Powerful storms hit the US, Supreme Court Rejects Missouri Maps, Mortgage Rates Rise

Ayesha Rascoe (0:02)

Hawaii braces for potential flooding as Hurricane Nolo approaches.

Scott Simon (0:06)

At the same time, a powerful nor'easter gains strength, threatening dangerous conditions through the weekend.

Ayesha Rascoe (0:12)

I'm Ayesha Rascoe.

Scott Simon (0:13)

And I'm Scott Simon, and this is Up First from NPR News.

Ayesha Rascoe (0:20)

So what can we expect from these two sets of storms? We'll have the latest.

Scott Simon (0:24)

Also, the US Supreme Court rejects Missouri's congressional maps. Again, we'll tell you what this means for this year's midterm elections.

Ayesha Rascoe (0:33)

And the average 30-year home mortgage rate climbed above 7% this week. We'll tell you what's driving high borrowing costs.

Scott Simon (0:41)

So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.

Ayesha Rascoe (0:53)

It's a weekend of wild weather in different parts of the country. In Hawaii, Hurricane Nolo approaches the fourth storm to impact the state this year.

Scott Simon (1:02)

At the same time, the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions are hunkering down for a powerful storm that could bring heavy flooding and strong winds. NPR's Ava Berger has been covering this extreme weather and joins us now. Thanks for being with us.

Ava Berger (1:15)

Hi, Scott.

Scott Simon (1:16)

What can people expect from this nor'easter?

Ava Berger (1:19)

So millions of people across the East Coast are in the path of this storm. I've already been seeing these videos of huge waves crashing against the coastlines in New Jersey. It's flooding streets. We've seen big numbers of flights being canceled in the region. There's already power outages. Francis Tarasiewicz is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boston. He's expecting coastal flooding, heavy rain and really high winds this weekend.

Francis Tarasiewicz (1:43)

Wind gusts along the coast will be between 50 and 60 miles per hour. Paired with those fully-leaved trees, as we are still in late September, we may see some instances of power outages across much of southern New England.

Ava Berger (1:54)

We'll see impacts, Scott, from the mid-Atlantic all the way up through the coast of Maine. He said the worst of the storm is expected to hit areas in Massachusetts, Long Island, Connecticut.

Scott Simon (2:04)

Is it unusual to have a nor'easter in September?

Ava Berger (2:07)

It is unusual, but it has happened before. There's actually two interesting things about this storm that Tarasiewicz pointed out.

Francis Tarasiewicz (2:14)

Really the unique feature of it is that it's A, long duration and then B, it's quite early in the season.

Ava Berger (2:20)

The storm is expected to last straight through the weekend, 48 hours, but we're actually not that far away from a normal nor'easter season, which is October through May.

Scott Simon (2:30)

At the same time, out in the Pacific, we're seeing hurricanes near Hawaii. What's happening there?

Ava Berger (2:36)

Scientists are saying that these hurricanes are likely due to a powerful El Nino climate pattern. You may have heard it be called a super El Nino. This natural pattern, it occurs every few years. It tends to suppress hurricanes in the Atlantic, while fueling more storms in the Pacific. Hawaii is bearing the brunt of this.

Forecasters are saying that the big island could see up to 16 inches of rain.

Scott Simon (2:58)

Why is that?

Ava Berger (2:59)

The El Nino makes the water in the Eastern Pacific really hot. That warmer water can fuel hurricanes and turn them into these really powerful storms. Paul Roundy studies atmospheric science at the University at Albany. He says even scientists have been surprised at how big this El Nino is.

Paul Roundy (3:15)

I have heard some sense of shock. For one thing, people didn't really quite comprehend how strong this El Nino event was going to get.

Ava Berger (3:23)

So far, there's been 18 hurricanes in the Pacific. That's higher than average, and the Pacific hurricane season will continue through the end of November.

Scott Simon (3:31)

At the same time, I gather there's also Hurricane Polo off of the coast of Mexico.

Ava Berger (3:36)

Yes, and Polo is notable because of how insanely fast it intensified. In less than 24 hours, it went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane. Gabriel Vecchi studies hurricanes at Princeton University. He said in his research, he's never seen anything like it.

Gabriel Vecchi (3:53)

I don't have any other hurricane that has increased in intensity as rapidly as Polo.

Ava Berger (4:00)

And we're going to see Hurricane Polo through the weekend and into early next week. It could bring heavy rainfall late Sunday into Monday in the Baja California Peninsula area.

Scott Simon (4:11)