let's go to bill karins.to talk with you about new jersey, our neighbor just to the west, as we look at the still potential for flooding because of those rivers that have been -- they haven't even reached their crestsing right? >> no. that probably won't happen for another 24 hours. philadelphia has had the wettest month in their history and new york the wettest august. now we're worried about the flooding problems. the center of the store, some left overgab on the back side. it's from friends been northward, where the river meets, it all collects, and that has to flow southward, so the area in blue that highlights the delaware river there. notice that many areas have warnings, but the biggest river of them all isle delaware river. it's a itch bigger water basin. that's where we're seeing the problems now. the evacuations are taking place right now, and we've already heard of some spots that water has been in downtown areas of the small town upstream. >> bill karins, thank you for falling up this morning. joi

let's go to bill karins. we saw the received. they're not oust woods yet. >> there's something called the blue hill observatory, in a higher elevation. that's where the weather reports come from. they're still getting wind gusts much 64 miles per hour. we have reports of big trees on homes, so massachusetts is the area. i was mentioning that squall line heading northward. that's far to the north. that's probably when a lot of the trees came down. on the radar, you can see that's exiting lowell and head been up into southern new hampshire. right now from connecticut to rhode island, there's not a lot of heavier bands, so we should see a bit of a lull. and even this in the new bedford area. it still will be windy, gusty, but i think we have probably seen our peak winds. we shouldn't see anything too much worse from what we've already received. this is kind of far away, these are all the places that will be in major flooding. we were talking about probably a dozens rivers, all with major flood stage in the next 48 hours. we're prett

that is definitely on your must-see list, bill karins. >> none of them are on my list.always sad, all the big winners are released. >> i want to see "the beginner." >> all the art see movies. >> that's just me. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. >> last night a fiery debate, the republican presidential candidates had their last chance to impress people of iowa before tomorrow's highly anticipated straw poll. the question is did anyone do well enough to emerge as the king or queen of the hawkeye state? >>> the dow jones index swings 400 points, this time in the right direction. the question is what does this stock market roller coaster mean for the economy as a whole? oh boy, it's that time of year again. a bunch of sweaty, muscle-bound testosterone men running around in tights. the question is, who likes watching this stuff? it's way too early for this.

for the very latest on the storm, let's get right to nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, you've been tracking this. she's huge. >> yeah. we just got the new information from the hurricane center about three minutes ago. we're trying to digest that information it did go from a category three to a category two. it only dropped about five miles per hour. i know it's no longer considered a major hurricane, but the forecast has it going back up to major hurricane before making landfall in eastern north carolina. those temporary fluxes in the storm. the eye roughly 200 miles east of flagler county of florida. it's not heading towards georgia at all. it's going to skirt the coastline of south carolina before making landfall. let's get to some of the latest. this is the storm system. this is a huge storm. more than anything else. i don't care about the center, how intense it is in the middle. the tropical storm-force wind field is enormous. and almost everyone on the eastern seaboard will feel tropical force winds. category two storm. the orange coloring is the tropical sto

meteorologist bill karins has been tracking this storm and will have an update coming up in a few minutes. >>> but first, here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today -- a shocking end to one pilot's flight at a missouri air show. the pilot spiraled downward after attempting a maneuver, unable to pull up, he crashed the aircraft, which burst into flames upon impact. the pilot was killed in the accident. >>> spectators at an air show in michigan also watched as a performer stunt went horribly wrong. home video captured images just before a windwalker fell 200 feet to his death as he attempted to climb from a plane to a helicopter. the performer was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. >>> and shifteding gears in california, it was a show of might for a good cause. 31 teams competed in a plane pull competition to benefit the special olympics. with the plane weighing in at approximately 200,000 pounds, the competing crews had their work cut out for them. each team attempted to pull the jet 12 feet in the shortest amount of time. >>> and now

we'll go our meteorologist bill karins with the official weather update. good morning. >> hurricane center has now just broadcast this down to a tropical storm. it's making landfall in new york city. that shouldn't come as any surprise whatsoever because we haven't seen within like that. we're seeing storm surge as it pushes inland. a lot of heavy rain northward. just because it's a tropical storm, still see a lot of power outages, the life threatening portion will go throughout the afternoon hours in new england and late morning. people should stay indoors until the storm has gone by. looking better down by chesapeake bay and southern new jersey. the sun is even out in a few spots. that's the update now. now with the tropical storm. back to you. >> we're going to go over across the river from where i am at 30 rock to my colleague, natalie morales who is in hoboken, new jersey. she's seen the rising waters of the hudson river. got to cause concern for many including you about the safety of your home. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you alex. tha

so for the very latest on the storm's path, let's get right to meteorologist bill karins. bill, a lot of people freaked out about this, so what do we need to know? >> you don't need to be freaked out, but you do need to be prepared. if you're prepared you'll be going through this event just fine. what has changed since yesterday? well, this storm is now looking like more and more it's not going to swing and miss. this is going to hit somewhat, looks almost definitely eastern north carolina, and now it looks more and more likely that the midatlantic to new england will be threatened by this storm. just got new information from the national hurricane center, so i'm kind of digesting that as we go here, but the general -- right now the storm is trying to reorganize. this happens with these storms, the center of the eye will break apart, then it will reform. that's what's happening right now. still a category 3 storm. the hurricane center thinks it could still briefly become a category 4 storm, but then the water gets cooler and the storm will begin its weakening process. but

. >>> and no for a look at the national weather, we turn to bill karins. $308,000. worth is, what do you think? >> it's kind of cool. definitely unique. >> but what do you do with it in. >> i don't know. >> sits in the garage, i guess. >> with a cover. good morning, every. two stories. we have a tropical storm and also the impressive heat in the middle of the country. but now that we're getting into the peak months of our tropical season, this is where we could get hurricanes. and this is our first storm that we really have a lot of interest in. all the ones we've had up to this point were kind of weak and they weren't going to head anywhere towards land. this is more serious because tropical storm emily is now in the caribbean sea. this is where the warm water is and it's surrounded by land, so emily has to hit some land area. the question is how much can she strengthen and will she survive to hit united states. right now heading into the extreme eastern caribbean sea. haiti may get the worst of it as far as heavy rains in the days ahead. so here's the new forecast

now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins, he has your weather channel forecast. >> you have to shake your head when you see that. i want to know the conversation they had before they decided to do something like that. i know, let's put him in the back of the truck. >> i guess she didn't want to walk. >> can't really explain that, bill. >> i understand. let's get to your weekend forecast. good morning, everyone, temperatures continue to soar in texas and we also saw a lot of thunderstorms in areas like philadelphia, new jersey and new york late last night and during the overnight. how does 106 feel in dallas? this won't end. 98 in new orleans is very hot for them. plus a lot of humidity down there. that's where the record heat continues and still a little steamy from atlanta to orlando. temperatures in the mid 90s. still in the 80s in much of texas. we're cooler in kansas city. this thunderstorm complex meant business. down from omaha and into missouri, now pushing south of st. louis, that's where the worst weather of the country is early this mo

meteorologist bill karins is watching this storm very closely.he's going to have an update on that shortly. but first, let's take a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. a shocking end to one pilot's weekend. the pilot spiraled downward after attempting an maneuver. unable to pull up, he crashed the aircraft which burst into flames upon impact. the pilot was killed in the accident. >>> spectators at an air show in michigan also watched as a performer stunt went horribly wrong. home video captured images just before a wing walker fell 200 feet to his death as he attempted to climb from a plane to a helicopter. the performer was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. >>> and on a much lighter note, in california, it was a show of might for a good cause. 31 teams competed in a plane pull competition to benefit the special olympics. with the plane weighing in at approximately 200,000 pounds, the competing crews had their work cut out for them. each team attempted to pull the jet 12 feet in the shortest a

your national weather and we turn to bill karins. it's the live eel bait. >> i've used herring before. that's usually a typical live bait. >> 81 pounds. >> sat across from another anchor who went bass fishing before. >> we're out there and rugged like that. >> good to see lynn on the deck with her feet up. well, good morning, everyone. let's talk about this forecast. around the country it was a hot, humid weekend. especially anywhere east of the appalachians. humidity was cranked up. a lot of people were dodging showers and thunderstorms on saturday and on sunday afternoon but there's really no relief as far as the heat goes. still going to watch the hot conditions throughout the southern half of the country. heat advisories through much of texas, arkansas, northern louisiana, mississippi, western portions of tennessee and also some heat advisories for the carolinas including the five boroughs of new york city today too. dallas, you continue on this amazing streak of all the way back in june you had your last day not in the 100s. now

here's bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. >> i'm guessing you slip through the rainstorm yesterday. >> minorly. >> two inches of rain in central park. we were drenched. boston had more. boston other two inches of rain. most of the major cities had heavy rain. the exception, washington, d.c. you got missed yesterday. the rain stayed to your north. as far as this morning goes, the rain has ended in boston. we have a dry morning commute. but the roads are dry in eastern massachusetts. today's forecast, we're starting off with temperatures cooler because of the rain cooldown there. in the 60s or low 70s. that's going to make for a nice afternoon. today is a transition day. there's a little humidity left today. the humidity's going to drop off. and we'll see nice conditions. 90 in philadelphia. 93 in d.c. but the lower humidity will feel much more comfortable. a little taste of gorgeous conditions out there. highs in the 70s and low 80s. and that air mass today is in the great lakes and northe

karins with the weather channel forecast. >> welcome back, by the missed me so much. >> i did. the tears wouldn't top rolling. >> i thought so. >> good morning, everyone. as far as the west goes, its taps per stijtd forecast. that means whatever happened yesterday for the most part is going to happen again today. coastal area, the nihttime clouds, the morning clouds burn coastal area, the nihttime clouds, the morning clouds burn off, hopefully, then you get a decent afternoon.cc1: san francisco, you're one of the coolest spots in the country. that continues. we're at 55 this morning. 61 in l.a. for coastal areas you have the cloud, interior less clouds in the valleys and they'll have a good deal of sunshine. the weather pattern's not changing. just a couple of weak troughs. there's no big storms on the way. the heat through the middle of the country will slowly work through the rest. the country will slowly work through the rest. it won't be a wave. that's about it. otherwise what you see is kind of what you get out there. sunshine continues today and dry weather. 75 in seattle

for the very latest on the storm, let's turn to bill karins. he has the latest track that irene is taking. >> unfortunately, no good news overnight. in the forecast is still supposed to go across eastern north carolina, then rake the eastern seaboard. we're now getting a good view of the storm on radar. one of the legacies of this storm is that it will be so huge it will affect so many millions of people, not just a small intense storm. it's a very large storm. we've seen more intense storms like katrina and andrew, but as far as size goes, this is about it. it will hit a lot of people. this will show you the cloud tops where all the heavy rain is. this dwarfs the size of florida and florida is a big state. we'll be watching bad weather for 12 to 24 hours up and down the east coast as this storm does its destruction starting through the night and would the weekend. 300-mile wide. you don't see them that big this often. north carolina up to new york city. the forecast path takes its inland tomorrow morning, north carolina, skirts the coast durin

nbc meteorologist bill karins is back. latest on the storm's path and what that fallout might look like. >> i got some different maps for you, chris, to give you different perspective on when is happening with this storm system. this shows the sea surface temperatures over the atlantic ocean. hurricanes need temperatures above 80 degrees to get bigger and stronger. we have 80 degree water temperature in the orange, all the way to virginia beach. the storm only has until about virginia beach to strengthen. after that, it goes over cooler water, it would weaken. the water temperatures off the ocean city, maryland are in the 70s. off of areas of new england, in some cases, temperatures in the 60s. the carolinas will get hit by most likely a category 3 or very strong 2. you can see the black center line. it is really weakening until it gets past ocean city, maryland, that's why we're expecting a devastating blow to the coast there. now, as far as the wave goes, the wave action is going to be incredible with this storm, such a

thank you very much bill karins.'s go to tom cost who is live in ocean city, maryland where things were rainy a short while ago but pretty much can you say you were safely on the other side of irene. it's come and gone? >> reporter: well i hope so. is bill there? it certainly seems to. about two hours ago when i did a live shot with you about 6:00 a.m. i was maybe a little too optimistic. i came out in shorts and just a quick rain jacket. >> the sun was out. >> reporter: boy was i mistaken. yeah. then we got hit by these really strong winds and then we got hit by more rain. so i decided i better put on the full get up again. this is probably the calmest we've seen the ocean here in 24 hours. as you can see it's got some good chop to it. not like yesterday. we had an nbc news crew is your straight streets of ocean city. if you have property in the ocean city area, if you own a home, if you are somebody who runs or owns a hotel, i think you can rest assured that there is probably no damage at the max. i would say you m

now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> i stopped at fried oreos. that was where i drew the line. >> why? >> twinkies. >> fried snickers where the chocolate melts a little bit. >> sounds like dinner. >> good morning, everyone. let's talk about your weather forecast if you're with us this morning from new england, finally a nice day for you after three days in a row of kind of misery. yesterday we only had a high of 74 in boston so it kind of felt like fall and it was damp, and today is going to be much, much better. the heat still continues, we're 104 in dallas yesterday. san antonio was around 100 degrees. that's where the heat is going to continue. the weather pattern right now is about as quiet as it gets. we don't have anything in the tropics brewing heading our way, we don't have any severe weather, we just have the heat and drought. probably the biggest weather story out there. we'll get one cold front every three or four days going through with showers and storms and then you'l

. >>> and now for a look at the national weather, we turn to bill karins. you could barely make out the lips on the ball. >> i think they'll have to somehow preserve it. >> it's too late now 1952 is when it happened. >> if it lasted this long, it will last longer. good morning. around the country the heat is the story. around the southeast, people are wondering what will happen with emily. winds are maxing at 50 miles per hour. it's still a weak tropical storm. kind of disorganized. the bright red is the cloud showing you the cold cloud tops where the thunderstorms are. the center of the storm is on the edge of that. not right under the middle of it. that's keeping the storm on the weak side. puerto rico is getting brushed with heavy rain and thunderstorms. and this is heading for the dominican republic later on tonight. the dominican republic has some tall mountains, and they typically tear the storm apart. the national hurricane center is thinking it has a chance to regenerate. if it does, this would be the general path it would take. the closest it would

and now the grumpy nbc meteorologist bill karins has your weather channel forecast. sglt kansas city people are mice. what can we say? >> the midwest has good hearts. >> do you think someone at the yankee stadium would walk over and give kansas city the ball? >> they're only like ten-years on the old. >> at ten in new york city, they are already bitter. >> a weather guy who is bitter. >> it is 5:00 a.m. >> true. >> well, around the country, we saw a beautiful day yesterday. down to florida, showers and stores. let's talk about the weather pattern out there. the heat continues for many areas. summer kind of feels like it's begun to end in the great lakes and new england. ps have been rather cool as of late, but summer is continuing full blast down in texas especially 100 degree heat widespread, also our friends back here in colorado and new mexico. in the southeast, still warm in the 90s. humidity levels have been down a little bit. this is how we did yesterday. notice it was in the low 80s from chicago to minneapolis, boston was at 84, new york 86. still felt like su

nbc news meteorologist bill karins is in the studio with me. right now we're looking at some of these effects. i can see from the radar on florida, right? >> correct. florida, little bit of rain, little bit of wind, big show on the coast, little bit of beach erosion. that's the beginnings of this mess. we get updates on the hurricane path four times a day, 5:00 and 11:00 east coast time around the clock. about twice a day we get a lot of information. i just got done digesting the morning computer runs. if anything, the only thing i've noticed is that the speed is increasing a little bit. maybe instead of an evening landfall, maybe we're talking saturday afternoon. looking at my watch, that gives you 48 hours in eastern north carolina to get all the preps done. that's when the worst is going to arrive, about 48 hours from now. see a little pin needle dot there? just north of the "m" in the bahamas, that's the eye of the hurricane. it was obscured for a while. now we can track it on satellite once again. it's parallel with nassau and the bahamas

here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> dare i say it's a littley in a few spots. >> dare you say it? >> 59 in pittsburgh, that's almost like jacket weather. the suburbs you'll notice a chill in the air. temperatures in the cities are still plenty warm. in the 70s in new york and 75 in washington, d.c. today, probably one of the better days you're going to get all summer long. it's going to be warm in the sun. it should be nice, cool and refreshing in the shade. temperatures in all the big cities are going to be in the 80s. and look at buffalo. only 74. and albany, new york at 76. even with sunshine. that's a cool day. tomorrow is going to be similar, maybe a degree or two warmer. we have thursday and friday, two days in a row, the big cities of the great lakes and the mid-atlantic and the new england area, picture-perfect. top ten days of the summer. as far as the rest of the country goes, we're still great from minneapolis to chicago, to kansas city. enjoy it in st. louis. the southeast of texas hasn't made it to you, lynn, they'll have to wait a

. >>> now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i think you need to talk to washington state. i think they're confused. it's august, right? not december. >> we can ship some of that to dallas. it would melt in a hurry. i don't think it would make it through oklahoma. >>> good morning, everyone. yesterday we were dealing with a huge heat wave and tropical storm. now just the heat wave is left because the mountains of hispaniola tore emily apart. there's really nothing left of it. there's some showers and thunderstorms over cuba. but we're no longer dealing with emily. and in south florida it's not going to be a concern for you. yesterday, another boiler in the middle of country in the furnace. 108 in oklahoma city. record highs in many areas. we hit 100 in savannah. it wasn't like the southeast was much cooler. we had a nice day from d.c. up through new york city and boston, only 76. cooler air has arrived for the northern half of the country. we're not getting there yet in the deep plains, especially around dallas

. >>> now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i've never seen anything like that live. i'm wondering if it's better in person. >> have you done a hot air balloon before? have you? >> yes. it's a fun, tranquil experience. >> is it scary? >> the landings are interesting. because you hit and you tip over. but the pilot will treat you well. well, good morning, everyone. let's talk about what happened this weekend. the heat continues. there really weren't many areas that weren't in the nintz in weekend. almost everyone was on the hot side. the exception being the west coast. and this week, all the heat is going to expand in the middle of the country. it's going to be a brutal week. if you're anywhere from the red river from dallas to oklahoma city and everywhere in between, and the heat expanding to the north, kansas city, even chicago you get a taste of it. the exception will be up there in northern new england. yesterday it was 99 in washington, d.c. now, the humidity was a little bit lower, but 99 is 99. even new

. >>> and now for a look at the national weather, we turn to bill karins with the weather channel forecast. what do you think they would have said to him, bill? >> the seal? >> the seals to the deer. >> if it you want anything, jump in the shark tank. good morning, everyone. the incredible temperatures are the big story in the u.s., but everyone is wondering what's going to happen with emily on the east coast. you have to feel bad for the people in the dominican republic and haiti. still a lot of people living in a lot of tents and they're going to get drenched today. yesterday puerto rico got a lot of heavy rain. we came see a foot of rain in haiti. this is a slow moving storm. it's been inching along last night. this is not what you want to see for an area that that's as impoverished as this island. as far as the forecast goes, we still have to watch south florida and the bahamass. things are looking more encouraging emily will turn away from south carolina and florida, so your forecast has improved but anyone along the florida east coast, the storm should be closest to you come sun up s

. >>> now for a look at your national weather, we tur to nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill, how is your lung capacity in. >> not bad. i used to be able to go from one end of the pool to the other, under water. good morning, everyone. a lot of people spent a lot of time in the summer to beat the heat. now today things are starting to change ever so slightly. we're not watching the area of really, really hot temperatures being as widespread. it's very humid out there and we have a lot of rain to deal with over the next two to three days. we'll get drenched today, just like we did yesterday in the southeast. and we've got rain heading through the great lakes and new england throughout this evening. still very hot in texas, that's not going to change any time soon. the humid conditions in the southeast are here to stay. the changeable weather is heading through the northern plains. finally, a nice cool fall air mass and the rain in the great lakes and get ready in new england, that rain will move your way later today and tonight. you do need the umbrella to w

let's get a check of the weather first from nbc meteorologist, bill karins. >> this is as good as it beautiful day. it's a little too late for us to play hooky, but we can advise everyone else to do the same. gorgeous out there, lower humidity, temperatures are down a little, but still warm in the sun. in the 50s and the 0s in the 'burbs this morning, a little cool in some spots. today will be gorgeous, 80-85, no rainfall out there. it's the humidity that makes it feel so comfortable. a problem trouble spot is the cooler air is trying to move to the deep south. it just can't make it this time of year. we have thunderstorms that are plentiful from little rock all the way back into oklahoma. the good thing is we've been talking about the horrible drought in texas and oklahoma, we need the rainfall. so this is a little bit of a blessing around amarillo, texas and we'll head for oklahoma city. and dallas, friday's the big question mark. will we hit 100? that's the day you'll probably tie your record and today looks like you'll easily be about 102 in dallas. so two days away from the all-

let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins.forecast, this new video of joplin, missouri. >> it's not often you see 200-mile-per-hour winds go through a high school cafeteria. that's the scene here. these are all the interior shots from the cameras from the joplin high school. that's down the hallway. the most impressive video is coming up as it tears through portions of the cafeteria. that's just a sad state of the high school. there's the cafeteria, as you watch, all of a sudden the chairs and desks and everything comes tumbling database. they're not going to get this high school cleaned up in time. they'll start this upcoming school year at the mall. one of the bigger facilities they can have for the high school students. let's show you what's happening out there today, nothing like that thankfully. the forecast does have thunderstorms in it today for areas of the east, including new england and the mid-atlantic, bau we won't deal with those until late this afternoon. showers and storms rolling through areas like erie, pennsy

we want to check in with bill karins. a new forecast was just issued giving a little more direction. >> not a lot of change quite yet with the watches and worngs. i assume later on today the watches will continue up the coast. those will soon go over to hurricane warnings. we'll also start getting more on evacuation orders. we've already heard about visitors leading the outer banks. a lot of people are wondering if it will cancel their beach weekend. sunday new england south, if you don't belong on the beach, you don't have property there, you shouldn't be there. the people that do live there, it's time to be boarding up. now, here's kind of what you need to know right now. the prep ties is the next two days. today, tomorrow, maybe portions of saturday, but if you're in north carolina, saturday is too late. if you're in new england, you still have time on saturday to get things done. we're talking about a huge rain storms on the west side, but the wind and storm surge will be along the coast. tom, what's interesting, we h

bill karins is at the msnbc weather center. we know where from congressman keating where this storm is, bill. >> this storm is fascinating from a scientific perspective because of its huge size. it's so unique. if you look at the damage, it's scattered here, scattered there. bad in one town, not bad in the next town. you show scenes 200 miles away from the storm in massachusetts t looks like the center is going on shore there. it looks worse there than in new york city where the center went on shore. this storm, if you add up all the damage, it's probably equivalent to an ike. this is the 2:00 p.m. advisory from the hurricane center. these tropical storm-force winds are now getting up into canada. at the same time, they're still wrapping down here through the d.c. area. the tropical storm-force wind field is huge all the way out into the open waters of the gulf of main and outside of albany, new york. anywhere within this orange is where we still can see the tropical storms for gusts. that's what we are getting down here on the

both the seriousness of this and the science of this, we're joined now by nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, thanks for helping us understand this. >> of course. >> can you talk us through what a storm surge is and why the deputy director might have been expressing such caution about that right now? >> yeah. it's getting a little confusing, because viewers and everyone out there is hearing the storm is weakened and it's supposed to be a landfall of category one. that's the winds. when we talk about the category, the strength of the storm. that doesn't have a ton to do with what the storms are going to be like in any local area. although it's only weakened down to a category two, possibly to a one by landfall, it's still a huge storm, and it's displacing a lot of water. in other words, this is like a big huge fan out over the ocean. taking all of that wind and pushing the water to the coast. because of the angle of approach to the coast, the winds are going to be out of the south for a very long time, and areas along the coast, the southeast along areas of maryland, delaware, into new

bill karins up in new york for us, our meteorologist. thanks very much. joining me now from the regional operations intelligence center in ewing, new jersey, is the governor of new jersey, chris christie. governor, good to have you here. what's your big issue, your big concern this morning? >> david, our big concern right now is flooding, not only on the coast, but inland. we have our rivers here that are swelling over their banks. we have flooding inland already and we have over 250 road closures already in new jersey, more than 15,000 people in 45 different shelters, and that number is climbing, and we have over 500,000 people without power. and so, what we're transitioning now towards is dealing with the flooding and the aftermath. the good news is we got a million people off the jersey shore in 20 hours and i think we would have had significant loss of life if we hadn't done that. >> talk about that decision. you know, there's a lot of lessons learned from past disasters, like a hurricane katrina, even the big storm earlier this year in the northeast

bill karins with the latest on hurricane irene. low any line? >> good morning, everybody. if you are joining us, let me give you the latest on the track. 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. every 36 hours we get the major forecast update. this is the 5:00 a.m. advisory. it didn't change much since 11:00 p.m. it shifted to the east by maybe 20 miles. that will depend on storm surge. as far as the timing goes, it's earlier. less time to prepare. eastern north carolina you are about 12 hours to prepare for the worst of the weather begins in your area. the storm should be category 2. take the jersey shore to maryland where we are going to deal with that. by the time it gets up to new york city, it could be on the east side. new york city would be right in here. that would be on the backside of the storm. we get some storm surge, then the winds blow out of the harbor sunday afternoon. remember the left side of the storm is the wet side, the right is the windier side of the system. as far as what we are dealing with, and the way the storm is going

bill karins is at the weather center. what's the answer? >> the storm is now heading just exited westchester county, and now will head quickly to the north. it will quickly blow through new england. the rivers in new jersey, the warnings continue, warnings everywhere in green the delaware flooding will deal with major flooding, all almost crest tomorrow. we're talking most of them. the quest will go from north to south. there's a lot of smaller rivers, just outside of northern, and here's why. we've also heard some reports of flooding concerns down in virginia. and the rainfall in north carolina wasn't quite as bad. i just saw a report, the river is not flowing out to sea as it should. we're still continues with our problems. >> thank you, bill. from governor bob mcdonnell in virginia, as you well know, sadly there were fatalities in the state. let's listen in. >> let me give you an impact assessment of what happened. we have other than the wind prognostication, i think everything that happened was about as photographed. i think the hurrica

let's go to bill karins. he joins me live. image, certain montauk is kind of ferocious there. >> let me explain what's happening. we have a long southerly fetch right over the waters. i mentioned yesterday that in cape hatteras we had 14 straight hours of hurricane-force gusts. that was the right side of is the storm. that's what southern new england is going through. because it's such a big storm, it takes so long, the southerly winds will continue, and they're piling up the water. we still expect a high tide this evening. we're still going to have some problems. we already had one report in the new haven area of one house that actually collapsed. one other one was partially collapsed. we were just showing you the boat rescue around new bedford. those are sort waves coming up anywhere around 10 to 15 feet, in sets one after the other the rain is over with. the huge waves are still existing. the heavy rain has shifted much further to the north. many of the strong wind gusts are strong to the north. heartfold is down to 36. we'

this is called, lament for a market place in babylon, by abdul karin al karid and it's a reference to a suicide bombing. this one and the next one are both translated by salim yusef. on this grave stone are angels and people weeping. what are people waiting for, their ship? here it comes, borne by the deluge. in a market place now frequented by money changers with beards and baggy trousers, who restores the limbs and who throws open the gates for hollow-eyed gods coming in from babylon with red chests and white furious hair? i wonder who? on the day of march 1st in the 5th year after the second millennium, a massacre took place in babylon. it's my pleasure it introduce the next poet, george evans. . >> first, i would like to read a poem by my dear friend and wife, daisy samora, who was to be here today but is in nicaragua, keeping in mind what michael said about jorge and casablanca, i will read it in her language or my spanish first, then in translation. it's a poem directly addressed to poets but certainly to activists as well. (speaking spanish) no man's land. we are a mine field o

now here is a look at the weather with bill karins. you've been up in one of those. >> i did. >> i looks kind of scary. >> very peaceful. >> but when your basket tips like that. >> when you land. there's no wheels. you literally hit, then tip over. >> and you're stuck under the balloon. >> it's a fun process. good pilots will get you through. >> all right. >> let's talk about what happened this weekend. around the country, the forecast hasn't changed. the same old story with the heat. we got done with record heat. the month of july is going down in the record books as one of the hottest ever for areas like baltimore, washington, d.c., oklahoma city, dallas, texas, wichita falls. now, as we head to august, we're going to have another week as an historical heat wave races through the heartland. so this is where the heat has been and this is where it stays. we keep having these troughs the up here in the northwest. that's why our temperatures continue to struggle. with all the heat in the middle of the country, we need a shift to the west

msnbc meteorologist bill karins joins us with the latest on what to expect. good morning, bill. >> good saturday morning to you, alex. the heat's been a huge summer all summer long not stopping today. incredible temperatures continue with texas and oklahoma. yesterday, 107 in dallas. almost as hot as phoenix at 109. a little bit of a break in kansas city with showers and thunderstorms yesterday. i think that's going to happen again today. heat warnings are in orange. almost all of the state of oklahoma including tulsa and oklahoma city. dallas, heat advisory and heat warnings around the memphis area. everywhere in the yellow, heat advisory. in other words, a good chunk of the southern half of the country today is still going to be very dangerously hot. the report streak continues in dallas. we've now had 35 days -- can you imagine? 35 days in a row each in the afternoon hit 100 degrees at least. the record is 42. we're now only a week way from that. check out the five-day forecast in dallas. no rain in sight. temperatures are easily going to be above 100 for

bill karins has a look at what you can expect. bill? >>> a good saturday morning. active weather yesterday caused all sorts of problems, unfortunately some fatalities. we look at the severe storm reports. we had one tornado yesterday. that did take a life in northern wisconsin. we have a lot of thunderstorm activity rolling through the new england area, mid-atlantic and ohio valley. flash flooding in pistol president. we had three fatalities people tracked in the water in their cars. even though we didn't have big tornados, those thunderstorms have cleared owl of new england. we're dry on saturday. we will see another round of big storms on sunday. if you think it's being wet in philadelphia it has. we've had a foot of rain in august. almost 13 inches. with the next bout expected on sunday, this will become our all time wettest month. new york's not far behind with 11 implgs of rain so far this august. as far as severe weather goes this weekend, a slight risk of strong storms on saturday, today. nooer st. louis. sunday on areas of new england all the way down to ph

this is called, lament for a market place in babylon, by abdul karin al karid and it's a reference to a suicide bombing. this one and the next one are both translated by salim yusef. on this grave stone are angels and people weeping. what are people waiting for, their ship? here it comes, borne by the deluge. in a market place now frequented by money changers with beards and baggy trousers, who restores the limbs and who throws open the gates for hollow-eyed gods coming in from babylon with red chests and white furious hair? i wonder who?

. >>> now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. you have to throw up your hands and say, where did they get the baby-sitter. >> it's bad enough if there was one. but there was someone driving the truck and also someone sitting in the back. so two people that unintelligent. good morning, everyone, around the country, a pretty quiet weather pattern continues. the question is will the upcoming weekend will we finally hit 90 degrees in portland, ogon, it will a close call on saturday, it looks like saturday will be the warmest day, maybe of the entire summer. so make your outdoor plans. overnight, bad weather in missouri, thunderstorm complex went through omaha and swept down through central missouri. a lot of damaging wind reports with that cluster. now as far as what we're dealing with in the west, monsoonal showers around a big high pressure center in texas. on the border of new mexico and texas, saw some showers and storms. utah and nebraska remained dry along with california. and in montana, t

what we're seeing as irene is making her way here as bill karins told us it looks like the eye is headed right for this location. we're seeing the waves just buflting the beach and beach erosion taking place right before our eyes. there's a pier behind me, it's kind of hard to see in this crazy early hour here in the darkness, some of those baefs are so powerful and strong and so big that they're crashing over the end of that pier that goes out about 350 yards or so into the water. the community is mostly evacuated and that's what the north carolina government officials wanted. there are some people who decided to stay put and what they discovered this morning is even before irene fully arrived here as a hurricane power was out. folks who are trying to watch their news coverage on television last night lost their cable, lost their satellite dishes very early on because of this rain as it's coming in. and of course, there are really some thankful people that they decided to pack up and head inland and among the most thankful for that are the police. we're at the location where the police

. >>> now for a look at the national and regional weather, bill karins is here with the weather channel forecast. >> good morning. i bet nap time doesn't go so well. the kids are running around. on the west coast, the quiet weather pattern continues. if you like sunshine and mild temperatures, this is quite a stretch we have had. on the coastal areas, we are dealing with colder area in the clouds. hot in the desert, 106 in phoenix. very typical this time of the year. the low 90s for a while now for salt lake city and northern nevada, also through southern portions of idaho. portland, 78 yesterday. still cooler than we would like than in seattle at 71. the trend continues this morning. 55 in seattle and in san francisco. l.a. is 55 to start the morning. a weak storm system is heading up now to southern canada dragging the cold front down through idaho. there's still moisture here, so we'll see a lot of sunshine. just coastal clouds to burn off this morning in areas near southern california. eventually it will warm into the 70s interior, but once you are in the valleys, nice and popped up

yeah, the 30-minute thrill doesn't come cheap, though. 180 buck, bill karins. you would have to pay me 180 bucks. >> if you're a thrill seeker, that's pretty cool. where else can you do that? maybe statue of liberty. >> i wouldn't do it anywhere. >> chicago sears tower? >> no thank you. >>> time for a look at some of the stories we follow here on nbc. a senate committee holds a hearing on the drought in the horn of africa. people are at risk for starvation in ethiopia and kenya. >>> marvel will publish its first comic featuring a new spider-man named miles morales. the half black, half hispanic superhero takes over where peter parker left off before he was killed in the comic series last june. >>> martha stewart turns 70 years old today. >>> those stories break on msnbc. and be sure to watch brian williams with nbc nightly news. >>> finally a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. ordered by a judge to return to florida for probation, will casey anthony come out of hiding today? her attorney jose baez speaks to matt lauer. >>> jason ba

now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you. >> good morning. the video of the guy on the tarp -- >> we don't laugh at him. >> he got out of there safe. >> he had quick feet, made me smile. good morning, everyone, around the country, the heat's has been the story. rain moved into the areas of the ast. but in the west, it's been more of the same. this was a good example, this is map i don't show that often. in the blue is what your average high should have been yesterday, and in the white is what your high actually was. the case in point is that coastal areas have been cooler than normal this summer. we're 82 is the average high in portland, but we were only 76 yesterday, about five degrees below average. san francisco was about nine degrees below average. l.a. was below average, too. interior west was close to average temperatures. so that's kind of been the story. the interior west has been warm, summer-like, but the coast hasn't gotten into a summer pattern. we're in the 50s right