.&nbsp;Much of the East is experiencing crisp mornings, cooler afternoons, and increasing frost potential, while parts of the West remain firmly locked in a pattern more typical of late summer.&nbsp;<img src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot 2026-10-07 040204-1791367341750.png">Eventually, the western heat is expected to ease as the weather pattern shifts. Until then, millions of Americans will continue experiencing very different versions of October depending on which side of the country they call home.Tune in to WeatherNation for the latest on this forecast and records that break throughout the days to come.

Fall Chill Grips the East While Record Heat Bakes the West

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"It was nerve racking, it jolted me. I was kind-of shocked for a second. The umbrella flew out of my hand and I was kind-of disoriented and ran to my car and just tried to get out of harms way," recounts Romulus McNeill after he found himself way too close to a cloud-to-ground lightning strike.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111518" src="https://media.weathernationtv.com/app/uploads/2019/08/waterspout.jpg" alt="" width="1708" height="813" />

WeatherNation Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo spoke with Romulus about this video, showing an incredibly-close lightning strike that occurred on Thursday.

"We were having a teacher-parent conference night for back to school and it was 6:42 p.m. and every one had already left the building. I had reservations about going
outside because I didn't want to get struck by lightning. And when I went outside, it just struck. And it was just kind-of shocking. It was nerve racking, it jolted me.
I was kind-of shocked for a second. The umbrella flew out of my hand and I was kind-of disoriented and ran to my car and just tried to get out of harms way," describes Romulus.

Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes happen in an instant. Lightning can strike miles from the base or top of a thunderstorm cloud. Always remember, 'When Thunder Roars, Head Indoors.'

Romulus continues his experience, "I felt like a static shock to my body. Like I said it hit on my right side and it was so quick, I just instantly got nervous and nerve racked. My principal said he
watched it through the inside of the building. He saw it from inside the building. It was thunder and lightning at the same time. What was crazy was that I saw the
lightning strike in front of me across the street by a store, but the lightning actually...I guess may have diverted or it could have been another lightning strike that
came right towards me."

In terms of advice for folks reading/watching this story?

"I'm going to be super careful about going outside in any lightning period...or thunder!"

Our appreciation to Romulus for allowing us to share this weather story to help others truly understand the dangers of lightning!

For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier

Man Describes His Close Encounter With A Lightning Strike

Rachel Spreading Moisture into the Southwest

Rachel came ashore in far northwestern Mexico

Hot Weather Baking the Heartland This Week

The Twin Cities saw an afternoon high soar to

Isaias Makes Landfall as A Category 2, Impacts Spreading North

Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, F

Digging Trough Brings Wind and Snow to the Northern Rockies This Weekend

A strong upper-level trough digging south fro

Tropics: Another Blob in the Atlantic, Pacific Stays Hyperactive

Isaias ended the late season streak of no hur

Flooding, Tornadoes Target Central Florida Thursday

Deep tropical moisture streaming north from t

Fall Chill Grips the East While Record Heat Bakes the West

A major temperature divide is unfolding acros