Key Facts Of The Day 6/21

Hurricanes

• On Monday, one person died as severe storms packing winds in excess of 90 MPH swept across Minnesota.
  • The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reported a man died and a woman was injured when the storms knocked a tree onto a camper southwest of Alexandria.
  • Elsewhere in the state, utility companies were reporting more than 25,000 homes and businesses remained without power as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
  • A storm spotter reported the storms tore roofing off two buildings in Ottertail.
  • The storms came at the end of a record-setting warm day across much of the state.
• Over the weekend, rhree men died after their small boat overturned on a North Texas lake during a strong storm.
• On Sunday, severe weather tracked across part of the central U.S., with over 60 reports of hail and damaging winds.
  • Most notably in the Plains, a 79 MPH wind gust was reported in Medina, North Dakota, while tennis ball-sized hail pelted Alzada, Montana.

Wildfires

• As of Tuesday, there are currently 38 large active wildfires that have burned 1,726,992 across AK, AZ, CO, GA, NV, NM, NC, SD, and UT. As of Tuesday, 31,000 wildfires have burned 3,215,435 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 21 fires have burned 973,831 as of Tuesday.
• In Arizona, 6 fires have burned 68,590 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 1,608 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Georgia, 2 fires have burned 925 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 3,209 acres as of Tuesday.
• In New Mexico, 4 fires have burned 672,421 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 325,115 acres and is 68% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Cerro Bandera Fire has burned  939 acres and is 98% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 341,471 acres and is 72% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Midnight Fire has burned 4,896 acres and is 95% contained as of Tuesday.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 800 acres as of Tuesday.
• In South Dakota, 1 fire has burned 3,000 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 2,608 acres as of Tuesday.
• In New Jersey, the Mullica River Fire has burned 12,000 acres, making it the state’s largest fire since 2007.
  • The fire has been projected to reach 15,000 acres.
  • The fire persists in Washington, Shamong, Hammonton, and Mullica townships.
  • The state of New Jersey issued an air quality alert for areas in southeastern New Jersey on Monday.
  • There are still no reported injuries, but 18 structures have been threatened.
  • Batsto Village and its hiking and mountain bike trails are closed to visitors. 
  • The Atsion Recreation Area is also closed.

Extreme Heat

• In the coming week, about 70% of the US population will see temperatures in the 90s, and almost 20% of people in the country will experience temperatures greater than 100 degrees.
  • Many major metro areas, including Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans, and Atlanta, may experience temps near or above 100.
    • On Monday, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and St. Cloud each hit record highs of 101 degrees.
    • A man suffering from heat exhaustion was rescued from the top of a 100-foot rock pile in central Minnesota last weekend.
• This past weekend saw several new daily record high temperatures, including in New Orleans, Louisiana, which clocked a high of 97 degrees, and in Mobile, Alabama, which surpassed its 1913 record of 100 degrees when it inched up to 101 degrees.
• On Monday, more than nine million people were under heat alerts across eight states in the northern and central US, including Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Kansas. 
• Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless. 
  • Just in the county that includes Phoenix, at least 130 homeless people were among the 339 individuals who died from heat-associated causes in 2021.
• In Oregon, officials opened 24-hour cooling centers for the first time.

New Reports And Data

• A June 2022 survey found that a majority of Americans have been affected by extreme weather in recent years, and many suffer long-term financial problems as a result.
• A June 2022 study found that more than 90% of chronic oil slicks come from human sources.