Key Facts Of The Day 5/2

• As of Monday the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in New Mexico, which is the largest fire in the U.S., has burned over 116,000 acres.
• Tornadoes hit Kansas and Nebraska on Friday, including a destructive EF3 twister that damaged or destroyed nearly 1,000 structures in Andover, Kansas.
• On Sunday, residents in northern Puerto Rico witnessed a rare tornado sweep across the city of Arecibo as severe thunderstorms rattled the island.

Storms and Flooding

• Tornadoes hit Kansas and Nebraska on Friday, including a destructive EF3 twister that damaged or destroyed nearly 1,000 structures in Andover, Kansas.
  • Officials say the destruction from the tornado that ripped through a Kansas community will take years to recover.
  • Drone footage of the wreckage captured Saturday by storm chaser Aaron Rigsby shows houses with roofs ripped off, many reduced to piles of rubble, and cars tossed into some of the homes.
  • In Sedgwick County, three people were injured, including one woman who suffered serious injuries.
  • The storm left more than 15,000 people without power.
  • Gov. Laura Kelly declared a state of disaster emergency for the hardest-hit areas.
  • Hail the size of softballs was spotted near Holbrook, Nebraska, and Enterprise, Kansas.
• Central U.S. faces severe storms and tornadoes on multiple days this week.
  • May is historically the most active month for tornadoes across the Lower 48.
  • At least four days in the next week will feature the potential for significant severe weather across the central United States, with large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes all in the cards.
  • The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has already drawn at least a level 3 out of 5 “enhanced” risks of severe weather in their outlooks for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.
  • The weekend could feature higher-end severe weather potential as well, with a clash between dry desert air from the Southwestern U.S. and humid air from the tropics set to brew nasty storms in parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
• The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in Oak Brook, Illinois.
  • The storm left snapped tree branches and one building also lost part of its roof.
• On Sunday, residents in northern Puerto Rico witnessed a rare tornado sweep across the city of Arecibo as severe thunderstorms rattled the island.
  • The National Weather Service office in the capital city of San Juan gave the twister a preliminary rating of an EF1.
  • According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s storm events database, there have been a total of 21 confirmed tornadoes that occurred in Puerto Rico since 1950.
  • Following the storm’s aftermath, there were multiple reports of moderate building and roof damage, mangled fences, and downed utility poles across the Arecibo area.
  • As of Monday morning, more than 300 customers were still without power in Arecibo.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 13 large active wildfires that have burned 236,407 acres across AZ, FL, OK, NC, NE, NM, NV, and VA. As of Friday, 21,461 wildfires have burned 1,089,766 acres across the country.
• As of Friday, the Tunnel Fire in Arizona has burned 19,075 and is 89% contained. 
• As of Friday the Cooks Peak Fire in New Mexico has burned 55,931 acres and is 54% contained.
• As of Monday the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in New Mexico has burned over 116,000 acres.
  • About 1,000 firefighters battle the Calf Canyon fire, the largest active wildfire in the US amid warning that refusal to evacuate could be fatal.
  • People have evacuated from the villages of Ledoux, Mora, and Cleveland.
  • Residents of Las Vegas, New Mexico, were among those told to prepare for evacuation as the wildfire moved within a few miles of the town.
  • Fierce winds have blown embers beyond the fire, allowing it to breach containment lines.
  • The wildfire was advancing at a rate close to a mile every hour on Friday, due to strong winds, before slowing slightly over the weekend.
  • Warmer temperatures and strong winds were expected Monday, making the blaze more difficult to control.
• More than a million acres have already burned across the US since the start of this year, more than double the total for the same period last year.

Extreme Heat

• Cities around the world, including Los Angeles, California, are being forced to live with less water, as global warming melts glaciers, diminishes snowpacks, and exacerbates decades of water mismanagement.
  • Los Angeles and many of its suburbs will soon restrict outdoor watering to once a week, with the goal of reducing water use by 35%.
    • If the once-weekly outdoor watering rules aren’t enough to reduce water use, the district could ban all outdoor watering by September.
  • The water district has a little more than half of the water it needs to make it through the rest of the year.
• A massive drought-starved reservoir on the Colorado River has become so depleted that Las Vegas now is pumping water from deeper within Lake Mead where other states downstream don’t have access.
  • At Lake Mead, the new pumps are fed by an intake drilled nearer to the bottom of the lake and completed in 2020 to ensure the ability to continue to draw water for Las Vegas, its casinos, suburbs, and 2.4 million residents and 40 million tourists per year.
• In Arizona, falling Colorado River levels have prompted an emphasis on conservation and raised fears of reduced water deliveries to desert areas that include metro Phoenix, Tucson, tribal lands, and farms.
• ​​The Idaho Department of Water Resources on Friday declared an emergency drought declaration for 34 counties in Idaho.
  • An emergency drought declaration allows temporary water right changes for the remainder of the year and may also help with eligibility requirements for federal drought assistance.

New Reports And Data

• An April 2022 study found that changing climate impacts biodiversity in protected areas globally.
• An April 2022 study found that human-caused climate change will make strong tropical cyclones twice as frequent by 2050.
• An April 2022 study found that the Bay Area’s future storms could get 26-37% more rain by 2100.