Key Facts Of The Day 6/9

Hurricanes

• The National Weather Service says it is investigating whether strong storms early Thursday morning spawned a tornado in Camden County, New Jersey.
  • In all, police say approximately five homes had some storm-related damage.
  • Along with damage to the homes, trees also fell onto parked cars and into the road.
• On Wednesday, heavy rains left parts of the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area underwater with flash flooding stranding vehicles and swamping parking lots.
  • Many streets were covered in Jefferson and Shelby counties after storms passed and some trees fell in Homewood.
• On Wednesday, storms dropped up to 2 to 4 inches of rain north of D.C.
  • Flood warnings were issued for the zone including northeast Montgomery, northern Prince George’s and Howard counties, including Laurel, Columbia, and Ellicott City.
• On Wednesday, damage was reported through the Miami Valley, Ohio after strong storms and at least one tornado hit the region.
  • The majority of outages were in Clark and Miami counties, with nearly 6,000 people without service at one point.
  • In Clark County, crews were called to reports of a tree that fell into a house.
  • In Springfield, police and fire crews reported multiple downed wires and trees in the area.
  • In Darke County, there were reports of downed barns and damaged homes.
• The California Coastal Commission approved the seawall to shield one of the country’s busiest Amtrak lines.
  • The California Coastal Commission unanimously consented to the seawall in front of a beach-side bluff in Del Mar, in north San Diego County.
  • That bluff has been the site of repeated collapses, including one in 2019 that left less than a foot between the edge of the cliff and the rail line.
  • Several commissioners said they typically loathe seawalls, which they blame for accelerating beach erosion as sea levels rise.

Wildfires

• As of Thursday, there are currently 17 large active wildfires that have burned 761,625 across AK, AZ, NM, and TX. As of Thursday, 28,897 wildfires have burned 2,041,509 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 12 fires have burned 91,427 acres as of Thursday.
  • Firefighters were working to contain wildfires that started west of Talkeetna, Alaska, including one that was near nine structures.
• In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 7,598 acres as of Thursday.
• In New Mexico, 3 fires have burned 661,622acres as of Thursday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 318,599 acres and is 65% contained as of Thursday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 297,418 acres and is 45% contained as of Thursday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 978 acres as of Thursday.

Extreme Heat

• More than 30 million people in California, Nevada, and Arizona are under some sort of heat-related alert through at least part of the weekend.
  • Dangerous and potentially deadly heat will settle over the Southwestern United States through much of the weekend, with temperatures in some locations expected to break records and exceed 100 degrees.
  • The office in Sacramento said that the heat would affect everyone, not just people most sensitive to heat risk. 
  • Meteorologists in San Diego advised residents to learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
  • Temperatures were forecast to reach up to 116 degrees in the San Diego area.
  • Las Vegas could reach 109 degrees.
  • Some of the most extreme heat is predicted in Death Valley, along the California-Nevada border, where temperatures could rise to 120 degrees.
  • Temperatures up to 100 degrees were expected around the Los Angeles area and up to 106 degrees in the San Joaquin Valley.
• California State regulators have ordered the city of San Francisco and scores of San Joaquin Valley farmers to stop pulling water from Valley rivers as drought worsens.

New Reports And Data

• A June 2022 study found that there was an even more severe drought in the Colorado River Basin in the second century.
• A June 2022 study found that climate change is having an impact on how large whale species, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, use habitats in the warming Gulf of Maine.