Key Facts Of The Day 2/18

Storms and Flooding

• More than 100 million Americans were under some type of weather alert ahead of threats for heavy snow, flooding rain, damaging winds and severe thunderstorms.

  • Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights with US arrivals or departures,

  • The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes touched down about 30 miles north of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with trees in the roadway and unspecified structural damage reported.

  • Other tornadoes were reported in Pell City, east of Birmingham, and in Shelby County, southeast of the city.

  • A couple was trapped in a mobile home when a tree fell on it in Leeds, Alabama, a town east of Birmingham. No serious injuries were reported.

  • More damage was seen in Fairfield, Alabama, where the roof of a BP gas station appeared to have blown over, and gas pumps were bent.

  • About 24,000 customers were without power Thursday night in Alabama

  • On Thursday night, In Tennessee there were 16,000 homes and businesses without power while Kentucky and West Virginia each had more than 10,000 customers in the dark.

  • On Friday morning, almost 180,000 homes and businesses across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland were in the dark.

  • As of Thursday night, there was a line of storms from Louisiana to New England.

  • There were flash flood warnings in central Alabama and flood warnings in parts of Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

  • In Illinois, more than 100 cars were involved in crashes Thursday on Interstate 39 when the area experienced heavy snow and reduced visibility.

  • On the cold side of the system, snow fell from Oklahoma to Michigan.

  • Kansas City set a daily record for February 17 with 7 inches of snow, surpassing 1893 when 6 inches fell. Other areas in the state saw as much as 10 inches.

  • Midwest cities including Cleveland are under winter storm warnings for snow and ice until Friday morning.

  • On Friday, schools in Miami County, Ohio closed for the second day.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 15 large active wildfires that have burned 21,177 acres across CA, FL, KY, TX, MS, and OK. As of Friday, 5,544 wildfires have burned 116,401 acres across the country.

• In California, 1 fire has burned 4,136 acres as of Friday.

  • The Airport Fire burned 4,136 acres and was 20% contained as of Friday.

    • The evacuations were lifted Thursday as firefighters began containing the blaze.

    • Dozens of structures were threatened, but there have been no reports of homes destroyed or damaged.

    • Approximately 690 personnel were battling the blaze.

• Days when large damaging wildfires are possible could nearly double in Southern California by the end of the century if climate change continues unchecked.

  • Fast-spreading wildfires become more likely as temperatures rise because a warmer atmosphere can draw more moisture from plants and soils.

  • Mitigating fossil fuel emissions will be key to avoiding an increasingly fiery and destructive future, because the risk diverges considerably after mid-century between the high and lower emissions scenarios.

Extreme Heat

• A drop in the total number of rainy days each year is contributing to an earlier arrival of spring for plants in northern climates.

• Despite some wet weather last fall, warm and dry conditions have settled in the west and are expected to continue through spring and beyond.

  • Dan Collins, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a briefing that a continuation of La Niña, will contribute to what are expected to be higher than normal temperatures, and lower than normal precipitation, over much of the West through May.

  • The forecast for more warmth and dryness means that the drought will continue over most of the West.

  • Drought could also develop in some areas, notably south-central Arizona and eastern and coastal Texas.

  • According to the forecast, warmer than normal temperatures are also expected across most of the Eastern half of the country over the next three months.

  • It’s likely that drought will develop in Florida.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says New England’s temperatures are warming 3-4 degrees and sea levels are rising faster than the global rate.

  • Rhode Island has seen the highest rate of warming in New England since the beginning of the 20th century.

    • Previous data from NOAA has shown that Rhode Island has already passed the United Nations’ threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of warming.

New Reports And Data

• A February 2022 report found that Weather disasters affected 1 in 10 homes in the country last year.

• A February 2022 study found that the season for large fires in Southern California is projected to lengthen in a changing climate.

• A February 2022 study found nearly 50% of golden and bald eagle birds sampled showed evidence of repeated exposure to lead.

• A February 2022 study found that a drop in the total number of rainy days each year is contributing to an earlier arrival of spring for plants in northern climates.