Key Facts Of The Day 6/13

Hurricanes

• On Sunday, The National Hurricane Center said forecasters are monitoring a tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea. 
  • There is a 20% chance of cyclone formation in the next 5 days.
• Severe storms possible Monday ahead of dangerous heat.
  • Strong storms with potentially damaging winds exceeding 75 MPH, large hail, and even the possibility of tornadoes are likely to sweep over the Chicago area.
• A batch of severe storms brought rainfall totals of 1-5 inches across Central Virginia Saturday into Sunday morning prompting flood advisories.
  • The storms also knocked out power to more than 15,000 homes in Central Virginia.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, there are currently 33 large active wildfires that have burned 1,089,844 across AK, AZ, CA, NM, and TX. As of Monday, 29,629 wildfires have burned 2,477,977 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 20 fires have burned 398,927 acres as of Monday.
  • On Friday, the largest documented wildfire burning through tundra in southwest Alaska was within miles of two Alaska Native villages, prompting officials to urge residents to prepare for possible evacuation.
  • This came a day after dozens of elders and residents with health concerns voluntarily evacuated because of smoke from the nearby fire.
  • The fire is consuming dry grass, alder, and willow bushes on the largely treeless tundra as gusts of up to 30 MPH are pushing the fire in the general direction of the St. Mary’s and Pitkas Point communities.
  • The area where the tundra fire is burning, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, lost its snowpack early this year, leaving grass and other vegetation longer to dry out.
• In Arizona, 3 fires have burned 6,399 acres as of Monday.
• In California, 3 fires have burned 1,444 acres as of Monday.
• In New Mexico, 6 fires have burned 682,096 acres as of Monday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 320,333 acres and is 70% contained as of Monday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 309,948 acres and is 47% contained as of Monday.
  • Dozens of residents in a small New Mexico community, Mora County, affected by massive wildfires that merged in April are suing the U.S. Forest Service over what they called a failure to provide information about the government’s role in starting the blazes.
  • On Saturday, President Joe Biden said he was increasing federal assistance for New Mexico as it faces its largest wildfire in recorded state history.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 978 acres as of Monday.

Extreme Heat

• Nearly 100 million people are facing heat warnings and advisories across the U.S. this week due to an early season heat wave that saw high-temperature records set from California to Texas over the weekend.
  • At least three wildfires ignited in drought-stricken Southern California due to the extreme heat and dry conditions. 
  • Blazes also erupted in drought-ravaged Arizona and New Mexico, which have already been hit by a series of devastating fires this year.
  • Excessive heat warnings and advisories stretch from the Desert Southwest to the lower and middle Mississippi Valley.
  • All of Arkansas and Oklahoma, most of Louisiana, Tennessee, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Texas, as well as large parts of Arizona and New Mexico, were under heat advisories and excessive heat warnings through early this week.
  • On Saturday, Phoenix (114 degrees), Las Vegas (109 degrees), Denver (100 degrees), and California’s Death Valley (122 degrees) all posted record temperatures, as dangerous heat swept across the American Southwest.
  • Roswell, New Mexico, hit 111 degrees, smashing its previous daily record.
  • High temperatures across the southern and central Plains will remain in the triple digits, with heat index values (or “feels like” temperatures) approaching 115 degrees across parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
    • Record-breaking heat will spread into the central Plains through the Mississippi River Valley and into the Carolinas Monday, and by Tuesday, the heat will extend from the Midwest to the Carolinas.
  • The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible.

New Reports And Data

• A June 2022 study found that two of Antarctica’s largest and fastest-melting glaciers are shrinking at their highest levels in more than 5,000 years.
• A June 2022 study found that U.S. summers are hotter than ever, with most of the country experiencing increased summer averages over the last half century.