National forecast. Zeta is almost a hurricane and will likely be one before it makes landfall Wednesday across storm weary Louisiana. Heavy rain, ice and snow is moving into the Southwest and Southern Plains with dangerous travel conditions and wildfire danger is high across the West.

Illinois health director breaks down in tears while she reports grim new coronavirus death toll and urges residents to 'fight the pandemic fatigue' - as infections surge in nearly 80% of US states. 'I want to say happy Friday, but I understand the mental, the social and the emotional toll that this pandemic continues to have on people,' Illinois Department of Public Health Department Director Dr Ngozi Ezike said at the top of Friday's virus briefing, her voice quaking with emotion. 'Yesterday we lost an additional 31 lives, for a total of 9,418 deaths,' she said. 'These are people who started with us in 2020 and won't be with us at the Thanksgiving table.' The emotional briefing came as coronavirus infections are surging in nearly 80 percent of US states and territories and the nation set a single-day record for new COVID-19 cases, for a total of 8,578,415 as of Sunday morning.