File Photo
(Beaver, Pa.) The Beaver County Commissioners on Friday announced that due to the winter storm expected this weekend, the Beaver County Courthouse and all county owned facilities will be closed on Monday, January 26, 2026.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: This photo shows various weather apps arranged on a smartphone in Glenside, Pa., Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
(AP) Smartphone weather apps that summarize their forecasts with eye-popping numbers and bright icons may be handy during mild weather, but meteorologists say it’s better to listen to human expertise during multi-faceted, dangerous winter storms like the one blowing through the U.S.
The multistate storm’s combination of heavy snow, treacherous ice and subzero temperatures shows why it’s best to seek out forecasters who can explain its nuances via local TV or radio newscasts, online livestreams or detailed websites, said meteorologists interviewed by The Associated Press. The data is changing rapidly before and during the storm, and the distance of a few miles can mean the difference between snow, sleet or dangerous freezing rain.
“Weather apps are really bad at storms that have multiple types of precipitation and it really makes messaging hard,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd, a past president of the American Meteorological Society. “Apps don’t understand the details of why snow, sleet or freezing rain happens.”
University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado and other experts said humans are important in these cases, especially those with local expertise.
“For extreme weather events, it is especially important to know there are human forecasters interpreting the data and making the best localized forecasts for your area,” Furtado said. “Unfortunately, many of the weather forecast apps use AI methods to either make the forecast or ‘interpolate’ from larger grids to your hometown, introducing the potential for significant errors.”
But some apps can be useful, especially those that pair National Weather Service data with meteorologists’ expertise, forecasters said. And they are definitely getting used right about now.
The Weather Channel app, which is seeing booming traffic this week, uses numerous models, data sources, weather observers and staff, said James Belanger, vice president of its parent company, which also owns the Weather Channel and weather.com. That level of proficiency matters, he said.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck kind of approach that we take,” Belanger said, adding that “not all weather apps are created equal.”
Apps get much of their information from the National Weather Service and some companies augment it with proprietary information and the well-regarded European forecast models. Many offer forecasts by ZIP code or geographic areas far from weather stations by using software that focuses broader regional forecasts to where the phone is located.
While there are good apps, especially those displaying National Weather Service warnings and information, many “oversimplify uncertainty and present highly precise-looking numbers that imply more confidence than actually exists,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini. This type of storm is where apps are weakest because they don’t get nuances, he said.
Weather apps are good for forecasting nice warm summer days, but not days like much of the country is facing now, said Steven DiMartino of NY NJ PA Weather. The paid online subscription service touts its human expertise with the slogan “Meteorology Not Modelology.”
“The problem with the weather app is that it just provides data, but not explanation,” DiMartino said. “Anyone can look at data, but you need a meteorologist, you need that human touch to look at it and say, ‘Hmm, that looks like an error; we’re gonna tweak this.’”
Cory Mottice, a National Weather Service meteorologist since 2014, developed the app EverythingWeather, which uses weather service data, as an easy place for the public to find the latest weather forecasts for their area without navigating the agency’s website. He said it’s “just for fun” and not affiliated with the weather service.
The strength of his app, he said, is that the information comes from professional meteorologists at the more than 125 weather service offices. Many apps just use raw computer modeling data – which aren’t always reliable in extreme events — with no human oversight, “which can really lead to some very misleading numbers or graphics depending on what you’re at,” he said.
With his approach, “you have actual meteorologists that are experts in their field at different places all over the country for that specific area, looking at the data, adjusting it, making the forecast as needed,” Mottice said.
The popular Weather Channel app uses information from many sources, including the weather service and more than 100 weather models, including those from the U.S. and Europe and their own distinct model. They augment it with input from over 100,000 citizens to help forecast weather events, said The Weather Company’s Belanger. And it’s all synthesized by artificial intelligence to come up with a forecast, he said.
That’s more accurate than relying on a single model or provider, he said, because AI is able to learn which models are the most accurate in different conditions to help “create that optimal forecast.”
Even so, humans, including a team of more than 100 meteorologists, always have the final say about what goes on the app, Belanger said.
“One of the things that has been a lesson and a principle that we’ve adopted is that it’s the combination of advancements in technology with the human oversight,” that allows the company to provide the best forecasts — especially in situations like the current winter storm, Belanger said.
Forecasters also warn against another quick fix for weather information: social media, where hype, misinformation and short takes can spread quickly.
While social media can help amplify official sources like the weather service, “it’s also where misinformation spreads fastest,” Gensini wrote in an email.
“Weather is complex, and social media tends to reward confidence and drama, not nuance,” Gensini said. “That mismatch is a real challenge during major events like this.”
Kim Klockow McClain, an extreme weather social scientist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, said people are “getting misled by hyped forecasts.”
“When people are continually exposed to only worst-case forecasts, research suggests they will lose trust over time,” she said.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: People walk on an ice covered beach along the shore of Lake Michigan, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
DALLAS (AP) — It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Friday as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to crank up that could bring snow, sleet, ice and bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half the U.S. population from Texas to New England.
Forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. At least 177 million people were under watches or warnings for ice and snow and more than 200 million were under cold weather advisories or warnings. In many places they overlapped. Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.
Maricela Resendiz picked up chicken, eggs and pizzas at a Dallas store to get her, her 5-year-old son and her boyfriend through the weekend.
“It’s going to be a big storm,” she said, adding her weekend plans involved “staying in, just being out of the way.”
Ice, snow and sleet could begin falling later Friday in Texas and Oklahoma. The storm was expected to slide into the South with freezing rain and sleet. Then it will move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington, D.C., through New York and Boston, the National Weather Service predicted.
Arctic air that spilled down from Canada prompted Chicago Public Schools and others in the Midwest to cancel classes Friday. With wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius) frostbite could set in within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.
In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41 Fahrenheit (minus 41 Celsius) on Friday morning, Colin Cross cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.
“I’ve been here a while and my brain stopped working,” said Cross, bundled up in long johns, two long-sleeved shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots.
In Oklahoma, Department of Transportation workers pretreated roads with salt brine. The Highway Patrol canceled days off for troopers and planned to work with the National Guard to help stranded drivers.
Texas was bracing too. Frigid temperatures closed Houston schools, and utility companies brought in thousands and employees to help keep the power on.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire posted online.
In Nashville, Tennessee, the Grand Ole Opry planned to have its Saturday night radio performance without people in the Opry House — something it also did for months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 1,000 flights nationwide were delayed or canceled Friday, with well over half of them in Dallas, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The website listed more than 1,400 cancellations for Saturday, when the worst weather could start in busy Atlanta.
Once ice and snow end, the frigid air from the north will head south and east. It will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect because ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially if it’s windy.
In at least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia, a majority of homes are heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won’t happen again.
Pipes are also at risk.
In Atlanta, where temperatures could dip to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12 Celsius) and stay below freezing for 36 hours, M. Cary & Daughters Plumbing co-owner Melissa Cary ordered all the pipe and repair supplies she could get. She said her daily calls could go from about 40 to several hundred.
“We’re out there; we can’t feel our fingers, our toes; we’re soaking wet,” Cary said. “I keep the hot chocolate and soup coming.”
The Northeast could see its heaviest snow in years.
Boston declared a cold emergency through the weekend, and Connecticut was working with neighboring New York and Massachusetts in case travel restrictions are needed on major highways.
“Stay safe, stay home, stay off the roads. Prepare. You know, go to the grocery store, get some eggs, get some milk, get some beer, get some pizza, whatever you do for football. Stay home on Sunday and please don’t open up any stores or anything,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said.
Philadelphia announced schools would be closed Monday. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told students, “It’s also appropriate to have one or two very safe snowball fights.”
In Atlanta, Eliacar Diego spent a night under a bridge and planned to find one of the warming centers that the city opens during bitterly cold weather. News of the storm hadn’t found its way to many of the homeless people with him.
“I’ve just got to get through this weekend,” Diego said.
At the University of Georgia in Athens, sophomore Eden England decided to stay on campus and ride out the weather with her friends, even as the school encouraged students to leave dorms and go home because of concerns about losing power.
“I was texting my parents and we kind of just realized that whether I’m here or at home, it’s going to suck either way,” England said. “So I’d rather be with my friends, kind of struggling together if anything happens.”
(File Photo: Source for Photo: President Donald Trump applauses during a signing ceremony on his Board of Peace initiative at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
(AP) The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday.
But it’s hardly a clean break.
The U.S. owes about $280 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.
The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of U.S. scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University.
“In my opinion, it’s the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime,” he said.
The WHO is the United Nations’ specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries; helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies and treatments; and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.
Nearly every country in the world is a member.
U.S. officials helped lead the WHO’s creation, and America has long been among the organization’s biggest donors, providing hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise.
On average, the U.S. pays $111 million a year in member dues to the WHO and roughly $570 million more in annual voluntary contributions, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In an executive order issued right after taking office, Trump said the U.S. was withdrawing from WHO due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. He also cited the agency’s “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and its “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
WHO, like other public health organizations, made costly mistakes during the pandemic, including at one point advising people against wearing masks. It also asserted that COVID-19 wasn’t airborne, a stance it didn’t officially reverse until 2024.
Another Trump administration complaint: None of WHO’s chief executives — there have been nine since the organization was created in 1948 — have been Americans. Administration officials view that as unfair given how much the WHO relies on U.S. financial contributions and on U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel.
Experts say the U.S. exit could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.
Dr. Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called the U.S. withdrawal “shortsighted and misguided” and “scientifically reckless.”
The U.S. has ceased official participation in WHO-sponsored committees, leadership bodies, governance structures and technical working groups. That would seem to include the WHO group that assesses what flu strains are circulating and makes critical decisions about updating flu shots.
It also signals the U.S. is no longer participating in global flu information-sharing that guides vaccine decisions.
Such disease intelligence has helped Americans be “at the front of the line” when new outbreaks occur and new vaccines and medicines are quickly needed to counteract them and save lives, Gostin said.
Gostin, an expert on international public health treaties and collaborations, said it’s unlikely the U.S. will reach agreements with more than a couple dozen countries.
Many emerging viruses are first spotted in China, but “is China going to sign a contract with the United States?” Gostin said. “Are countries in Africa going to do it? Are the countries Trump has slapped with a huge tariff going to send us their data? The claim is almost laughable.”
Gostin also believes Trump overstepped his authority in pulling out of WHO. The U.S. joined the organization through an act of Congress and it is supposed to take an act of Congress to withdraw, he argued.
The U.S. is legally required to give notice one year in advance of withdrawal — which it did — but also to pay any outstanding financial obligations.
The U.S. has not paid any of its dues for 2024 and 2025, leaving a balance of about $280 million at current exchange rates, according to WHO.
An administration official denied that requirement Thursday, saying the U.S. had no obligation to pay prior to withdrawing as a member.
(Photo Courtesy of WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, Posted on January 22nd, 2026)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Westmoreland County, PA) According to the police chief of Westmoreland County, one person was flown to the hospital after an explosion at an apartment building in Delmont yesterday. The cause of the blast is unknown at this time. Westmoreland County dispatchers confirm that crews were called to the 100 block of Spring Lane at 3:16 p.m. and officials note that a medical helicopter was requested. Police state that the explosion may have been related to a propane tank and the Westmoreland County police chief expressed it is believed that the tank was in a hallway leading to the garage. A neighbor told WPXI that he found a man on the ground with burns after hearing an explosion. The status of the man that got hurt from this explosion is unknown at this time.
(File Photo of the Pittsburgh International Airport Logo)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) Pittsburgh International Airport almost broke its post-hub passenger record after 2025 ended. That record was set in 2024, but the airport came close to surpassing it. According to data released today by the Allegheny County Airport Authority, there were 9.84 million passengers either flying into or out of Pittsburgh International Airport in 2025, down from 9.94 million in 2024. The third-highest amount of passengers at the airport in Pittsburgh was 9.82 million at 2007.
(Photo Courtesy of WPXI-TV Pittsburgh, Posted on Facebook on January 23rd, 2026)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Aspinwall, PA) Officials state that a Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) bus began smoking with passengers on board this morning. According to a PRT spokesperson, a coolant leak caused smoke at the rear of a 75-Ellsworth bus around 10:20 a.m., ten people were on the bus when the smoke began, but it did not appear that the smoke got inside. At the time the bus started smoking, it was on Freeport Road near Western Avenue in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania. There were no reported injuries.
(File Photo of Duquesne Light Company Logo)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) According to Duquesne Light Company, its entire fleet of more than 1,200 vehicles is ready as its region prepares for a major winter storm expected to move through western Pennsylvania this weekend. Utility officials state that workers have been outfitting vehicles with snow chains, checking equipment and making sure everything is operating properly ahead of the storm. Duquesne Light Company confirmed its priority will remain with local customers in the Pittsburgh region despite receiving requests for assistance from outside of the state of Pennsylvania.
(File Photo of Representative Aaron Bernstine)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release in Harrisburg from the offices of Representatives Aaron Bernstine and Marci Mustello, Bernstine (R-Butler/Lawrence) and Mustello (R-Butler) announced today more than $7 million in rail freight investments will improve transportation infrastructure, strengthen supply chains and support hundreds of family-sustaining jobs in Butler County and across western Pennsylvania. Funding was awarded through Pennsylvania’s Rail Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) and Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP) and according to that same release, the railroads that received money and why they will use it are as follows:
$4 million to make extensive upgrades across 218 miles of its Main Line and P&W Subdivisions. The project includes the replacement of 40 grade crossings, installation of 80,000 feet of rail, replacement of 30,000 ties, and surfacing 48 miles of track to improve safety and reliability.
$3.1 million to rehabilitate approximately 20 miles of track on the Laurel Subdivision, along with upgrades to an additional six miles of track. The project also includes the installation of two switch machines and improvements to a grade crossing in the Butler Yard, a key hub for regional freight movement.
(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its preliminary employment situation report for December of 2025 today. The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania was unchanged over the month at 4.2 percent in December of 2025. The unemployment rate in the United States was down one-tenth of a percentage point from November of 2025 to 4.4 percent in December of 2025.