Key Facts Of The Day 1/20

Storms and Flooding

• An extended cold front will stretch from the southern tip of Texas to the northern edge of Maine, with temperatures behind it dropping well below average across the eastern half of the United States.

  • Temperatures across parts of Texas will plunge to below freezing Thursday night into Friday with the chance of a wintry mix.

    • Winter storm watches cover the state’s southern section, from Austin to Brownsville.

  • A quick burst of wintry precipitation could arrive along the front, including in parts of Southern states and the Mid-Atlantic.

  • Snow early Thursday will impact Kentucky, including Louisville, and northern Tennessee.

    • Nashville will see light rain turning to ice, then a light accumulation of snow.

  • New York also is likely to see rain turning to snow as the front moves through Thursday morning.

  • Freezing rain could fall Thursday night into Friday in the Carolinas, with significant icing possible Friday across eastern North Carolina.

  • Winter storm watch issued as Hampton Roads braces for possible heavy snowfall.

    • School divisions in Hampton Roads have begun announcing early dismissals for Thursday with a winter storm watch issued for Hampton Roads.

    • Up to 8 inches of snow is possible locally this weekend.

  • The Virginia Department of Transportation is urging drivers to limit nonessential travel during the storm.

  • Most of New Jersey is expected to get 1 to 2 inches of snow, with some pockets of 3 inches in western counties and lower amounts in the southeastern counties closer to the Jersey Shore.

    • As colder air sweeps in and temperatures drop into the low 30s, the rain is expected to change to snow from northwest to southeast.

• With freezing weather sweeping into Texas late this week, subsidiaries for the pipeline company Energy Transfer LP are threatening to cut off natural gas to the state’s largest power generator over a financial dispute stemming from last February’s deadly winter storm.

  • This could impact the electricity supply for hundreds of thousands of customers including homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.

• The Tonga volcano eruption led to tsunamis not only in the Pacific, but also in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 2 large active wildfires that have burned 1,005 acres across AK, and LA. As of Friday, 457 wildfires have burned 7,080 acres across the country.

• As of Wednesday night, the Bastrop County Fire has burned 783 acres and is 58% contained.

  • All evacuated residents in Bastrop County have been allowed to return as first responders continue to work to get a large wildfire under control on Wednesday.

• Wildfire risk in California drives insurers to cut back on coverage on multi-million dollar homes.

  • As early as this month, American International Group Inc. will begin notifying about 9,000 customers in its Private Client Group that their home policies won’t be renewed this year.

• Colorado looks to expand building codes as climate change increases risk of wildfires.

  • Building codes are not a guarantee, but decades of research shows that construction rules for homes and communities can limit the damage of urban wildfires.

• A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges a series of bad decisions by the U.S. Forest Service in 2018 has resulted in extensive damage to the water infrastructure in southern Utah County.

Extreme Heat

• Hotter temperatures in late spring and summer were associated with higher rates of emergency-room visits for children across the U.S.

• The planet revolves at its hottest levels on record, 1.9 degrees higher than at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

  • The Northern Hemisphere ranked the sixth-hottest on record for 2021.

  • The Arctic is warming three to four times as fast as the average global warming rate, and this is accelerating ice melt and contributing to sea-level rise.

• Bears and their cubs battle for survival as wildfire, drought and traffic take a heavy toll.

• Recent rain and wintry mix has helped dent the drought conditions across North and South Carolina.

• California drought dried up avocado supply and pushed up prices in 2021.

• Florida’s red tides are getting worse and may be hard to control because of climate change.

  • A task force appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for research and investment in mitigation.

New Reports And Data

• A January 2022 survey found that marine heatwaves associated with the climate crisis are bringing down the populations of coral in the Mediterranean, the biomass of which in some cases has been reduced by 80 to 90%.

• A January 2022 study  found that climate change will force 45% of the fish stocks that cross through two or more exclusive economic zones to shift significantly from their historical habitats and migration paths by 2100.

• A January 2022 study found that sunflowers’ ultraviolet colors help them attract bees and adapt to drought.