East Coast cleaning up after weekend storms

Residents along the nation's Eastern Seaboard were left cleaning up Sunday, a day after storms ripped along the East Coast, spawning at least two tornadoes, flooding streets and toppling power lines.

By Ramin Talaie, Getty Images

Danny Fallon inspects the damage in his rental cabana where a tornado touched down in the New York City borough of Queens.

By Ramin Talaie, Getty Images

Danny Fallon inspects the damage in his rental cabana where a tornado touched down in the New York City borough of Queens.

The severe weather was part of a cold front that stretched from Washington, D.C., to Maine, as wind gusts reached up to 70 mph.

At the Breezy Point Surf Club in the New York City borough of Queens, a tornado Saturday tore the roofs off cabanas. "It picked up picnic benches. It picked up Dumpsters," said the club's general manager, Thomas Sullivan.

The club's pool remained closed because of debris and broken glass, but otherwise things were back to normal Sunday, said Caitlin Walsh, catering and events manager at the club. "It's going pretty good; we cleaned up most of it," Walsh said. "A few roofs are still off of the cabanas, but we are open today."

In the Washington, D.C., area, Dominion Virginia Power had 155,000 customers affected by the storm. By 1 p.m. Sunday all but 4,300 had their power back.

"We expect everyone to be restored by midnight," said Le-Ha Anderson, spokeswoman for Dominion. "We worked through the night."

Vermont's largest utility company said it restored power to nearly all 28,000 residences and businesses that lost electricity Saturday.

The storms reached every county in Vermont but did not leave any severe damage.

Utility crews were still working Sunday to restore power to thousands of customers across New York state. In Buffalo, the storm's straight-line winds blew roofing off buildings and sent bricks crashing into the street.

WIVB in Buffalo reported that crews will assess damaged buildings today and will carry out "selective demolition" to be sure that the structures are stable.

National Weather Service meteorologist John Cannon said the storms passed through Maine by late Saturday and the concern then became high swells of 4 to 8 feet on the beaches and rip currents that would make it dangerous to swim.

Contributing: The Associated Press bull /> b>Full weather, 12A /b>

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Weekend weather forecast calls for hot and hotter

A record heat wave will continue to roast much of the USA through the weekend, fanning wildfires in the Colorado Rockies, threatening outdoor workers and causing some municipalities to cancel fireworks in time for July Fourth.

By Sitthixay Ditthavong, AP

Cconstruction workers Santiago Gomez and Jorge Moreno take a break during a road construction project in Chicago.

By Sitthixay Ditthavong, AP

Cconstruction workers Santiago Gomez and Jorge Moreno take a break during a road construction project in Chicago.

The heat has broken all-time records from the northern Great Plains to the Southeast already this week. The rest of the month will bring even more scorching heat from Boston to Atlanta, with temperatures reaching into the low 100s, said Meteorologist Michael Palmer of The Weather Channel.

"To get this kind of heat in late June is unusual and most likely historic for many areas," Palmer said. Temperatures will gradually cool in the latter half of next week, but "It'll be hot on July Fourth just about everywhere."

This week's temperatures broke records in some areas that date to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Benkelman, Neb., cooked at 114 degrees Wednesday, beating a previous June record of 111 set in 1936, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

The weather will continue to harry firefighters battling the Waldo Canyon wildfire that has destroyed hundreds of homes in Colorado Springs.

Public safety officials in some communities warn that more fires could be started by Independence Day fireworks as the holiday approaches.

Crews in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., dealt with a brush fire last month that nearly burned a cabin with 60 people in it. The cause was fireworks, Fire Chief Tony Watson said.

In Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio, County Judge Nelson Wolff banned aerial fireworks for the weekend because of the heat and dry conditions.

The 60-hour ban covers "sky rockets with sticks and missiles with fins, anything the takes off before it explodes," spokeswoman Laura Jesse said. Wolff has asked Texas Gov. Rick Perry to extend the ban to July 5, she said.

In Rapid City, S.D., where Wednesday's 106-degree heat beat a June record set in 1974, 25 roofers working for Black Hills Roofing have been starting at 6 a.m. to beat the heat, co-owner Christa Headid said.

"You want to make sure you get enough fluid and salt pills to keep their electrolytes up," Headid said. "We did work a shorter day because of the heat."

Contributing: Sean Dreher of WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tenn.

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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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Hurricane Irene Forecast to Hit the Carolinas This Weekend (ContributorNetwork)

Hurricane Irene hit Puerto Rico with flooding rains and high winds Sunday night, then it started off on a course that might mean the storm misses the Hispaniola mountains and becomes a stronger system when it approaches the U.S. southeastern coast and the Carolinas later this week.

The official forecast calls for Hurricane Irene to have winds up to 120 mph by the time it makes landfall this weekend. The current track puts the hurricane coming ashore in the Savannah, Ga., area but all coastal areas from Florida to the North Carolina Outer Banks are within the storm's possible landfall range.

Many computer-generated forecasts show Irene crossing inland across the Carolinas and possibly bringing severe weather to the Charlotte region this weekend. It could slam into the Carolinas by Friday, bringing widespread flooding, downed trees and power lines, and possibly forcing coastal evacuations.

Stormwatchers grew more concerned over the weekend as Hurricane Irene changed course slightly and appears to be on a path that will not cross but simply skirt around the mountains of the Dominican Republic. That will lessen the land's impact on the hurricane. Irene has already defied conventional wisdom by becoming stronger even when moving over land, which it did as it raged over Puerto Rico with winds up to 75 mph.

Puerto Rico reported widespread storm damage but no deaths.

Hurricane Irene should strengthen as it heads out over the warm water.

Irene was a tropical storm when it moved over the U.S. Virgin Islands but strengthened to a hurricane just before daybreak on Monday. The National Hurricane Center projected Irene would be a Category 3 hurricane by Thursday and could land in South Carolina moving inland up through North Carolina or could go eastward and land at or brush the North Carolina coast.

Carolinas emergency management officials have just begun preparations for Hurricane Irene.

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