Tropical Storm Douglas formed over the eastern North Pacific Ocean at 21:00 UTC on July 1, 2026, and became the fourth named storm of the 2026 eastern Pacific hurricane season. The cyclone is located well west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, and is expected to remain over open waters while weakening into a post-tropical remnant low by July 3.
Severe thunderstorms will affect portions of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes through Wednesday, July 1, 2026, with damaging wind gusts of up to 130 km/h (80 mph), isolated large to very large hail and a few tornadoes possible. Parts of the region have been put under an Enhanced Risk of severe thunderstorms through Wednesday, while a Slight Risk extends across portions of the central High Plains and the Northeast.
A wind gust of 211 km/h (131 mph) measured near Holabird, South Dakota, during severe thunderstorms on June 29, 2026, would rank as the 15th-strongest thunderstorm wind gust ever recorded in the United States if confirmed. The storms damaged grain bins, metal buildings, trees and other infrastructure across several counties with straight-line winds extending from south-southwest of Andover into the town.
Canyon County, in southwest Idaho’s Treasure Valley west of Boise, declared a countywide disaster emergency on June 27, 2026, after severe thunderstorms moved through the Nampa–Caldwell area the previous evening, bringing strong winds, heavy rain, and hail. Preliminary National Weather Service (NWS) observations recorded gusts of 89 km/h (55 mph) at Boise Airport and 85 km/h (53 mph) at Caldwell Airport.
Flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Mekkhala killed two people in Taiwan after nearly 1 m (3 ft) of rain inundated parts of the island on Friday, June 26, 2026.Meanwhile, one fatality was reported in Japan which remained on high alert for flooding and landslides as tropical moisture from Mekkhala and Tropical Storm Higos interacted with the seasonal Baiu rain front, prompting evacuations, transport disruptions and widespread weather warnings.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Missoula upgraded Winter Storm Watches to Winter Storm Warnings at 11:04 MDT (17:04 UTC) on June 26, 2026, for four high-elevation zones in central Idaho and southwest Montana, where 10-20 cm (4-8 inches) of heavy wet snow, with isolated amounts up to 30 cm (12 inches), is forecast above about 2 000 m (6 500 feet) over the weekend.
Typhoon Mekkhala and Tropical Depression Higos are forecast to merge south of Honshu on June 26, 2026 bringing heavy rain, rough seas and strong winds to large parts of Japan through June 27.
Typhoon Mekkhala continued moving slowly northward east of Batanes on June 23, 2026, as its circulation enhanced southwest monsoon conditions across the Philippines, bringing the threat of localized flooding, landslides, hazardous marine conditions, and strong winds over a broad area of the country.
A rare rotating vortex damaged structures and injured six people near Vaagaikulam in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district on June 21, 2026, after severe thunderstorms tore roofing sheets from a mini theme park and sent debris into nearby power infrastructure. The injured visitors, who were bathing beneath artificial waterfalls when the structure failed, suffered fractures and were admitted to Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital. Videos of the vortex circulated widely on social media, prompting tornado reports, although subsequent meteorological assessments described the phenomenon as a localized convective vortex rather than a confirmed tornado.
At least two women were reported dead after a tornado touched down in Mount Vernon in northeastern Jefferson County on June 21, 2026.
