people in southern jamaica are being warned that the storm is coming.y swept past the windward islands with heavy rain and 60-mile-per-hour winds. ernesto is expected to strengthen into a hurricane some time tomorrow, but the latest tracks don't have it reaching the u.s. and right behind ernesto is a brand-new named storm, tropical storm florence with winds at 40 miles per hour. >>> relatives of former penn state coach joe paterno are fighting for the school and his legacy. paterno's family says they plan to appeal the ncaa's sanctions against the university, but -- and this is a big but -- an ncaa spokesman says those sanctions are not subject to appeal. last month, the ncaa stripped 14 seasons of football victories from the late paterno in addition to leveling a $60 million fine against the university. it is all over a fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving former coach jerry sandusky. >>> to politics nowd

people in southern jamaica are being warned that the storm is coming. it already swept past the windward islands with heavy rain and 60-mile-per-hour winds. ernesto is expected to strengthen into a hurricane some time tomorrow, but the latest tracks don't have it reaching the u.s. and right behind ernesto is a brand-new named storm, tropical storm florence with winds at 40 miles per hour. >>> relatives of former penn state coach joe paterno are fighting for the school and his legacy. paterno's family says they plan to appeal the ncaa's sanctions against the university, but -- and this is a big but -- an ncaa spokesman says those sanctions are not subject to appeal. last month, the ncaa stripped 14 seasons of football victories from the late paterno in addition to leveling a $60 million fine against the university. it is all over a fallout from the child sex abuse scandal involving former coach jerry sandusky. >>> to politics now and the july jobs report provided a lot of ammunition for both sides of the presidential campaign. cnn political editor paul s

the storm brushed past jamaica's southern coast yesterday bringing heavy rain the choppy waters provedto be too much for some fishermen. the forecast calls for the storm to move towards honduras today. storm is expected to move ashore towards the board arer -- the border of belize and mexico. ernesto could reach hurricane status later in the week. >>> we have to get you back to that 238 accident where frances sadly you have confirmed it is a fatal? . >> yes. they are sending a coroner to the scene one of the passengers or driver of this red vehicle had to be extricated from the vehicle. you see they cut the car open. one person fatal, a crash and you see the lanes blocked right now as well as a lot of -- looks like absorb want on the road there was also a diesel -- diesel fuel spill. lanes blocked, traffic getting by only in the center divide. you will see the huge back-up that has developed on 238, basically a parking lot. now the jam extents ton to 580 through castro valley. i would avoid -- 238 all together don't try to go in that direction with fatal crash it takes a couple hours f

the storm became more organized after brushing by jamaica on sunday, swamping the southern coast. several fishermen had to be rescued after getting stranded in choppy waters off the capital city of kingston. people in low-lying areas were urged to head to higher ground. despite the heavy rain there was no major damage. >> irony here is we could use some of that water in the u.s. with this drought. >>> back here at home in the raging wildfires in oklahoma, some of the evacuated residents have now been allowed to go back home and on top of that, cooler temperatures the next few days may give fire crews some much-needed help. abc's mike boettcher reports now from the very hard-hit town of glencoe. >> reporter: once more, fire had everything at its disposal. heat, high winds, no rain. out-of-control firestorms dotted the landscape. oklahomans fought back but often they were futile efforts. >> like dynamite going off. it gets scary out there. >> reporter: heat so intense it creates its own rare weather system. moisture-filled thunderstorms known as pyrocumulus clouds only abated when t

jamaica. it's it travel across the yucatan and into mexico. we would like to get some of that rain into the southernates. florence is a tropical depression. taken up towards the east coast of the united states in about 10 or 11 days. we will keep an eye on florence over the next couple of weeks. some scattered light rain showers to start the day here home. take an umbrella. even a little bit of rain can slow down the drive time. 76 at the airport. the dew points are running in the low 70's. it will be a humid day today and there's a chance for some rain showers and maybe a thunderstorm this afternoon. high temperature in the upper 80's this afternoon. we will lose the humidity after a friend goes through tonight. the temperatures will be about the same, upper 80's. scattered thunderstorms come back on thursday and friday. not a bad weekend with high temperatures expected in the mid 80's. >> thank you. 76 degrees on tv hill. coming up, we'll look at your answers to our water cooler question of the day. >> plus, we'll take a last look at weather and traffic together before you head out to start your d

jamaica. it's when it gets over the warm waters the middle of next week, western caribbean or southern gulf of storms typically begin to more rapidly increase and the environment's little more favorable for a stronger storm. so, if it does get there and get into this region, it's a big uh-oh for a lot of areas, including cancun, western sections of cuba, and then of course, everywhere in the united states' southern gulf coast, and at this point, we haven't eliminated anyone from florida to texas. we'll do that over the next couple days. stay with us there this this weekend, get prepared just in case. you should have that anyway. as far as today, warm throughout much of the country, 80s and 90. still baking, 106 in dallas today, 109 around oklahoma city. as we go throughout your weekend forecast, finally some cooler air and a cold front, a strong one's going to come down through the northern plains. notice minneapolis, 82. but of course, when these cold fronts hit the warm air mass, we're going to get thunderstorms this weekend, a lot of them, too. kansas city, chicago, st. louis, watch out sat

jamaica's coast guard needed to rescue several fishermen as ernesto brushed part of the southern coastline storm is passing over honduras where there are also hurricane warnings. that area not expected to get a direct hit though. mexico's yucatan peninsula bracing for the worst. folks on the u.s. gulf coast also watching ernesto closely. meteorologist maria molina is live in the fox extreme weather center. >> hey, gregg. it looks like basically tropical storm ernesto could become a hurricane later on this afternoon into tonight before making landfall late tonight into the overnight hours across belize and and parts of the yucatan peninsula. it is starting to organize. pressure as dropped. by 11:00 a.m. the national hurricane center, more storms blowing up here earlier this morning. it is slowly starting to organize itself and hoping to become a hurricane later on today. we're expecting big impacts across belize and the yucatan peninsula. unfortunately up to a foot of rain locally in some spots. that will bring in a flash flood threat and mudslide threat. landfall is expected late tonight a

southern plains. triple digits for kansas, oklahoma, texas and arkansas. that should last through tuesday. and we have the tropics, ernesto at 150 miles per hour this morning. a little disorganized. rain showers have moved into jamaica. right now looks like the most likely path will take us into belize or the yucatan pen isla around cozumel or cancun by early this week. if you have any interest there we'll be keeping our eyes on it. >> lots of places to watch. thanks eric fisher. >>> ahead here on msnbc, the bronze medal match in men's tennis. that is coming up right after the show ends at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. and of course the networks of nbc universal are the exclusive home of the london olympics. for a complete schedule of the events and to watch the games live online go to nbcolympics.com. >>> now it is time for some other news. sources say thats man accused of shooting former congresswoman gabriel giffords and 18 others wants to plead guilty. jared lee loughner will have a chance to enter that plea in court on tuesday. nbc news correspondent diana alvear was in tucson the day of the shooting reporting on it. good morning to you. let's go right to what's going to happen on tuesday when loughner is in court. >