GLOBAL WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

SEPTEMBER 2026

UNITED STATES

New York, Boston, and much of New England could face a weekend nor’easter storm with wind gusts of 70mph in places, and “significant” impacts including beach erosion, flooding, and power outages, forecasters warn. Effects from the season’s first such storm since Tuesday’s official start of fall could last through the weekend, especially if the system sits swirling off the coast, a scenario experts say is looking increasingly likely. “If the storm nearly stalls, several days of persistent onshore winds and pounding surf could take a significant toll on beaches and vulnerable coastal communities, especially with astronomically high tides coinciding,” said Alyssa Glenney, an AccuWeather meteorologist. The online weather service predicted “a long-duration storm for many areas along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts”, with impacts beginning late Wednesday, spreading to New England late Friday or Saturday, and lasting through Sunday in some places.

TROPICAL

A tropical storm off the southwest coast of Mexico has intensified into a category 5 monster in fewer than 24 hours, fueled by stronger than usual El Niño weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean. Hurricane Polo was sending out maximum sustained winds of 165mph (266km/h) on Tuesday as its center churned about 215 miles (346km) south of the coastal city of Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero state. On Monday, Polo was only a tropical storm with winds below 74mph (120km/h). Its rapid and sudden growth is testament to the dominance of this year’s so-called super El Niño, which set a record on Monday as the most extreme on record, and has amplified a number of extreme weather events globally. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Mexico was likely to avoid a direct hit, but warned that further intensification was likely, and that life-threatening flooding and mudslides were possible inland, along with dangerous surf and rip current conditions. El Niño occurs when extended ocean temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific, and near the equator, rise above their historical average. Meteorologists say the phenomenon increases disruptive winds and curtails other conditions favorable to storm development in the Atlantic basin, which remains quiet with less than three months to go in this year’s hurricane season.

Typhoon Dujuan has killed at least four people and injured 22 in Japan. At the same time, tens of thousands of houses near Tokyo remained without power after the storm swept through the region, authorities said on Tuesday. Dujuan – which brought violent winds of 144km/h (89mph) – was moving away from Japan on Tuesday morning, allowing authorities to downgrade most heavy rain and landslide warnings. But the typhoon had already caused deaths, destruction and widespread chaos, including disruption of some events at the Asian Games and forcing the early closure in Tokyo of one of the world’s biggest video game trade fairs. The city of Yokosuka in Kanagawa prefecture, near Tokyo, reported multiple landslides because of the torrential rain. Mud flowing into a home killed a woman in her 60s in Yokosuka, the public ?broadcaster NHK said. Police and firefighters said they were trying to find a couple in their 70s. Damaging winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Lowell pelted Hawaii’s western islands on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands and ripping up stretches of beachside roads.

Fierce winds downed trees and caused widespread power outages on the island of Kauai, home to 73,000 residents. The Kauai island utility cooperative reported that nearly all of its members were without power early on Tuesday. Emergency officials asked residents to stay off roads as damage assessments were just beginning. “As the light comes up and the extent of the damage from Hurricane Lowell comes into focus, we want to ensure that no additional emergency situations arise unnecessarily,” said Elton Ushio, administrator of the local emergency management agency. Waves that crashed onto Kauai’s southern coast tore apart a road along the coast and pushed piles of sand and lava rocks into a beachside park, said Rochelle Ballard, a former professional surfer who runs a surf school across from the park.