Mostly cloudy skies blanket the beaches Wednesday morning. Some pop up showers are possible throughout the day, but most modeling shows a drying afternoon. Winds die off significantly and all Wind Advisories and High Wind Warnings have been cancelled. High Surf Advisories remain through 9pm for all beaches.

Skies return to mostly sunny Thursday and Friday. A small ridge of high pressure bring a slight boost in temperatures and keep us dry. Expect 60s and low 70s. Head out for a nice bike ride or a walk by the beaches.

Overcast skies build in on Valentine's Day. Luckily, we stay dry but temperatures drop and the next storm moves in overnight. Expect rainy conditions Sunday and Monday. Highs rise into the 60s and gusty winds may prompt Wind Advisories. High Surf will be back in the forecast and we stay soggy through Wednesday. More information to come on rain amounts, recent data suggests an inch, possibly more.

The post Lingering showers Wednesday morning, next round of rain this weekend appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

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By Karina Tsui, Diego Mendoza, CNN

(CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration abruptly issued a temporary flight restriction that immediately grounds all flights to and from El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days — a shutdown that’s likely to create significant disruptions in one of America’s largest cities.

The sudden pause over El Paso, along with an area of southern New Mexico, is due to “special security reasons,” according to the FAA’s website. The FAA did not provide additional details.

An FAA notice classifies the area as “(National) Defense Airspace” and says pilots who violate the restriction could be intercepted, detained and questioned by law enforcement.

It warns that additional actions could be taken for pilots who don’t adhere to the restrictions, including suspension of flight certifications, criminal charges, and that the US government “may use deadly force” if an aircraft poses an “imminent security threat.”

The agency issued the restriction “on short notice,” and airport staff have reached out for further guidance, the airport said in another statement to CNN affiliate KFOX. El Paso International Airport said all commercial, cargo and general aviation flights would be grounded until February 20.

“It’s a complete ground stop … not even medevac are allowed to fly,” an air-traffic controller was heard telling flight crews of the imminent airspace closure Tuesday night.

“Wow,” a flight crew member is heard responding in flight control audio recorded by the website LiveATC.net.

El Paso, with a population of nearly 700,000, is the sixth largest city in Texas and one of the 25 largest in the United States. It is a hub of cross-border commerce alongside neighboring Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

Nearly 3.5 million passengers passed through El Paso International Airport in the first 11 months of 2025, according to its website. The airport describes itself as the gateway to west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico.

The airspace closure is expected to be extremely disruptive for El Paso, a major industrial hub, Robert Moore, the founder and CEO of news site El Paso Matters, told CNN.

“We’ve never seen anything like this here at least since 9/11, when everything was grounded,” he said.

CNN has reached out to the FAA and El Paso International Airport for more information.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The post FAA ab

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — You may not know what neodymium is (or even how to pronounce it). But you have plenty of it in your home.

Neodymium is a rare earth, one of the minerals near the bottom of the periodic table that are crucial for everyday life. The element is among the most valuable of all the rare earths because it’s so widespread in so-called “permanent” magnets. And China has a near-monopoly on its processing.

As a result, neodymium and the other rare earths have become a major factor in trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’s number one and number two economy, respectively.

Much of US’s manufacturing base – autos, aircraft, appliance – would be crippled without access to neodymium. The element makes up about 30% of the mass of permanent magnets by weight, according to Rod Eggert, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines and an expert in the field.

The neodymium magnets are very small and very powerful.

How strong?

“If you were to put them next to a fridge, the fridge would fall over,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Rare mostly in name

Neodymium-based magnets power all manners of motors. Unlike traditional magnets, they don’t lose magnetism when exposed to the constant electric current used to turn the motors on and off.

The makes them critical to American manufacturing of motors in automobiles, from the simple motors that move windshield wipers to the complex ones that move electric vehicles. They’re also found in many household goods, like power tools and air conditioners, as well as in jet engines and wind turbines.

The Trump administration says that neodymium and the other rare earths are so essential to the United States that access to them is a national security issue. But China dominates the processing of rare earths, giving it massive leverage in trade talks. China handles 90% of the processing capacity needed to turn raw ore into useable minerals.

“Rare earths are not rare,” said Igor Hulak, an energy and resource partner at consultant Kearney. “They can be found in many countries and on a number of continents. But what is rare is the way the rock is separated, processed and refined.”

Processing, Hulak said, is an ordeal. It takes a lot of energy to heat the ore, which is then treated with chemicals to separate out the rare earths. The end result also produces toxic waste, some of which is radioactive.

“So the rest of the world, well, simply allowed China to develop this high concentration (of processing),” said Hulak.

Once the neodymium (or a less pure but still useful version called neodymium-praseodymium oxide) is processed, the material is turned into magnets. That’s also typically done in China. (For some higher performance motors, such as those that power electric vehicles, another rare earth – dysprosium – is added to the mix.)

The combination of price, availability and widespread use means neodymium produces more revenue than any other rare earth element.

Advantages of scale

The United States is trying to wean itself away from China’s rare earth processing. President Donald Trump earlier this month announced plans to create a strategic rare earths reserve. And the US government has been subsidizing projects to increase domestic ore mining and processing. But it will take years to catch up with the availability from China, giving the country a continued chokehold on the elements.

“It takes a number of years to bring any new mine or processing facility into production, even from the day that you make the decision to build a new mine or processing facility,” said Eggert.

Given China’s dominance of the market and the advantages that go with scale, the

By Ben Church, CNN

(CNN) — The superstars of the NHL will return to Winter Olympic action later on Wednesday, bringing with them thousands of fans from across the world, but it’s been far from a smooth buildup to the Games.

It’s been 12 years since the NHL last featured at the Olympics – the league opted out of the 2022 Games because of the pandemic and decided against allowing players to compete at the 2018 edition, saying the competition would disrupt the hockey season.

Now, though, they are not only competing, but they’re coming in droves – each of the 32 NHL teams will have at least one representative at the Games.

The excitement in Milan is palpable then, with the men’s tournament starting with Slovakia taking on Finland on Wednesday, before Team USA gets its campaign underway against Latvia on Thursday.

“It’s going to be extremely exciting. We’re very excited they are coming back,” IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey told reporters last month.

“Twelve years – it was a lot of work from a lot of people to make sure this happens.”

Ducrey’s words perhaps underplay the amount of work it took from all sides to ensure the NHL players would be present.

Construction delays and concerns about the safety of the ice at Milan’s Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena and secondary Rho facility had drawn headlines for weeks last year. It got to the point where NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly warned that the league would not send its players if there were any safety concerns.

It resulted in the NHL sending its own experts to trial events at the venues in January, which, to everyone’s relief, went well. The venues may not be perfect, but they are fit to host the world’s best players and their fans.

“The ice was a little bit beat up when we were practicing today, but there have been a lot of teams on it,” Team USA’s coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after the team’s first practice sessions this weekend.

“At the end of the day, both teams got to play on the same surface, so we’re thrilled to be here, and we love every minute of it.”

Team USA has not won the men’s Olympic gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980, and a whole generation of stars has so far missed out on the opportunity to play at an Olympics during the NHL’s 12-year absence.

It means there is an element of pressure for Team USA, which heads into Milan Cortina as perhaps the team most likely to topple favorite Canada.

History, though, proves the Canadians will be tough to beat – they won gold in the last two Winter Olympics that involved NHL players and will once again boast a packed roster.

“Playing for Team Canada over the years, that’s something you learn is part of it, that expectation and that responsibility,” Pittsburgh Penguins and Canada star Sidney Crosby said before the competition started.

“We understand that, we have high expectations ourselves, and you’ve got to go out there and play and do all the things that are necessary to try to win. You can’t think too far ahead, but we understand that’s the expectation.”

How the tournament will work

Twelve nations will compete for medals in Milan Cortina, organized into three groups of four.

The tournament begins with a three-game ro

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

It’s been a tough job market — hiring has been sluggish across industries for months, and minimal layoffs have left workers with limited opportunities. Fresh data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today will show whether 2026 opened with new momentum.

Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

1⃣ Nancy Guthrie

The desperate search for the mother of “Today” host Savannah Guthrie remains ongoing after a person detained for questioning in the case was released hours ago. Nancy Guthrie’s location is still unknown, a source said. On Tuesday, Savannah Guthrie shared a new message from her family saying they believe their mother is alive. Meanwhile, the FBI released doorbell camera footage from the night Nancy Guthrie disappeared nearly two weeks ago, showing a masked, armed person. FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency is examining multiple “persons of interest.”

2⃣ Canada mass shooting

Canada is in shock after nine people were killed in a mass shooting on Tuesday — the country’s deadliest school shooting in decades. The tragedy occurred in Tumbler Ridge, a remote mountain town in British Columbia. At least seven victims were killed at a high school, while two others were found dead at a residence believed to be connected to the incident. Dozens more were injured, many suffering serious or life-threatening injuries. The suspected shooter, described in an emergency alert as a brown-haired woman wearing a dress, was found dead at the school with a self-inflicted wound. Authorities said they are working to determine a motive.

3⃣ Flight restrictions

The FAA has halted all flights to and from El Paso, Texas, and an area of southern New Mexico for 10 days due to unspecified security concerns. According to the agency’s website, the pause over El Paso and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, is due to “special security reasons,” but provided no further explanation. El Paso International Airport, which issued a notice late Tuesday, said all commercial, cargo and general aviation flights would be grounded until February 20. The FAA said pilots who violate the restriction could be intercepted and detained, and that the US government “may use deadly force” if an aircraft poses an “imminent security threat.”

4⃣ Pride flag removed

The Trump administration has removed an LGBTQ Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City — the United States’ first national monument to LGBTQ rights. This comes as the administration moves to alter displays at National Park sites and other cultural institutions to reflect President Donald Trump’s priorities. The iconic gay bar is widely viewed as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the US: It was the site of a 1969 police raid that sparked a fierce backlash from its patrons and led to days of protests and skirmishes between LGBTQ rioters and police. Former President Barack Obama designated the monument in 2016.

5⃣ Iran

President Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House today, where the two leaders a