Floodwaters have pushed families out of their homes across the Four Corners, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, and the reach of the danger now extends across the wider U.S. Southwest. Meteorologists trace the heavier rain and the bigger floods to a super El Niño working together with a subtropical jet stream, a reminder that distant patterns in the ocean and high atmosphere can gather over a dry landscape and turn it, within days, into a place people must leave. What remains unsettled is how long this pattern will hold and how many communities will be drawn into it.
Dangerous Flooding Hits Four Corners as Evacuations Spread Across the U.S. Southwest
Residents across the Four Corners area have been forced to evacuate as flooding threatens homes and communities.
Heavier rain, more torrential storms and bigger floods
Mark
So what is actually happening in the Southwest?
Mimi
Dangerous flooding in the Four Corners region has led to evacuations across the Southwest. Residents have had to leave as water threatens homes and communities.
Mark
And why is it happening?
Mimi
Meteorologists point to a super El Niño and a subtropical jet stream. They say those are behind the heavier rain, more torrential storms and bigger floods.
Luke
I'd be careful there. That's the meteorologists' explanation, and the report states it without showing the analysis behind it. We don't know how much each factor contributes.
Mark
Do we know how many people were evacuated?
Mimi
No. The report doesn't give a figure, and it doesn't name specific towns.
Luke
Right. No rainfall totals, no damage estimates, no word on injuries. Anyone quoting numbers from this piece would be inventing them.
Mark
Why does the Huntington Beach reporting matter, if the flooding is inland?
Mimi
It suggests the story reaches beyond the Four Corners, but the source doesn't say what Fujita found there.
Luke
Exactly. We know where she was, not what she reported. The forecast from Andrew Kozak is the next thing worth watching.
Der Puls
- Floodwaters in the Four Corners are forcing residents out of homes and threatening whole communities across the Southwest.
- Meteorologists link the torrential storms to a super El Niño and a subtropical jet stream steering moisture into the region.
- Evacuations are underway, though the full number of people ordered to leave and the affected counties have yet to be made clear.
- Forecasters warn the pattern may persist, with more intense storms and floods still ahead and no clear end in sight.
Floodwaters have pushed families out of their homes across the Four Corners, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, and the reach of the danger now extends across the wider U.S. Southwest. Meteorologists trace the heavier rain and the bigger floods to a super El Niño working together with a subtropical jet stream, a reminder that distant patterns in the ocean and high atmosphere can gather over a dry landscape and turn it, within days, into a place people must leave. What remains unsettled is how long this pattern will hold and how many communities will be drawn into it.
Floodwaters are rising across the Four Corners, the meeting point of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, and their spread has pushed evacuations across much of the U.S. Southwest. Residents who once watched the sky with ordinary concern now face the decision to leave what they have built, as the water threatens homes and the communities around them.
Meteorologists point to two forces behind the heavier rain, the more torrential storms and the larger floods: a super El Niño and a subtropical jet stream. Their explanation is clear in outline, though the report leaves unanswered how the two interact and how much each contributes.
Many details remain unknown. How many people have been ordered out, which counties are most affected, and whether anyone has been hurt are all still open questions. What is clear is the direction of the weather: the storms are growing heavier, and the floods are growing bigger. Officials and forecasts will shape what comes next, and families in the path of the water are waiting for word on where it is safe to go.
Flooding in the Four Corners region has pushed evacuations across the U.S. Southwest, according to a CBS News video report published on November 2, 2026. The region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet, is among the places dealing with the heaviest rain.
The report is brief, and it should be read that way. Its core claim comes from meteorologists, who point to two causes for the heavier rain, the more torrential storms and the bigger floods: a super El Niño and a subtropical jet stream. The report names both factors but does not detail how they interact or how much each contributes.
CBS News had two correspondents on the story. Akiko Fujita reported from Huntington Beach, California, with more details on the situation. Andrew Kozak was in the studio with the forecast. The material available here carries only their introductions, not what either of them said on air.
That leaves a number of things unspecified. The source does not say how many people have been told to leave their homes, which counties or communities are affected, or whether anyone has been injured. It gives no rainfall totals, river levels or damage estimates. The human cost is only that residents across the Four Corners area have had to evacuate as floodwaters threaten homes and communities.
What the report does establish is the direction of the weather. Meteorologists describe the storms as heavier and more torrential, and the floods as bigger, which suggests this is a broader pattern and not a single event. The report's framing points to a pattern that may persist, though it does not give a timeline.
For now, the things to watch are practical ones. Evacuations may spread beyond the areas already affected, and Kozak's forecast is the piece to follow for whether the storms intensify or ease. Local emergency officials will be the source for which areas are under orders to leave.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
A super El Niño and a subtropical jet stream are to blame for the heavier rain, more torrential storms and bigger floods.— Meteorologists, as reported by CBS News
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