achieving greater intensities. reporter: it was the same thing that happened on the west coast earlier in the week, leaving roads impassable and flipping semitrucks. both storms broke october records. there is an underlying factor, and that s the warming of the oceans caused by global warming. reporter: and there will be no rest for the weary. more stormy weather is on its way stephanie gosk, nbc news, ducksbury, massachusetts. in fact, those severe storms are continuing tonight across the gulf coast and southeast with millions in their paths. al roker is here al, what is the latest lester, we ve already got tornado watches up now for a good portion of the western gulf coast and, in fact, those will extend on to late tonight. we also have a risk of severe weather stretching all the way from louisiana into florida for five million people tornados, hail, damaging winds also a problem. that moves to the southeast tomorrow from the carolinas all the way down to florida, 15 millio
gulf all the way into new england, lester. we re talking about 1 to 3 inches of rain and with already clogged storm drains and saturated ground, flooding could be a real problem going into the weekend. all right, al we ll see you with more in the morning. thank you. let s turn to some positive news now in the battle against covid. while there are still some troubling spots, new cases have plummeted across the country. but will this trend continue as we head into the holidays? here s gabe gutierrez. reporter: after a roller coaster pandemic so far, tonight more positive signs. new covid cases in the u.s. are down 57% since their last peak on september 1st and 16% over the past week hospitalizations have dropped 54% since late august. we are now heading in the right direction. and, but, with cases still high, we must remain vigilant heading into the colder, drier, winter months. we re back to where we started. reporter: when we visited u.s. health in jacksonville this summer,