Lack of rainfall in recent weeks has left the Mississippi River approaching record low levels in some areas from Missouri south through Louisiana. The U.S. Coast Guard said at least eight “groundings” of barges have been reported in the past week, despite low-water restrictions on barge loads.

With South Carolina’s coast under a hurricane warning, many left Charleston for higher ground and store owners used sandbags to ward off high water levels in an area prone to inundation.

Floodwaters rose waist-high near Orlando as one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States crossed the peninsula. Ian's tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 415 miles, drenching much of Florida and the southeastern Atlantic coast.

About 2.5 million people were ordered to evacuate southwest Florida before the storm hit the coast with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. It was heading inland, where it was expected to weaken, at about 9 mph, but residents in central Florida could still experience hurricane-force winds.

Intense rains fell Sunday morning at a rate rarely seen in Chicago, overwhelming the city’s stormwater system and flooding streets, viaducts and basements.

Illinois will soon be part of a cluster of states in an extreme heat belt. That’s according to a recent study that finds a quarter of land in the U.S. is at risk of the most extreme levels of heat exposure, that's temperatures exceeding a 125°F heat index.

Some counties in south central Illinois have seen some of their highest July and August rain totals on record. Recently, Effingham recorded between 10 to 11 inches of rain in a single day.

On Sunday, Chicago O’Hare saw the most cancellations and delays, with approximately 12% of flights canceled, and over 45% of flights delayed.

No injuries were reported from Thursday’s flooding, but the St. Louis Fire Department said on Twitter that it responded to 75 flooding-related emergencies and 60 people were rescued or helped to safety.

Damage across the St. Louis region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 11 inches of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The recent heat wave, coupled with lower than normal precipitation, has produced conditions ripe for what’s known as a “flash drought” in the Chicago area.

As a pair of wildfires skirt Flagstaff, the flames are crossing land dense with reminders of human existence through centuries — multilevel stone homes, rock carvings and pieces of clay and ceramic pots that have been well-preserved in the arid climate since long before fire suppression became a tactic.

In the coming week, about 70% of the U.S. population will see temperatures in the 90s, and almost 20% of people in the country will experience temperatures greater than 100 degrees. Many major metro areas, including Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta, may experience temps near or above 100.

The week started off with a tornado in the western suburbs. Then, the Chicagoland area was hit with an excessive heat warning. It ended up being our warmest stretch of days in 10 years.

The National Weather Service maintained an excessive heat warning through Wednesday evening for most of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, which have been dealing with the sticky humidity and soaring temperatures since Tuesday. 

A supercell system walloped much of northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on Monday night.