satellite and radar picture where we do see showers and storms to the north and west of us out in the ohio valley. here's a live look at our michael & son weather camera. temperatures right now are generally in the 80s. dew points in the upper 60s under mostly cloudy conditions. winds are light north, north east at 5 miles per hour. here's the satellite and radar picture where the clouds did finally clear out a little bit this morning. but we'll see pretty good amount of cloud cover for the afternoon. we do see some showers and storms in the ohio valley. and some of those storms could become severe. so we're going to see how today plays out as well. temperatures right now 87 in downtown. 90 in manassas. 84 in leesburg. fredricksburg in the 90s. but when you factor in the dew points that are in the 60s and 70s, it definitely feels like we're well into the 90s once again. what are we expecting for today? more storms through tonight. then some strong storms are possible, especially with the clouds clearing out. that makes the atmosphere a little more unstable. more storms are possible on friday, but

today, a big weather day for areas of the northeast and the ohio valley, already showers and storms showing the radar coming out of new york state and pennsylvania. numerous strong storms moving through central michigan. just getting drenched around flint, michigan. this afternoon, a moderate risk of severe storms, maybe even a few tornados areas that don't get them that often. we're talking massachusetts, connecticut, southern new york, the hudson valley, back through areas of northeast pennsylvania the greatest risk of those storms. if you have airport plans today, especially late this afternoon, it's going to have storms this morning, it's going to be dry and hot, and then numerous strong thunderstorms rolling through new england and the ohio valley late today. it's going to be one of those days we don't see that often. by the end of today, we'll probably have hundreds of thousands of people without power in the northeast and the ohio valley. bad day for storms here in the u.s. >> all right, bill. keep an eye on those for us. one more day until the opening ceremonies. >>> turn to sports

many areas of the plains through the lower great lakes and the ohio valley. have a chance of thunderstorms in the east, but most of those will be this morning in new england. tomorrow, by the way. a repeat of today with 100 possible in d.c. if you're watching us on wvir, nbc 29 in schaar logtsville, virginia, in nearby fairfax celebrate independence day at a star-spangled celebration in the historic district. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >>> all right, bill. thanks so much. >>> and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a new spidey casting a web. the amazing spider-man starg andrew garfield and emma stone pulled in $7.5 million in midnight shoes alone on monday. analysts say it could debut with $120 million for the six-day holiday stretch. not going to be bad. >>> some good news for tom cruise who's facing the wreckage of his marriage. thanks to mission impossible:ghost protocol, he's retained the spot of highest paid actors. >> wouldn't you think justin bieber made more. >> these are actor. last yearle

also stormy into the ohio valley. upper midwest and the dakotas. thunderstorms from the midwest and showers from texas to florida. >> 90s from florida and boston and the plains. 80s from detroit and billings, warming up to the 70s in seattle. >>> coming up next, the airlines are asking you to dig a little deeper. >>> plus, some actual good news about the nation's housing market. business news is next. >>> also, those olympic uniforms that we told you so much about. a new deal clearing the way for them to be made in america. @ññ?? >>> welcome back, everybody. there is a new sign at the housing market has turned the corner. nationwide home values have posted their first annual increase since 2007, showing a slight gain from june 2011 and last month. home values appeared to have bottomed out back in february. >>> if you're flying this summer and haven't booked your ticket, get ready to pay more. big domestic carriers are hiking fares as much as $10 a round trip. united made the first move and, of course, the others quickly followed. on the flip side,

from this wrong wins spanning -- flames to destructive plane the storm that ripped through the ohio valley, the national weather service says one system is to blame. >> the same weather pattern across the entire u.s., and it is creating different effects in different areas of the country. >> in ohio, this tangled mess up power lines. similar scenes in kentucky, indiana, illinois, and further east, some 3 million customers are without power this weekend. >> i hated. it is horrible. all our phones are dead right now. >> the governors of ohio and west virginia ask for emergency disaster declaration, which president obama granted. providing help with the wildfires al west. but with the system lingering over the u.s. -- >> we are not expecting any large-scale changes. >> taxpayer money has been squandered by the state. >> why recovering that cash might actually be in jeopardy. >> michael phelps is focused on a scale down for next month's olympics. >> humidity levels dropped a bit today but that he is going to continue. 90 degrees at the airport and 92 >> you pay taxes, but some state agencies m

it's going to be a dangerous day for thunderstorms in many locations including all of the ohio valleythe northeast, and the atlantic area. in the area of red there's chance of moderate storms. the greater threat of tornado, albany, new york, western sections of the states of massachusetts and connecticut. those are the areas we'll watch closely this afternoon and evening. keep it tuned to your nbc station for those details late today. >>> if you're watching us on wdad in springfield illinois in urbana, enjoy camp champagne county fair at the urbana fair grounds. and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> thanks so much. >>> and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. kristin stewart wasted no time. she issued a public apology aim at her boyfriend of three years, twilight co-star robert pat insob that she was deeply soird. she said, quote, this momentary indiscretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life and respect the most. rob, i love him, i love him, i'm so sorry. >> too late. >> ouch. >>> okay. speaking of vampires, nbc ha

also stormy into the ohio valley. upper midwest and the dakotas. thunderstorms from the midwest and showers from texas to florida. >> 90s from florida and boston and the plains. 80s from detroit and billings, warming up to the 70s in seattle. >>> coming up next, the airlines are asking you to dig a little deeper. >>> plus, some actual good news about the nation's housing market. business news is next. >>> also, those olympic uniforms that we told you so much about. a new deal clearing the way for them to be made in america. how does it feel to try smooth, delicious hershey's chocolate with 30% less fat? new hershey's simple pleasures chocolate. 30% less fat, 100% delicious. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. did you know when heartburn, it's too late to take prilosec because... but it's but zantac® works differently. it relieves heartburn in as little as 30 minutes. in fact, so, when hea

storms in the ohio valley. d.c. and atlanta. will be wet i in the northea and along the gulf coast. expect a slick ride in parts of the rockies. >>> if you're flying today. airport lays expected in washington, d.c., charlotte and hotlanta. >>> this week begins with the ncaa leveling severe penalties against penn state for the child sex abuse coverup. now the week is ending with word of a new lawsuit against the school. >> that's right a man who said he's victim number two from the jerry sandusky trial now plans to sue the university. on top of that. voice mails left by the convicted coach are being made public. >>orys say the voice mails, jerry sandusky was trying to assert control over so-called victim number two as the investigation over the sexual abuse mounted and insightment proved imminent. >> jere, i'm probably not going to be able to hold anybody. probably ought to just go forward. i would be very firm and express my feelings up front, but -- but, you know, there's nothing, really, to hide. >> reporter: sandusky was conv

areas of the ohio valley, northern kentucky to pittsburgh, you have a chance of strong storms today. we want the slow-moving, heavy rain because of the horrible drought through this area. not so lucky, though, kansas city, 103. st. louis was 106. it will be 105 today. we get a break in a few spots, but the central plains, no break for pup. >> they're the ones that need the rain. we've got to get them some. we appreciate it. the british open has teed off. tiger woods went off about an hour ago. he's birdied two of his first two holes. he's 2 under through four. phil mickelson begins his day a little later. bubba watson is one under. off to a good start, loor fog his first major since the u.s. open of 2008. it would be his 15th overall. >>> let's go to the fallout for the departure of jeremy lin from the knicks. it's escalated thanks to lin's comments that he never wanted to leave new york in the first place. honestly, i prefer new york, but my goal in free agency was to go to a team that had plans for me and wanted me. i wanted to have fun playing basketball. spec ladles can continue a

showers in the ohio valley. ssive heat in the midwest moves east by tomorrow. >>> and finally, we don't see much of former first lady nancy reagan in public anymore. she turns 91 today. happy birthday. >> absolutely. just ahead of her big birthday, she made an appearance at her husband's presidential library, kicking off an exhibit, of ronald reagan's history with our parent company, disney. more from reporter rob hayes. >> reporter: it's the kind of fanfare that disney prides itself of. the grand opening of the treasures archive exhibit, with former first lady nancy reagan taking part. it shows the partnership that the former president and disney had. starting with the grand opening in 1955, which featured reagan as an emcee. >> it's quite stunning to see, just because not only his youth, and knowing what we know he became. but recognizing there was a connection between two extraordinary individuals who embodied the american dream. >> reporter: inside, examples of reagan's connections with disney, from appearanc

in the ohio valley, no relief at all. so let's put a smile on this and say by sunday, the heat wave's over and done. details coming up. >> all right. love that. also coming up interest rates hang in the balance, another blow for barclays, and the new skyscraper that towers over london. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, new details on how kay katy holmes orchestrated her split from tom cruise. >>> nash find as home in hollywood, a wild daid in nhl free agency. and you thing you ate a lot of hot dogs yesterday? think again. you're watching "early today." 4 >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. a hughes report obtained by the "associated press" finds that countrywide got around the law and influenced members of congress. six current and former members of the house and senate who got discounted loans include both democrats and republicans. >>> in mexico election officials say they are recounting votes from more

the bright red basically from the ohio river valley all the way through utah is an extreme drought. now the next bubble up is exceptional. and then from the boot hill in missouri's two southwestern indiana. >>> and many parts of georgia and alabama. it's gotten much worse, and we have had some rain from the lower great lakes but because the drought monitor takes a while to change it looks bad in these areas. but it's still very dry down below. we continue to see, it's a big rotating upper level storm system and hudson bay sending down some energy and you can see how it intensifies next week for a while and minimizes for a while that more energy will be diving into that as we head into the next weekend. and it looks like for much of the rest of the summer the highest heat will be out west with little inroads of cooler air coming into the great lakes. we checked things out as we head through day by day this week. basically a stationary front from west to east. but the carolinas bacterium brassica and kansas, and of long and especially north of that, a good chance of some areas of thun

we have a potential for severe weather across the ohio valley. the storms are erupting across the appalachian. the threat over areas that have been really hit hard over the last several days with storms. we're starting to see severe thunderstorm warnings pop up here. so again, that's an area to watch. the northern plains, across the great lakes and then across the mid-atlantic and more of the same for the 4th of july. temperatures in the 90s, feeling like 100 degrees across much of the nation. >> going to be a rough one. janice, thank you much. >>> the feds busted the c.e.o. of one of the biggest online poker sites in the world. prosecutors say he and his partner stole hundreds of millions of dollars from the people who used that site. the gamblers. so will those players ever see their money? the legal panel will take that up next. [ male announcer ] it isn't just your mammogram. it's your teenager's first rsity game. it isn't just your annual exam. it's your daughter's wedding. did you know with your health insurance you may now have some prevent

again this cold front is moving from southern new jersey through delaware and back into the ohio valley. we are again going to shift our focus towards the north as opposed to the southern direction, and that will bring in the cooler hair. we are right between this cooler area and this hot humid air mass to the south and that will maybe bubble up some showers and storms. so for the overnight, 74. warm and steamy with a thunderstorm threat through the overnight. 87 for tomorrow. seven-day norcast looks like this -- seven-day forecast looks like this. more humidity by the end of the week going into next wend. >> and your money tonight. sudden whiplash at the gas pump. prices are rising after more than two months of constant falls. >> reporter: what happened to that amazing ride we've been on? the signs are changing. take a look. we hit nearly $4 a gallon in april. all the way to 3.3-h just last sunday -- $3.34. >> lower crude oil prices and lower gasoline prices. >>> but then something happened. >> it's clearly much higher. >> reporter: yep. just the other day the gas prices headed up on f

the pink shaded thunderstorm watch area goes back through the ohio valley. garrett county is not in the watch area but the line of thunderstorms is working its way south and east. some showers move through earlier this morning and heavier line of thunderstorms coming out of ohio and pennsylvania is making its way south and east. next two-three hours is when it will make its approach to baltimore. we will see if it will hold together or not. it will stay warm and muggy overnight. 82 for the low in downtown baltimore tonight. tomorrow, 93-98. thunderstorm chances will diminish to a 20% chance, but with that front slowly working its way through, did not expect immediate heat released tomorrow. waves about 1 foot and high tide at fort mchenry at 1:43 in the morning. the chance of a thunderstorm in the area tomorrow and on saturday. eastern shore locations, they like over 100 degrees and it will still be warm tomorrow. it looks like the weekend will get off to a cloudy start with some scattered showers and storms in the area. marriott tomorrow, thunderstorms rolli

dry weather over the ohio valley and another batch of unsettled weather in the middle of the country had their way. minimal chances, but we will increase a bit with more widespread coverage. looks to perhaps bring as our stormy as the weather. tomorrow, partially cloudy, 20% chance of a storm. is from 84-89. waves about 1 foot on the bay. western maryland, the mergers will be cooler only in the low 70's. insta-weather + seven-day forecast calls for temperatures to stay normal. mid to operate the's thru monday, tuesday, wednesday. -- mid to upper 80's through wednesday. >> i'm hearing good news. >> they did very well. the pitching today was not just impressive, but record-setting. we explain why coming up next in >> from the susquehanna banks fort sumter, this is 11 sports. >> right now, i have some results. these will be televised later. if you do not wish to know the results, turn away. we will let you know when the traffic is off the screen. we return to continuing olympic coverage in about half an hour. lochte and allison schmitt also going for gold. women's gymnastics also going

friday, we spread the wealth, bringing our rain right up the ohio valley which is another area that definitelyd as storms continue on saturday into the ohio valley, temperatures about 90 degrees and louisville in the '80s. no major change in sunday in this area. remember, monday and friday, wake up with al, 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. [♪...] >> i've been training all year for the big race in chicago, but i can only afford one trip. and i just found out my best friend is getting married in l.a. there's no way i'm missing that. then i heard about hotwire and i realized i could actually afford both trips. see, when really nice hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them. so i got my four-star hotels for half-price! >> men: ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com >> announcer: save big on car rentals too, from $12.95 a day. >>> time now for "look at me now, the joy fit club" induction of its newest member. 31-year-old kimberly from indiana. >> kimberly grew up in an obese family. four years ago she decided to make a big change in her life and lost 116 pounds. here is kimberly's remarkable story. >>

on saturday the ohio valley gets the rain.th us even on sunday as that moisture is being drawn up all the way into upstate new york. people going to disney world, expect the rain off and on throughout the week. 96 in kansas city. it will be hot this weekend it looks like and monday's forecast keeps that rain into the ohio valley, temperatures in the 80s, west coast staying nice, 75 in seattle, phoenix cooling down somewhat with the moisture increasing across the area. monday through friday, 6:00 and 10:00 a.m., "wake up with al." he'll have your forecast and let you know what the latest is in the news. >>> we are back with bobbie's "tuesday's trend." this week it's all about the kids. >> with the latest and greatest for babies, tots and tweens, bobbie thomas. >> hi. >> what you got for us? >> i'm so excited. i want to make an announcement. >> uh-oh -- >> no. no. on today.com we had our made in america style contest. i got to pick the winner and we'll talk more about this friday for my minute buzz, but rodney price, congratulat

the new york area hard. lower hudson valley parts of eastern pennsylvania. we go back to ohiod we see everything really fall apart but later today, when we activate the heating of the day we do have a severe weather threat two spots. one to the ohio valley, the other one just to the south and east of the d.c. area. in fact some of the southern suburbs into calvert maybe anne arundel, there's the northern neck all in that yellow area with damaging wind gusts being the primary concern from some of the stronger storms we could see. futurecast breaking it down this way. through midday relatively quiet and partly sunny here. we're looking at the showers and i want you to watch south and west of d.c. as we get into the early afternoon. how the showers and storms start to pop up here and then they move across the area generally south of washington. that doesn't mean we won't see a thunderstorm here or can't see a thunderstorm here in the district but computers are focusing all of the attention really just south and southeast of town. we'll get into the evening hours by midnight still

we got more storms over the ohio valley. that comes through the course of the evening. we'll be tracking it. all indications is these storm also come in later tonight right after the 9:00, 10:00 hour. 91 in town. take a look at the trend. we'll be into the 70s. 73 at 5:00 in the morning. 91 degrees tomorrow. there's a threat of more storms. we'll detail that forecast coming up. >>> certainly active last night, depending on where you were last not you got quite the light show. this was behind the abc2 studios. according to federal emergencith agencies it re mains one of the top killers in the u.s. the first thing you need to do is seek shelter when one of the storms pop up. your home, nearby building, even crore car is better than being outside. you can still be hurt even inside the car. the best thing is to install a lightning rod. >>> you can get plenty of severe warnings we they come our way. just did to abc2news.com. >> it seems the governor has enough support to hold a session to discuss expanding casinos in maryland. we have the latest on it. >> reporter: today the

another cold front -- hit and miss, monsoonal thunderstorm, all of this green here from the ohio valley southward is just hit and miss. spotty thunderstorms, and each afternoon this week basically, there is wednesday, that first cold front moves through the nation's capitol and then stalls out. comes back northward as a warm front. we will have scattered showers and thunderstorms, a lot of times the majority of the rain is north of the warm front front. that could by good news. hit and miss thunderstorms in the southeast and also as you can see back to the west, areas of showers and thunderstorms, now by friday -- that could be more substantial front with cool air into the western great lakes, thunderstorms along this front. continues to dive toward the southwest. stalls out back across the west. hit and miss showers and thunderstorms through the western portions of the country. back in the next half with a longer range forecast. ururur . >>> i probably won't be watching much of the olympics this year. to start with it won't fit into my regular tv schedule and could even interfere with

and back through the ohio valley. at's where the cold front will spark off some showers and numerous tlorm numerous thunderstorms late today. the dangerous heat continues in the middle of the country. we're watching thunderstorms from minneapolis to chicago along that front. if you're watching us on 2 news in dayton, ohio, one of the most prehistoric looking creatures on early, that's the alligator snapping turtle at crunch. that's your early event of the day. >> alligator snapping turtle? >> i bet he could snap your finger. >> i bet you're right about that. >>> now here's an early look at this morning's headlines and entertainment news. following the tragedy in colorado, hollywood studios have joined together. warner brothers, which distributes "dark knight rises" has been joined by other studios in withholding this weekend box office numbers until later today. estimated box office earnings are normally released sunday with studios itching to claim bragging rights come monday morning. >>> after feuding jackson family

we'd love to get some rain into the ohio valley where the crops are really hurting. nothing too dramatic. >>> coming up, revising downward on wall street, american cities going bust, and which of the united states is the best for doing business? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, tom cruise may have started a mission impossible, but if katie holmes could play the real-life cvesecret agent leading up to her stunning surprising divorce filing. >> coming up, lake griffin strikes it rich, an all-star blowout and what do san francisco giants fans know that the rest of us don't? you're watching "early today." blowout and what do san >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. with the penn state report on the jerry sandusky scandal set to be scheduled for today, they're questioning the integrity of the inquiry and said paterno did not know sandusky was a pedophile. he's expected to be sentenced in september. >>> attorneys for lance armstrong refiled the lawsuit se

areas in the ohio valley, cloudy and cooler today. lynn, the weekend forecast looks a lot like today. i think a lot of us will be okay with it. >> thanks so much. >>> coming up texas instrument breaks the junk. wells fargo breaks the practices and one cup of joe for the morning road. >>> plus, we'll tell you what film is set to end the quick reign of spider-man at the box office. >>> coming up an impressive start for the usa basketball and one olympic hope is done forone mem of the d.r.e.a.m. team. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. syrian activists are reporting a new massacre of more than a hundred people yesterday in central hamas proshs. reports of more than 200 killed with a would-be most serious massacre. >>> "the washington post" reports that michelle obama was allegedly the tar debt of a threat by a plev in the district of columbia. the officer said he would shoot the first lady and use his phone to retrieve a p

it could be wet in the ohio and tennessee valleys. and also around the great lakes.ash floods are a risk, meanwhile, in the southwest. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in minneapolis, chicago, detroit and new orleans. >>> we were all stunned by this next story once we started hearing the details. >> it's a story out of florida where a lifeguard was fired after actually saving someone's life. and now, some of his colleagues followed him right out the door. abc's matt gutman has the story. >> reporter: when duty called, matt lopez sprinted. >> way down over there. i started running. >> reporter: darting past beach goers monday to save the drowning man. >> i was worried about the guy. he was blue when i got him. >> reporter: instead of being rewarded, he was fired. you see, the 21-year-old, knowingly violated a rule that prevents guards from this privately-run lifeguard company from leaving their station to help a swimmer. >> i just went over and did what i had to do. >> reporter: because someone's life was at stake. tommy's guard station is about 100 ya

around this region in the south of the great lakes, the ohio river valley. really, upping the risk of flash flooding there. and then across the arklatex region, things are going to be ongoing and you're not going to be seeing rain throughout the weekend or there are so chances of precipitation. across the four corners, actually you'll be seeing a lot of showers with those monsoonal flow from that southerly direction. and severe thunderstorms could erupt. so frequent lightning, though, that would trigger and start new wildfires. there's a lot of things to be watching out for across this continent. winnipeg reaching up to 33 degrees. take a look at that. 40 degrees in oklahoma city. new york, 31. so that's a little bit of a relief from the extreme heat due to the cold front moving in. all right. let's take a look at the european continent. still in greece, things are really hot. take a look at this video. people in greece smelled smoke on wednesday as the wildfire raged just outside the city. the fire broke out in the morning and quickly spread across forested

this system drops down over the ohio valley by tomorrow afternoon. so temperatures into the 80s, tomorrow's forecast is now situated over a dayton and southern indiana. you know heat down to the south. look at this heat, 101, 100 degrees plus. that's going to stay out towards south and west. we'll get a piece of that during this week. high pressure that keeps us high and dry for tomorrow. then we'll start see the clouds approaching from the western horizon and then showers and storms will start to fire. this one doesn't move through tomorrow afternoon. it waits until tuesday. we will kind of string this out with the humidity both tomorrow and tuesday. let's make since of this on future trend. waking up to 73 degrees, here comes the storm in the afternoon. so for the overnight, 71 degrees, mostly cloudy, turning muggy and tomorrow afternoon, right around 91 degrees. here's your 7 day forecast. humidity with us, tomorrow and tuesday. 91, 93 on tuesday, it's a better shot of afternoon showers and thunderstorms tomorrow. we'll call isolated version for tu

the southern and central rockies along with much of the plain states in the ohio valley are seeing theorst of that drought. in canada, the problem is too much water. authorities believe a backed up creek in british columbia caused this mudslide. take a look. it sent a wall of debris and water just flowing. no reports, though, anderson, of any injuries. >> that's really good news. susan, thanks. >>> a desperate search going on in iowa for days now. two young cousins disappeared while out on a bike ride. nearly 1,000 volunteers helped look for clues over the weekend. we're going to hear from mother of one of the missing girls next on "360." more often, more often, but they live so far away. i've been thinking about moving in with my daughter and her family. it's been pretty tough since jack passed away. it's a good thing you had life insurance through the colonial penn program. you're right. it was affordable, and we were guaranteed acceptance. guaranteed acceptance? it means you can't be turned down because of your health. you don't have to take a physical or answer any health questions

we will see a lot of sunshine, and heat out in the ohio valley coming our way. sunday will be another hot day. the front coming down will be getting here, arriving in the afternoon. expect some thunderstorms as that front hits the heat wave. monday might be 20 degrees cooler. west to southwest, 6-12. cool water, a pool to stay in tomorrow. the way it's about a foot on the bay. western maryland, thunderstorm possible in the weekend. eastern shore locations, what we will see is not only the 101 degree heat but the heat index might go over 110. there are some thunderstorms sunday afternoon. you get a nice sunny day tomorrow. it will be hot. 92 with a thunderstorm sunday and some showers on monday. our heat wave slowly and after the weekend. 95 on sunday. down to 83 with some showers monday and temperatures look like they will stay in the low to mid 80's. >> the orioles search for an effective arms. they turned to gonzales. some bad news for roberts coming up next in sports. >> to win the jackpot, you must match these balls. let's see if we can make you a millionaire

. >> we've seen worse conditions across the intermountain west stretching into the plains and the ohio valley and that's having a lot of impact on the ground such with the wildfires we receive and the agriculture. >> reporter: a cold front this week could drop temperatures in many places by 10 to 15 degrease bringing much relief and rain. >> our farmers are really hurting. >> reporter: drought conditions stretch over half of the country right now creating what scientists call the largest drought foot prip for the 21st century. corn crops and many other crops have withered and died and any rain now is really little more than an insult to so many farmers who already lost the season. >> the rain today is not going to do us any good. it's over with on corn and mother nature hasn't been very good to us thise summer. >> reporter: a blistering summer that's really onto has just begun. >>> and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel a. >>> a white water river has turned completely black. this thanks to runoff from weekly wild

also for portions of the ohio valley. the northeast is cooling down. we have a trough in place. it is the west's turn. look at the temperatures. spokane, well into the 90s. 99 degrees in salt lake city. we are paying the price here in the east as the cooler temperatures come in. we have the severe thunderstorm watches in effect including washington, d.c. unfortunately, watch out for damages winds and possibly hail with some of these storms as well. as we've already noted, golf ball sized halt with some of these storms into nashville with a severe thunderstorm warning still in effect. >> kelly cass with a picture from home. thanks. >>> we are looking overseas to europe. we have an update on the severe flooding there. in southern russia, the death toll rose to at least 153. most victims were from one town and were sleeping when the floods hit. more than a foot of rain fell on the area in less than 24 hours. president vladimir putin took a look by helicopter. and ordered an investigation into whether there were sufficient flood warnings. >>> to syria where the deadly crisis shows n

we're going to see temperatures near 100 to 106 from oklahoma city all the way up here through the ohio valleyouch. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. today, call it 102 in indianapolis. the good news is that is probably the worst of the heat for that region. the cold front coming down will even bring a chance for rain in areas that desperately need it. so some of that relief comes tomorrow. details coming up. >> that's some good news. bill, thanks so much. >>> coming up, apple sours, netflix flops, and like it or not, same-sex marriage is good for business. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, reports all is not well with hollywood's vampire lover couple. >>> more late-inning heroics, and philly plus the dream team makes a statement in their final exhibition game before the olympics. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by new preparation h totables. >>> good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this mo

local flash flooding is likely, especially in tennessee and northern mississippi and alabama and the ohio valley the chance of flood producing storms will increase as the day goes on. intense heat will continue in parts of the southwest, with desert highs topping 120 degrees. >>> in sports, team usa is gearing up for the olympic games opening two weeks from tomorrow in london, including one group of athletes with high hopes of bringing home the gold. the u.s. basketball team features nba stars like lebron james of the miami heat, kobe bryant of the l.a. lakers and kevin durant of the oklahoma city thunder. durant says he hoped to go to the olympics ever since he was a kid when michael jordan led the dream team to the gold medal 20 years ago. >> just to put that jersey on means a lot. it's more than just those guys on the basketball court. we're playing for our whole country. that's pretty cool to say i did that. >> also bound for london next week and aiming for her third olympic gold medal is beach volleyball star kerri walsh. she took to volleyball at age ten in northern california and quickly