Currently in Miami — August 25, 2023: Inland thunderstorms possible

The weather, currently.

A patch of drier air in the mid-levels of the atmosphere will help to reduce the amount of showers and thunderstorms on Friday, but the daily pattern of sea-breeze-driven showers will pick up again over the weekend. This will be characterized by showers developing along the east coast in the morning and gradually building—some into thunderstorms—as they move towards the interior in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will remain generally consistent through the end of the week, with highs of about 90 near the coast and in the low 90s further inland, and overnight lows just shy of 80 degrees.

El tiempo, actualmente.

Una zona de aire más seco en los niveles medios de la atmósfera ayudará a reducir la cobertura geográfica de aguaceros y tormentas eléctricas el viernes, pero el patrón diario de lluvias impulsadas por la brisa marina se recuperará nuevamente durante el fin de semana. Esto se caracterizará por aguaceros que se desarrollarán a lo largo de la costa este por la mañana y se aumentarán gradualmente (algunas hasta convertirse en tormentas eléctricas) a medida que avanzan hacia el interior por la tarde y la noche. Las temperaturas se mantendrán generalmente constantes hasta el final de la semana, con máximas de alrededor de 90 grados cerca de la costa y el rango bajo de los 90 grados tierra adentro, y mínimas nocturnas en el rango alto de los 70.

—John Morales

What you need to know, currently.

Houston had its hottest day in history on Thursday, with temperatures climbing as high as 109°F (42.8°C).

Officials in Houston warned that rolling blackouts might be necessary to avoid catastrophic power outages, as demand for air conditioning and electricity was near a record high.

Thursday’s high temperature mark in Houston tied other equally warm days in 2000 and 2011, when Texas emergency rooms filled with patients seeking care from heat related illness and injury. This time around, the city has issued mandatory water restrictions, banning outdoor water use in an attempt to keep up water pressure as reservoir levels fall due to drought.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Thursday’s high temperature was 100°F — and it felt like 120°F (48.9°C) when you factored in the humidity. That’s the highest heat index in that city’s history. This week’s heat wave in Chicago rivals the one back in July 1995, which was one of the deadliest heat waves in US history.

—Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

The fires in Maui have struck at the heart of Hawaiian heritage, and if you’d like to support survivors, here are good places to start:

The fires burned through the capital town of the Kingdom of Hawaii, the ancestral and present home to native Hawaiians on their original unceded lands. One of the buildings destroyed was the Na ‘Aikane o Maui cultural center, a gathering place for the Hawaiian community to organize and celebrate.

If you’d like to help the community rebuild and restore the cultural center, a fund has been established that is accepting donations — specify “donation for Na ‘Aikane” on this Venmo link.