In the early hours of Independence Day, rain pelted sleeping communities in central Texas. No one knew yet how devastating the storm would become.

Texas leads the country in flood deaths. Steep hills, shallow soils and a fault zone have made Hill Country, also called "flash flood alley," one of the state's most dangerous regions.

Big changes to the weather pattern arrive Thursday in Texas, as high atmospheric pressure and Saharan dust plumes promote drier skies.

Former federal officials and outside experts have warned for months that President Donald Trump’s staffing cuts to the National Weather Service could endanger lives.

Flooding is the deadliest natural disaster facing Oklahomans, a threat far greater than tornadoes. In the United States, flooding kills an average of 103 people a year. Tornadoes, however, caused 48 deaths on average during the same period, according to the National Weather Service.

Weather model data shows the National Weather Service had reason to warn of higher flood risks. Still, meteorologists say the agency made reasonable predictions.

Conspiracy theories about weather modification programs are surging online amid a torrent of misinformation following tragic flash floods that struck the US state of Texas on July 4, 2025, with posts across platforms claiming a local cloud seeding operation triggered the rainstorms.

Tornado damages homes in Texas as ice storms kill at least 6 on the roads Record highs were expected on the East Coast as a winter storm crawled across the U.S. February 20, 2018