New York City, Long Island, and southern Westchester County are under a tropical storm watch, which means we could see 39- to 73 mile per hour winds, as Hurricane Earl heads closer to the U.S.. Winds of 100 mph are expected to hit the Outer Banks in North Carolina tonight, and then Earl will continue north. Hurricane warnings was issued for Massachusetts and Connecticut was issued a tropical storm warning. more ›

Today's windy weather has blown debris from an unfinished Frank Gehry skyscraper in Lower Manhattan. Materials started falling from the 76-story Beekman Tower this morning, causing police to close off the "area between Gold Street, Ann Street and Park Row" to cars and pedestrians. The NotifyNYC service sent out an initial warning at 8:05 am urging New Yorkers to "[a]void the area near Spruce Street between Williams Street and Park Row," then followed up with another message at 10:04 am noting that "[d]ebris is falling because of the high winds." more ›

The hailstorm that hit Yonkers on Monday definitely left a trail of destruction in Yonkers. Thanks to the 80 MPH winds, a tree fell into Jennifer Crespo's home's chimney, which then crashed into her 7-year-old son's bedroom. Thankfully, little Trent slept in the basement—his parents didn't want to move him since he looked so peaceful; the boy told the Daily News, "I would be dead, and my mommy would be crying a whole lot," while his mom wept, "I'm just so grateful my son wasn't in his bed because it's covered with bricks." And 89-year-old Grace Martini shared a photograph of her basement—filled with three feet of hail! The NY Times spoke to the National Weather Service's Joe Polina, who said El Nino and global warming weren't the culprits, "Normally, we do see thunderstorms, some of which do become severe in spring and summer, but this year, especially with the amount of rain, it’s been a little on the abnormal side." Further, "The culprit is the polar jet stream: a fast-moving air current that controls the movement of fronts and weather systems and is usually north of New York by summer, he said. This year, the jet stream has stayed on a southerly course, causing more storms to develop." more ›

These photos of low flying planes over downtown (one looks to be over the New Museum on Bowery) were taken last Friday. Have you noticed any others lately? The blogger who took these notes that while it's likely the planes flight paths were re-routed due to high winds, "the sight of planes above the skyline is usually a recipe for unease." more ›

David Blaine didn't disappear during his Dive of Death this week, and he's certainly not disappearing from the press. He's now come close to admitting failure, but is blaming both President Bush and nature. That's right, the "amazing" ending he dreamed up was foiled by high winds. "Blaine said his grand finale of diving from a platform 44 feet to the ground while attached to a harness didn't go according to plan. He was supposed to jump and, at 10 feet, be swept away by a bunch of helium-filled balloons. Instead, he dangled awkwardly for a moment before disappearing in an ascent into the night sky." He also added, "I know that it didn't work right when all my friends called up and said, `Wait, what happened? I'm confused.'" Apparently the massive roar of "boos" didn't tip him off. [via Mollygood] more ›

Our flirting with record high temperatures should come to an end early this afternoon as a cold front sweeps across the city. The cold front is part of the same storm system that brought tornadoes and flooding to the midwest. Before the front arrives we will see one last run up toward a record (today's is 64 degrees set in 1937). By this evening, after the front has passed, it will cool to the upper-40s. While the storm won't bring us any tornadoes we will have off-and-on rain showers until it passes. There is also a high wind advisory in effect until 4 p.m. Winds will pick up to a steady 20-25 miles an hour with gusts to 40 mph. Watch out for discarded Christmas trees dancing along the streets like tumbleweeds! more ›