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The National Hurricane Center is tracking systems in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Hurricane Kiko is holding its own in the Central Pacific Ocean, but a tropical wave moving westward across the Atlantic Ocean continues to look less and less impressive.

Hurricane Kiko – maintaining sustained winds of 140-mph – is expected to begin weakening over the weekend but could still retain hurricane strength on Sept. 8 as it approaches waters to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, the National Hurricane Center said.

The state of Hawaii issued an emergency declaration on Sept. 5, an administrative action government agencies often take before tropical storms, hurricanes and other impending weather disasters. Such declarations pave the way for emergency measures and resources that allow officials to respond quickly during emergencies.

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Hexavalent chromium nanoparticles were found in air samples gathered by researchers over the course of several days in the spring as they drove through and around the Eaton and Palisades fire burn areas.

The heavy metal — also known as chromium-6 and brought to public consciousness by environmentalist Erin Brockovich in the 1990s — is a known carcinogen. But researchers aren’t yet sure what the public health implications are.

“ We think that there's hotspots in the cities, but we don't have a way to quantify that yet with what we've measured so far,” said Michael Kleeman, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis.

Kleeman was the lead author of a paper that’s been submitted to the journal Nature’s Communications Earth and Environment for peer review and published online as a preprint. The researchers are part of the L.A. Fire Health Study, a group of universities working together to investigate the health effects of the January fires.

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A powerful storm kicked up a towering wall of dust that rolled through the city of Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday, darkening the sky, blinding drivers, knocking out power and damaging one of the nation’s busiest airports.

The dust storm, known as a haboob, is pushed by the wind and produced by a weather front or thunderstorm. It typically occurs in flat, arid areas. The storm came from the south-east, and was followed by heavy rain, wind and lightning.

Bernae Boykin Hitesman was driving her son and daughter, ages nine and 11, home from school when the storm arrived late in the afternoon in Arizona City, about 60 miles (95km) south-east of Phoenix.

She had to quickly pull over as the storm engulfed her car. “I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face if I put my hand outside,” she said.

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The Democratic governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut promised on Saturday to fight a Trump administration order halting work on a nearly complete wind farm off their coasts that was expected to be operational next year.

The Revolution Wind project was about 80% complete, with 45 of its 65 turbines already installed, according to the Danish wind farm developer Ørsted, when the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent the firm a letter on Friday ordering it to “halt all ongoing activities”.

The Democratic governors of Rhode Island and Connecticut promised on Saturday to fight a Trump administration order halting work on a nearly complete wind farm off their coasts that was expected to be operational next year.

The Revolution Wind project was about 80% complete, with 45 of its 65 turbines already installed, according to the Danish wind farm developer Ørsted, when the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent the firm a letter on Friday ordering it to “halt all ongoing activities”.

“In particular, BOEM is seeking to address concerns related to the protection of national security interests in the United States,” wrote Matt Giacona, the agency’s acting director, adding that Ørsted “may not resume activities” until the agency has completed a review of the project.

Giacona said that the project, which had already cleared years of federal and state reviews, now needs to be re-examined in light of Donald Trump’s order, on the first day of his second term, to consider “terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases”.

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Multiple wildfires have ignited across California as the state continues to scorch in a multi-day heatwave that is expected to last through the weekend.

The largest this week, named the Pickett fire, exploded in size on Thursday as it burned in a remote area of Napa county, and covered more than 3,200 acres (850 hectares) by Friday afternoon. Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued on Thursday for hundreds of residents around Calistoga, a small city in the region known for its wine, as firefighters faced challenging conditions, working through dangerously high temperatures and rugged terrain. The fire’s perimeter is just 5% contained.

“Firefighter safety will be an emphasis once again Friday, with temperatures expected to reach into the upper 90s,” analysts with the state fire agency known as CalFire wrote in an update issued on Friday.

Bob Todeschini, the battalion chief on the Pickett fire, said there had been no injuries or structures damaged, in a video shared on social media on Thursday night. “We’d like to remind everyone to be vigilant and have a plan as we continue with suppression efforts,” he said.

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North Carolina's Outer Banks are already feeling the impact of Hurricane Erin as the storm moves north, hundreds of miles off of the East Coast.

Parts of Highway 12, the main highway through the Outer Banks, were already being flooded by Wednesday afternoon. And the window to evacuate has now closed for vulnerable areas, as officials warn that the evening's high tides will bring some of the storm's biggest impacts. Those remaining should shelter in place, they said.

Mandatory evacuations are in place for Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.

The massive storm was roughly 295 miles from Cape Hatteras, N.C., as of 5 p.m. ET, according to the National Hurricane Center. The National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead City called it a "large and dangerous hurricane."

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Newly installed river barriers held back record levels of flooding and prevented widespread damage in Alaska’s capital city on Wednesday, after an ice dam at the nearby Mendenhall Glacier released a huge surge of rainwater and snowmelt, officials said.

Water pooled on several streets and in some yards in Juneau after the Mendenhall River crested earlier in the day, and high water was expected to persist for hours. But many residents in the flood zone had evacuated before peak water levels, and there were no damage reports similar to the past two summers, when about 300 homes were flooded.

The temporary barriers “really have protected our community”, Juneau city manager Katie Koester told a news conference. “If it weren’t for them, we would have hundreds and hundreds of flooded homes.”

On Tuesday morning, authorities confirmed that water had started escaping the ice dam, with flooding expected into Wednesday. Some Juneau residents in the flood zone had already evacuated as officials intensified their warnings on Tuesday, saying: “Don’t wait, Evacuate TONIGHT.”

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A Colorado prison was evacuated as one of the largest wildfires in state history continued to grow, and officials warned residents of remote areas to be ready to leave on Sunday as gusty winds and low humidity fed the flames.

Evacuation orders were already in place for mountain communities as the Lee fire charred more than 167 sq miles (433 sq km) across Garfield and Rio Blanco counties, with just 6% containment. No injuries or structural damage has been reported.

All 179 incarcerated people were safely removed from the Rifle Correctional Center on Saturday “out of an abundance of caution”, the Colorado department of corrections said in a statement. They were temporarily relocated about 150 miles (240km) away to the Buena Vista correctional complex, the department said.

The Lee fire, churning through trees and brush about 250 miles (400km) west of Denver, is now the sixth-largest single fire in the state’s history, according to the Colorado division of fire prevention and control.

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