While Midwest and East bake, Northwest could see some flakes

The unofficial start to summer will kick off with blazing heat across most of the eastern half of the country this Memorial Day weekend.

By Laurie Skrivan, AP

Lifeguard Sam McCabe of cleans off the water slide at an aquatic center in Maplewood, Mo., on Thursday in preparation for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Residents across the Midwest and East might be dealing with record-setting heat during the holiday weekend.

By Laurie Skrivan, AP

Lifeguard Sam McCabe of cleans off the water slide at an aquatic center in Maplewood, Mo., on Thursday in preparation for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Residents across the Midwest and East might be dealing with record-setting heat during the holiday weekend.

Temperatures will soar into the 90s as far north as Illinois. Chicago could hit 100 degrees on Sunday.

Elsewhere, a pesky, windy storm could ruin beach plans along the Southeast coast, while parts of the Northwest deal with light snow and chilly weather.

July in May: Hot and humid conditions will be the rule in the southern Plains, Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast all three days of this holiday weekend. High temperatures in the 90s will be widespread from Texas to Maryland.

Cities such as Memphis, Louisville, Little Rock and St. Louis could all break temperature records. The Indianapolis 500 could be run in record heat on Sunday.

The worst of the heat isn't expected to make it into the Northeast and New England, however, where temperatures in the 70s and 80s are likely.

Soggy Southeast: Just like last weekend's Tropical Storm Alberto, another slow-moving storm will meander around the Southeast coast this weekend, potentially bringing bands of rain, gusty winds and rough surf. The storm may become tropical, and it would receive the name Beryl.

Other than the ruined outdoor plans, the rain will be welcome across the drought-plagued states of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

Wintry West, severe North: Some parts of the northern Rockies and Northwest will be in the 40s and 50s this weekend. Some snow is possible at higher elevations.

Severe storms could rattle the upper Midwest through the weekend as cooler air clashes with the unusual heat.

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Beryl to bring rain, winds to southeast U.S. coast

A cluster of thunderstorms that stalled off the southeastern U.S. coast on Saturday is expected to make for a sloppy, rainy Memorial Day on beaches and in tourist towns from Florida to South Carolina.

By Matt Born, The (Wilmington, N.C.) Star-News, via AP

Carolina Beach, N.C., Ocean Rescue leader Evan Anderson places a sign closing the beach to swimming Saturday because of strong rip currents.

By Matt Born, The (Wilmington, N.C.) Star-News, via AP

Carolina Beach, N.C., Ocean Rescue leader Evan Anderson places a sign closing the beach to swimming Saturday because of strong rip currents.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

As thousands of people headed toward the beach for the holiday weekend, the center issued tropical storm warnings for the southeastern U.S. from the Volusia/Brevard county line in Florida to Edisto Beach, S.C., and a tropical storm watch stretching north to the South Santee River in South Carolina. A tropical storm warning means that storm conditions could developing within the next day and a half.

The large storm, with tropical-storm force winds stretching out for 115 miles, was expected to get stronger before it approaches land. The storm could also dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on the southeast coast.

Beryl was technically still considered a "subtropical storm," but the system is expected to bring winds and rain to the area regardless of its official classification.

The southeastern coast is popular with tourists who visit to enjoy the beaches and wilderness areas.

"A three-day thunderstorm is what it's probably going to be," said Jay Wiggins, emergency management director for Georgia's Glynn County, which is about 60 miles south of Savannah and includes Brunswick and St. Simons Island. "Unfortunately, it's going to ruin a lot of Memorial Day plans."

Wiggins said he expects some flooded roadways and scattered power outages, perhaps some minor flooding in waterfront homes, but otherwise little damage. However, he urged beachgoers to beware of dangerous rip currents.

On Cumberland Island, a federally protected wilderness area beloved by hikers and campers, superintendent Fred Boyles said he planned to wait until Sunday to decide if campers need to evacuate before the storm arrives. Boyles said he had about 100 campers planning to stay overnight Sunday, and the only way to leave Cumberland Island is by ferry.

In South Carolina, Beaufort County Emergency Management deputy director David Zeoli said that at midday Saturday word went out to first-responders along the coast near the Georgia line to pay attention to the storm's progress. Officials haven't been ordered to work on an otherwise lovely day for the beach, but have been told to stay near a phone, Zeoli said.

This is the second tropical storm to develop before the June 1 start of hurricane season.

Contributing: Associated Press

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Spring in America: Coventry, R.I.

These mallard ducklings are feeding in a marsh under the watchful eye of their mother not far from my home in Coventry, R.I., says the photographer, Ron Ylitalo.

We will be posting the last of our spring photos over the next couple of weeks and are gearing up for summer photos.

So break out the cameras and send us a summer shot from your area as the season gets underway. We'll select the best to appear in On Deadline.

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Raging wildfires scorch Western USA

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in southwestern New Mexico that has destroyed a dozen cabins and spread smoke across the state, prompting holiday weekend air-quality warnings.

By Gregory Bull, AP

Firefighter Scott Abraham sprays water as his crew tries to keep a wildfire from crossing a San Diego County road on Friday near Julian, Calif.

By Gregory Bull, AP

Firefighter Scott Abraham sprays water as his crew tries to keep a wildfire from crossing a San Diego County road on Friday near Julian, Calif.

The fire burned early Saturday through remote and rugged terrain around the Gila Wilderness and has grown to 85,000 acres or more than 130 square miles.

The heavy smoke apparently disoriented six hikers Friday, prompting the New Mexico National Guard to carry out a rescue.

Col. Michael Montoya said one of them had an injured knee and had to be taken to safety by ambulance. The others were able to walk to a secure area.

More than 500 firefighters are battling the blaze that resulted from the merger earlier this week of two lightning-sparked fires. Fire officials say nearly all of the growth has come in recent days due to relentless winds.

The blaze has destroyed 12 cabins and seven small outbuildings, and the privately owned ghost town of Mogollon was placed under a voluntary evacuation order.

The strong winds pushed ash from the blaze 35 to 40 miles away, while smoke from the giant fire spread across the state and into Arizona. The haze blocked views of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, and a smell of smoke permeated the air throughout northern New Mexico.

Health officials as far away as Albuquerque and Santa Fe issued alerts for the holiday weekend, advising people to limit outdoor activities, keep windows closed.

They said the effects on most people would be minor but noted mild throat and eye irritation or allergy-like symptoms could be expected. Officials warned people with heart and lung conditions to be especially diligent in minimizing their exposure to the smoky air.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, officials said heavy air tankers and thousands of firefighters were on standby Friday as fire managers kept a close watch on high winds and hot temperatures at the start of Memorial Day weekend. Fire danger remains high in the southern Colorado foothills and the South Park area.

Two heavy air tankers have been taken to Grand Junction in western Colorado, where the fire danger is highest, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said.

"We've got the resources. We've got the firefighters," Segin said. "We're ready."

The National Weather Service said wind gusts could reach 70 mph Saturday in some western Colorado valleys, with sustained winds of 25 to 40 mph. Most of eastern Colorado also was under a high-wind watch, with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph possible Saturday.

In Southern California, firefighters worked to corral a wildfire that has chewed through 3,100 acres of tinder-dry grass and light brush since it broke out Thursday afternoon east of Julian.

On Friday, the fire forced about 50 people to evacuate an RV park in San Diego County. It earlier prompted the evacuation of about 100 homes in the Shelter Valley area, but residents were allowed to return late Thursday.

The fire was 20% contained, said Nick Schuler, battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. No injuries or damage to structures were reported.

In Arizona, residents of the historic mining town of Crown King were allowed to return home after being evacuated because of a wildfire about 85 miles north of Phoenix. The fire started May 13 and has burned more than 16,000 acres. It is 35% contained, fire officials said.

In Nevada, questions were being raised over fire crews' initial response to a backyard burn that rekindled two days later, destroying two homes in a rural community and scorching 7,500 acres.

A 911 recording obtained by the Associated Press showed a resident called Sunday to report that a neighbor's permitted burn in the Topaz Ranch Estates was out of control. Volunteer firefighters with the East Fork Fire Protection District arrived at the scene and then left, apparently without extinguishing the blaze.

Gusty winds rekindled the fire Tuesday, and it spread quickly through thick brush and dry grasses. Two homes and 17 outbuildings were destroyed.

District Fire Chief Tod Carlini did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.

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New Mexico fire forces evacuation near ghost town

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Residents near a privately owned New Mexico ghost town were ordered Saturday to evacuate as a blaze in the Gila National Forest continued to burn erratically, as Colorado crews took to fighting a new fire along the Utah-Colorado border.

InciWeb Incident Information System via AP

A fire burns at Whitewater-Baldy Complex in Mogollon, N.M., a privately owned ghost town that was ordered to evacuate.

InciWeb Incident Information System via AP

A fire burns at Whitewater-Baldy Complex in Mogollon, N.M., a privately owned ghost town that was ordered to evacuate.

Fire officials in New Mexico said Saturday that the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire has shrunk slightly to 82,000 acres but is still 0% contained because of weather conditions. The evacuation of Mogollon, a privately owned ghost town, was ordered due to extreme wind around the southwestern New Mexico fire. Four helicopters and more than 500 firefighters from around the state were on hand to fight the blaze but still had to contend with "extreme conditions."

Cities, as far away as Albuquerque, remained under a health alert until Sunday afternoon due to smoke from the fire, which has spread across the state. State officials were warning residents during the Memorial Day weekend to limit outdoor activities, especially if smoke was visible.

The haze that blocked views of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque on Friday appeared to have decreased by early Saturday afternoon, but smoke continued to hang over parts of the city.

Meanwhile on Saturday, crews in Colorado battled a wildfire that has scorched more than 3,000 acres of rugged canyon land near the Colorado-Utah border. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said the fire started Friday afternoon and is burning in a remote area near Paradox. It is not threatening any structures, and no injuries have been reported.

Shannon Borders, a spokeswoman for The Bureau of Land Management, said sheriff's deputies have evacuated the Buckeye Reservoir area, a popular recreation spot near the Utah border. The Rock Creek and Sinbad Valley areas also were evacuated.

In California, higher humidity and light winds were helping firefighters get ahead of a stubborn wildfire that has charred 4,100 acres of tinder-dry grass and brush in rural San Diego County.

The blaze near Shelter Valley was burning Saturday in steep, rocky terrain away from the town of Julian, said Thomas Shoots, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was 30 percent contained.

No injuries or damage to structures were reported, and the fire was not moving toward any homes as it burned southeast on Saturday.

Authorities evacuated about 100 homes in the Shelter Valley area along Highway 78 in the early stages of the blaze, but evacuation orders were lifted late Thursday and residents were allowed to return, Schuler said.

Arizona fire officials said a cold front arriving over the state late Friday was providing additional relief to firefighters battling the Gladiator Fire, a blaze that has charred 16,000 acres and is now 40 percent contained. Electricity has been restored to some areas.

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Bud weakens to tropical storm off Mexico's coast

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) – Bud weakened to a tropical storm Friday as heavy rain began to pelt a string of laid-back beach resorts and small mountain villages on Mexico's Pacific coast south of Puerto Vallarta.

By Bruno Gonzalez, AP

A navy vehicle drives along a street in the coastal town of Barra de Navidad as the community prepares for the storm's arrival along the Pacific coast of Mexico on Friday.

By Bruno Gonzalez, AP

A navy vehicle drives along a street in the coastal town of Barra de Navidad as the community prepares for the storm's arrival along the Pacific coast of Mexico on Friday.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said that maximum sustained winds that were once blowing at 115 mph (185 kph) had slowed to 70 mph (113 kph) by Friday night. The government of Mexico changed the hurricane warning for the coast of Mexico from Manzanillo to Cabo Corrientes to a tropical storm warning. Hurricane watches were also discontinued.

Forecasters said the storm would continue to weaken and the center would move over land late Friday or Saturday.

Heavy rain started Friday night in Puerto Vallarta and rainfall was expected to accumulate from 6 to 10 inches in many spots. Mexican authorities canceled school in 11 communities expected to be hit by heavy rains in Jalisco state. Emergency workers prepared emergency shelters, many of them in empty school classrooms. Emergency officials in Puerto Vallarta said they were closely monitoring villages that had been hit by flooding and mudslides in previous hurricanes and tropical storms.

Rains and 6-foot (2-meter) high waves pelted Melaque, a beach town on the Bahia de Navidad, about 60 mph (100 kilometers) east of the sparsely populated stretch of coast where the storm's center was expected to come ashore during the night.

Rafael Galvez, manager of the Hotel Bahia in Melaque, said his staff would board up windows before Bud's arrival.

"I went through Wilma in Cancun," which hit as a Category 4, Galvez said. "This is a little less severe."

Category 2 Hurricane Jova hit the area in October, killing six people and flooding parts of Melaque and neighboring Barra de Navidad.

"There was a lot of flooding in the whole area, and we lost electricity," Galvez recalled. But this week, he said, only seven of his hotel's 26 rooms were occupied, and none of the hotel's guests were planning to leave.

The hurricane center said the storm would hit land, move a little inland and then make a U-turn and head back out into the Pacific. Rain, rather than wind, could be the big threat, with the center warning of the "potential for life-threatening mudslides" in steep terrain inland.

The government of Jalisco state prepared hundreds of cots and dozens of heavy vehicles such as bulldozers that could be needed to move debris.

Jalisco's civil defense office said two shelters had been opened in Cihuatlan, a town just inland from Melaque that was hard hit by flooding from Jova.

The region is experienced at handling hurricanes, Galvez noted. "The government planning has helped a lot," he noted.

Officials in Puerto Vallarta said they were in close contact with managers of the hundreds of hotels in the city in case tourists need to move to eight emergency shelters, but on Friday night they said that appeared unlikely. It said the sea along the city's famous beachfront was calm, but swimming had been temporarily banned as a precaution.

A separate storm was pounding much of Cuba and the Bahamas on Friday. Cuba's civil defense agency reported that a French citizen, Alain Manaud, and Silvestre Fortun Alvarez of Cuba were missing after trying to cross rain-swollen rivers, according to the government's Prensa Latina news agency. It said a search for them was continuing.

An official at the French Embassy in Havana said Manaud was 66 and had lived in Cuba for several years. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

The agency quoted government meteorologists as saying more than 20 inches (500 millimeters) of rain had fallen on parts of the central province of Sancti Spiritus.

The U.S. hurricane center reported that the system had about a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical or subtropical cyclone.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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What's the best beach in America?

If you believe the hotly anticipated annual rankings compiled by Florida International University professor and coastal expert Stephen P. Leatherman - a.k.a. "Dr. Beach" - it's San Diego's Coronado Beach. The 300-yard-wide, 1.5-mile-long stretch of silvery sand fronts the red-roofed Hotel del Coronado, a National Historic Landmark where Marilyn Monroe cavorted in the 1959 classic Some Like it Hot.

Coronado was runner up to Florida's Siesta Key last year, and represents the first California beach to win in the 22 years that Leatherman has been crafting his top-10 list of major public recreational beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts.

Contenders are ranked based on 50 detailed criteria, from public safety and noise to water quality and sand softness. Landing the top spot typically brings a 15% to 20% boost in visitors, the Associated Press notes. But once a beach wins, it is retired from further competition - a fact that has earned the doc some criticism, even from Hawaii, the state with the most winners.

RELATED:  Dr. Beach picks top Great Lakes beaches

Two reasons for the absence of winning Golden State beaches in previous years: cold water and pollution. But while California swimmers can't do much (other than don a wetsuit) about Pacific water temperatures in the 60s, pollution is another matter, says Leatherman.

"There are still some problems, especially where rivers and streams meet the ocean," he says. "But California has really cranked it up the last 10 or 15 years to turn around the water quality."

Rounding out this year's top 10:

2: Kahanamoku Beach, near Waikiki's Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, Hawaii

3: Main Beach, East Hampton, N.Y.

4: St. George Island State Park, Florida Panhandle

5: Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii

6: Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.

7: Waimanalo Bay Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii

8: Cape Florida State Park, near Miami

9: Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, S.C.

10: Cape Hatteras, N.C.

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Tropical Storm Beryl makes landfall in Florida

Find your local weather with The Weather Channel zip-code lookup:

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Spring in America: Bloomfield, Mich.

Kim Austin, of Bloomfield, Mich., says this is the second year that the same two swans have chosen this small pond for their home.

"As one sits on the nest, the other swims around feeding and keeping the geese out of their territory," Austin says.

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Snow drought now targeting farmers

The dearth of snow that set back Colorado's ski areas this winter is now taking its toll on farmers, KUSA-TV reports.

It could cost farmers millions of dollars and translate to higher prices for consumers.

Snow runoff traditionally fills up the ditches and ponds that farmers tap to irrigate crops. Not this year. The "terrible year" for ski resorts is translating to a lack of surface water for farmers who say their options for water are limited.

"It's a huge issue. I consider water more valuable than gold," Weld County farmer Glen Fritzler tells KUSA. "We can't survive without it."

Fritzler says his only option is well water, which has not been plentiful since the 2002 drought. "We cannot operate our wells like we have in the past or like we need to to grow out produce," Fritzler says.

State Rep. Randy Fischer has sponsored a bill for a study to determine whether the use of well water by Weld County farmers would adversely affect others who depend on the supply. Fischer tells KUSA that if nothing is done with the bill during today's legislative session, it will likely die.

That means there won't be much hope for farmers. Fitzler says the cost of Colorado produce will likely go up and the cost to farmers could be in the millions.

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'Monster' sunspot could hurl flares at Earth

A "monster sunspot" more than 60,000 miles wide could send some powerful solar flares toward Earth on Wednesday, NASA says.

The sunspot -- actually a group of four spots, each larger than Earth, and smaller spots -- emerged over the weekend and was spotted by the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory and amateur astronomers, Spaceweather.com reported (via Space.com). It tossed off a moderately strong M-class flare today, and is expected to follow up with even stronger flares, possibly even X class.

Sunspot AR 1476 is so big that a photographer in the Philippines captured it at sunset, without a solar telescope.

But Spaceweather offers potential sungazers this crucial warning:

Even when the sun is dimmed by clouds and haze, looking into the glare can damage your eyes. Looking through unfiltered optics is even worse. If you chose to photograph the low sun, use the camera's LCD screen for viewfinding.

Sunspots don't excite you? How about a pair of coronal mass ejections, or a dark, coronal hole that has opened in the sun's atmosphere and is hurling solar winds toward us? Good chance of strong geomagnetic activity, including auroras.

Want to know the space weather now? NOAA has it.

The latest sun show comes three weeks after the spectacular eruption captured by the solar orbiter.

BLOG:  Satellite captures giant eruption from sun today

NASA has a primer on the solar cycle.

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Spring in America: Austin

David Evans took this picture of agave in an April walk through the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.

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Spring in America: Fieldbrook, Calif.

Joan Binnie took this shot of tulips in her front yard in Fieldbrook, Calif.

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Spring in America: Scottsdale, Ariz.

"This large old Saguaro is located across the street," says the photographer, Cameron Davis. "Usually the flowers are inaccessible at the tops of the giant plants, fortunately this flower and buds are located on a rare low growing branch."

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Supermoon brightens the night sky

NEW YORK (AP) – The biggest and brightest full moon of the year arrived Saturday night as our celestial neighbor passed closer to Earth than usual.

By Bo Rader, AP

The moon rises Saturday above an egret nesting area on the west side of Wichita, Kan.

By Bo Rader, AP

The moon rises Saturday above an egret nesting area on the west side of Wichita, Kan.

Saturday's event was a "supermoon," the closest and therefore the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. At 11:34 p.m., the moon was about 221,802 miles from Earth. That's about 15,300 miles closer than average.

That proximity makes the moon appear about 14% bigger than it would if the moon were at its farthest distance, said Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory. The difference in appearance is so small that "you'd be very hard-pressed to detect that with the unaided eye," he said.

The moon's distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one.

Like any full moon, the supermoon would appear bigger when it's on or near the horizon rather than higher in the sky, thanks to an optical illusion, Chester noted. The full moon appears on the horizon at sunset. On the East coast, for example, that will be a bit before 8 p.m. Saturday.

The supermoon and unusually high tides are linked because of the moon's closeness and its alignment with the sun and Earth, Chester said.

The last supermoon, on March 19, 2011, was about 240 miles closer than this year's will be. Next year's will be a bit farther away than this year's.

But no matter how far away a full moon is, it's not going to make people kill themselves or others, commit other crimes, get admitted to a psychiatric hospital or do anything else that popular belief suggests, a psychologist says.

Studies that have tried to document such connections have found "pretty much a big mound of nothing, as far as I can tell," said Scott Lilienfeld of Emory University.

Lilienfeld, an author of 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology, said the notion of full moons causing bizarre behavior ranks among the top 10 myths because "it's so widely held and it's held with such conviction."

Why do people cling to the idea?

Lilienfeld said a key reason could be the way people pay attention to things. If something unusual happens to occur during a full moon, people who believe the myth take note and remember, even telling other people because it confirms their ideas. But when another full moon appears and nothing out of the ordinary occurs, "they're not very likely to remember" or point it out to others.

So in the end, he said, all they remember are the coincidences.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Calif. wildfire fully contained, burned 125 acres

ACTON, Calif. (AP) – An aggressive air assault helped halt the spread of a wildfire in northern Los Angeles County that destroyed several structures and prompted the evacuation of some 30 homes.

By Maya Sugarman, AP

Los Angeles County Fire crews work to contain a 125-acre brush fire in Acton, Calif. on Tuesday afternoon.

By Maya Sugarman, AP

Los Angeles County Fire crews work to contain a 125-acre brush fire in Acton, Calif. on Tuesday afternoon.

The blaze erupted shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday near West Crown Valley Road in Acton and quickly spread due to gusty winds and low humidity. The 125-acre blaze was fully contained late Tuesday and all evacuated residents were allowed to return home, supervising county fire dispatcher Robert Diaz said.

Firefighters would remain on the scene overnight mopping up hot spots, Diaz said.

One mobile home, one outbuilding, two storage sheds and two vehicles were destroyed in the blaze. No injuries were reported.

Nearly 400 firefighters from LA County, the city of Los Angeles and the U.S. Forest Service battled the blaze, aided by five helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, authorities said.

Footage from television news helicopters showed towering flames and residents hosing down homes in the mountainous desert community about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

The fire initially was pushed by northeast to east winds of 12 to 15 mph, with occasional gusts to 35 mph, the National Weather Service said. Winds decreased by early evening, but relative humidity remained in the single digits.

The blaze disrupted Metrolink service in the area and forced the closure of Soledad Canyon Road, authorities said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The sparsely populated area is located between Palmdale and Santa Clarita, near the Angeles National Forest.

Another wildfire destroyed about 52 acres near Acton in June. No injuries were reported in that fire.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Public support slips for steps to curb climate change

From gas-mileage standards to tax breaks for windmills, public support for "green" energy measures to tackle global warming has dropped significantly in the past two years, particularly among Republicans, a new poll suggests.

By Mark Dadswell, Getty Images

Wind generators are seen in Australia. Americans' support for various steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions has dropped significantly in the past two years, a new poll suggests.

By Mark Dadswell, Getty Images

Wind generators are seen in Australia. Americans' support for various steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions has dropped significantly in the past two years, a new poll suggests.

Majorities still favor most such tax breaks or restrictions on industry, finds the Stanford University poll to be released today. It shows 65% support gas-mileage standards and 73% support tax breaks for wind and solar power. But just 43% support tax breaks for nuclear power, 26% support increasing gasoline taxes and 18% support hiking taxes on home electricity.

Overall, support for various steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions has dropped an average of 10 percentage points since 2010, from 72% to 62%, lead researcher Jon Krosnick says. "Most Americans (62%) still support industry taking steps aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions," Krosnick says, "but they hate the idea of consumer taxes to do it." His group's nationwide polls compared responses from 1,001 people in 2010 to 1,428 people this year.

In 2010, the National Academy of Sciences called for "strong federal policies" to curb greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as oil, gasoline, coal and natural gas. It warned that "climate change is occurring" and said these fuels are partly to blame. The warning came after the failure in 2009 of a Senate bill that would have created a U.S. market for rights to buy and sell greenhouse gas emissions credits.

In a March Gallup poll, 53% of Americans agreed that "global warming is caused by pollution resulting from human activities," similar to percentages in past years.

Public opinion experts including Drexel University's Robert Brulle point to declining news coverage of global warming for the falling support of steps to fight greenhouse gases; others cite the economy's doldrums.

Krosnick suggests that distrust of environmental scientists among Republican voters, expressed by about 41% of them in the poll, may explain much of the drop. Such distrust was not seen as strongly among independent and Democratic voters, he says. The average drop in support for these policies was about 7 percentage points among those who identified themselves as Democrats or independents vs. 14 points for Republicans.

Since Republican Sen. John McCain expressed support for steps to slow global warming during the 2008 presidential race, "we have seen a significant shift in political rhetoric in the primary races in Republican debates," Krosnick says. (McCain says he no longer supports such steps.) This year, Republican debates regularly featured the views of likely nominee Mitt Romney, who has said, "We don't know what's causing climate change."

Brulle says the effect of the economy on views about climate change needs to be more carefully studied.

Even if the public supports steps to address global warming, Brulle says, "opinion on climate change and environmental issues overall has consistently ranked at the bottom of the overall public concerns" in polling. Just 1% of people ranked the environment as a "top concern" in the Gallup Poll in March.

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Surfer sets Guinness record riding 78-foot wave

HONOLULU (AP) – Dude, that was the gnarliest wave ever. Guinness World Records says so.

By Jorge Leal, AP

Garrett McNamara surfs a 78-foot wave at Praia do Norte beach in Nazare, Portugal, Nov. 1, 2011.

By Jorge Leal, AP

Garrett McNamara surfs a 78-foot wave at Praia do Norte beach in Nazare, Portugal, Nov. 1, 2011.

The record-keeping agency is acknowledging a 44-year-old Hawaii pro surfer for catching a 78-foot wave off the coast of Portugal, saying the November run beats a 2008 record by more than 1 foot.

Big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara of Haleiwa, on Oahu's North Shore, told The Associated Press that the ride of his life was a fluke.

He said he originally didn't want to attempt the waves that day after wiping out numerous times on even bigger swells in the same spot, above an undersea canyon known as one of the biggest wave-generators on the planet.

"I was really beat-up that morning," he said. "This day, I did not want to get out of bed."

He changed his mind at the urging of friends, once they got into the ocean and he helped others catch a few waves.

"Everything came together," McNamara said Thursday. "Everything felt right."

Video of the run shows a minuscule 5-foot-10-inch McNamara against a wall of water as he lets go of a tow rope and begins riding down the wave at Praia do Norte. He briefly disappears into the break about 10 seconds into the run, then speeds up and remerges from the wave's tube as the swell quickly dissipates.

"I knew it was big, but I didn't know how big," he said.

McNamara said he didn't care at first about whether the wave was a record, but was urged by the townspeople in Nazare, Portugal, to get some kind of confirmation. He said he sent the footage and pictures to surfing legend and Billabong judge Sean Collins, who guessed the wave was 85 to 90 feet tall. Collins died in December.

The official record comes after McNamara was awarded $15,000 for the ride at the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards in California last week.

Judges for the awards, considered the official arbiters of big-wave surfing, pored over footage and high-resolution still images from several angles to calculate a more accurate estimate, event director Bill Sharp told the AP.

They used McNamara's height in a crouch and the length of his shin bone to help compare it to the wave's top and bottom, Sharp said.

"You can't deny how big it was for that moment," Sharp said.

Sharp said surfers don't often get a chance to catch waves so big. He put the achievement on par with other infrequent athletic feats like four home runs in a game — which Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton achieved this week — or a perfect game.

"But add to that the fact that the stadium could collapse on you at any second," he said.

McNamara, who began surfing at age 11 and went pro at 17, said the achievement became more important to him when he realized it could help him urge more people to follow their passions.

"The world would be a much better place if everyone was doing what they wanted to do," he said.

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2012 is USA's warmest year on record, so far

The nation's unusual warmth keeps on rolling: Through April, the USA is experiencing its warmest year on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Tuesday, with a national average temperature of 45 degrees.

This is 5 degrees above the long-term average.

So far this year, more than 15,000 record high temperatures have been set across the nation, compared with about 1,100 record lows, reports Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton.

The first four months of 2012 were drier than average for the United States as a whole, with some regional variability, NOAA reported. The eastern third of the nation has been drier than average, with Maryland and Delaware both having their driest year on record, to date.

April itself was the third-warmest on record in the USA, with only April 2006 and April 1981 warmer than this April.

U.S. weather records go back to 1895.

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Mother's Day weekend will be a beauty in East, West

Moms will be treated to a wonderfully warm and dry Mother's Day weekend throughout most of the eastern and western USA. However, the South and the Ohio Valley will both see a dismal, damp weekend, thanks to heavy rain and thunderstorms, which could also bring some flooding. A few showers are possible in the north-central U.S. as well.

By Cynthia Esparza, AP

Heavy rain led to flooding in San Angelo, Texas, on Monday. More rain and floods are possible in the Southeast this weekend.

By Cynthia Esparza, AP

Heavy rain led to flooding in San Angelo, Texas, on Monday. More rain and floods are possible in the Southeast this weekend.

Soggy South: Drenching rain is likely in the South this weekend. The heaviest rain, which will include some thunderstorms, should fall along the Gulf Coast in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where more than two inches are forecast. Rain is also expected in the Ohio and Tennessee valleys.

Flooding will be possible in low-lying and poor drainage areas across the region.

Although heavy rain is forecast from the thunderstorms, none of the storms is expected to reach severe levels.

Warm in the West: Unusually warm weather is expected throughout the West both Saturday and Sunday, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures will soar into the 80s and 90s in parts of western Oregon and Washington, which is about 20 degrees above average.

The West will also be dry this weekend. No precipitation is forecast anywhere west of the Rockies.

Spotty rain elsewhere: A few showers and thunderstorms will also dampen the southern Rockies, upper Midwest and Great Lakes states this weekend. Temperatures will remain in the cool 60s under the rain and clouds.

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