Key Facts Of The Day 5/27

Storms and Flooding

• Snow, severe storms, and triple-digit heat are all forecast this holiday weekend.
  • The snow will likely stick to the higher elevations (over 8,000 feet) in the northern Rockies.
  • Most of the heavier snow will fall Sunday through Monday. 
  • Cooler temperatures and wet conditions are expected for the latter half of the weekend at lower elevations. 
  • Severe storms are forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday along the boundary between the cooler air in the Northwest and the oppressive heat.
  • The northern Plains could see storms this weekend.
• A new federal report about a dam failure two years ago in Michigan that forced the evacuation of 11,000 people blames “record rainfall” and warns that climate change is increasing the risk of similar dam overflows across the U.S.
  • The FEMA report says that climate change along with the “increasing age of dams across the country” makes it “important to examine dam risk across watershed areas.”

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 9 large active wildfires that have burned 606,120 across AZ, CO, NE, NM, and TX. As of Friday, 27,061 wildfires have burned 1,804,986 acres across the country.
• In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 2,149 acres as of Friday.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 721 acres as of Friday.
• In Nebraska, 1 fire has burned 4,192 acres as of Friday.
• In New Mexico, 5 fires have burned 588,098 acres as of Friday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned  312,057acres and is 47% contained as of Friday.
    • Recent weather that included lighter winds, cloud cover and light rain and snow in some areas helped firefighters’ effort to surround the fire and slow its growth. 
    • But forecasts for Friday and through the holiday weekend call for higher temperatures, less humidity and stronger winds.
    • The National Weather Service issued fire weather watches for the region on Saturday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 185,234 acres and is 13% contained as of Friday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 10,960 acres as of Friday.

Extreme Heat

• It will get sunny and hot from Texas to Maine by the end of the weekend. 
  • A dome of high pressure will keep the skies clear, but will allow temperatures to creep up to well above average by Monday.
  • The worst of the heat will fall on Texas, where temperatures will climb into the 100s.
  • Record high temperatures could even be in jeopardy across the Texas Panhandle.
  • The region will dry out again and winds will pick up as the weekend goes on, elevating fire weather conditions once again.
• Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir which serves millions of people in the Southwest, will likely drop another 12 feet by this fall.
  • One year after that, in September 2023, it suggests Lake Mead will be 26 feet lower than its current level — just 19% of the lake’s full capacity and a level that would trigger the most severe water cuts for the Southwest.
  •  Lake Mead is already running well below what last year’s projections suggested, even in its worst-case scenario.
  • As the drought has deepened, Lake Mead’s water level dropped below 1,050 feet elevation for the first time last week.
• Drought conditions in the Southwest worsened significantly over the past week
  • “Exceptional drought” — the worst designation — expanded in California from nearly zero coverage to 11% of the state. 
• The extended drought in California could lead to hydropower producing 8% of California’s electricity generation compared with 15% under normal precipitation conditions
• Climate change is impacting the U.S. Corn Belt and it may no longer grow its namesake commodity by century’s end unless farmers take a more sustainable approach to farming.
  • Even under moderate-emission scenarios, the Corn Belt of the Upper Midwest will become “unsuitable to the cultivation of corn by 2100.”
• U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose by 4% in the first quarter, as American drivers hit the road in record numbers during the first three months of the year.

New Reports And Data

• A May 2022 study found that the Siberian tundra could virtually disappear by mid-millennium. 
• A May 2022 study found that tackling the climate crisis can only be achieved by ‘placing people at the heart of climate action.’