Key Facts Of The Day 3/17

Storms and Flooding

• As of Thursday, a powerful storm system with clashing cold and warm, moist air is setting up a multi day severe weather threat for the Southeast.

  • The series of storms impacting the region late this week has already produced up to a foot of late-season snow across the high Rockies.

  • It will also create extreme wildfire conditions across western and central Texas.

  • On Thursday evening, strong to severe storms will fire up across parts of southern Oklahoma, northeastern Texas and the central Gulf Coast, with storms continuing into early Friday morning.

  • The Storm Prediction Center has issued a slight risk, level 2 on a scale of 1 to 5, for Thursday’s severe weather potential.

  • Any outdoors plans on St. Patrick’s Day could be impacted in cities including Dallas, New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi, as severe weather elements, including hail, wind and tornadoes, will be in play.

  • The primary threat with these storms will be damaging straight-line winds gusting as high as 40 to 60 MPH. Such winds will bring down branches and potentially impact power lines and make driving treacherous along some parts of interstates 10 and 20.

  • New Orleans at risk for nocturnal tornadoes. Nocturnal tornadoes are more than twice as deadly as tornadoes in other parts of the day, mainly because it is more difficult to relay warning information to the public while most are sleeping.

  • On Friday, the risk for a few isolated tornadoes remains in the forecast, especially closer to the Gulf Coast.

  • Some thunderstorms may also contain excessive rainfall rates, prompting the issuance of a marginal risk (level 1 of 4) for flash flooding in Alabama and western Georgia.

• Heavy snow fell on parts of Colorado as a winter storm swept through the region on March 16 and 17.

  • Several roads and highways were closed due to poor conditions and crashes.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 13 large active wildfires that have burned 57,357 acres across CA, FL, KS, NM, OK, and SD. As of Friday, 11,663 wildfires have burned 287,468 acres across the country.

• As of Tuesday, three sweeping wildfires that started last week in the Florida Panhandle have burned more than 34,000 acres and are threatening surrounding communities amid dry and windy weather.

  • As of Tuesday, two of three wildfires making up the Chipola Complex Fire in Florida’s panhandle are 96% contained.

  • As of Tuesday, the Bertha Swamp Road fire, the third wildfire comprising the Chipola Complex and the largest in the state, is 75% contained after burning 33,131 acres.

• New research shows fires in the U.S. have grown larger and increasingly frequent over the past two decades as scientists express concerns that climate change is leading to more extreme occurrences.

  • From 2005 to 2018 fire frequency doubled in the West and East, while quadrupling in the Great Plains region.

Extreme Heat

• The measure, H. Res. 975 was introduced to highlight the importance of protecting the “mental health of current and future youth” and would expand funding for related projects, incorporating mental health into disaster preparation and making mental health care more accessible to young people.

• Many parts of the American West, including Oregon, have entered or will enter a state of “perpetual drought” if global warming, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, continues unabated.

  • Researchers found that what’s now considered a long-lasting and intense drought in parts of the American West is becoming the norm over time.

  • More than one-third of Oregon, on average, has been in severe drought or worse from 2000 to 2020. Three-quarters of the state remained in severe drought or worse this week.

  • Historically, Oregon had wet seasons and dry seasons. As the state becomes drier, Oregon will continue to have wet days, but what Oregonians know as a wet season may become a thing of the past.

• As drought deepens, Californians are saving less water.

  • After months of cutting back, new data from the State Water Resources Control Board show that rather than conserving water, Californians increased urban water use 2.6% in January, compared to the same month in 2020.

  • The San Francisco Bay Area reduced water use by 11% from July to the end of January, while the South Coast region, which includes Los Angeles, reduced only 5.1%, compared to the baseline period.

• Insects and drought are taking an increasing toll on Colorado’s forests, challenging the long-term sustainability and resiliency of the state’s roughly 24.5 million acres of forest.

New Reports And Data

• A March 2022 study found that fires in the U.S. have grown larger and increasingly frequent over the past two decades.

• A March 2022 study found a link between phthalates, commonly called the ‘everywhere chemical,’ and higher incidence of specific childhood cancers.

• A March 2022 study found that increased tree cover in savannas provides limited benefit in climate fight.