Key Facts Of The Day 6/22

Hurricanes

• Threat of flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall in New Mexico will continue into the weekend as monsoon season kicks off.
  • The Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center has highlighted most of New Mexico within a level 2 out of 4 risk zone for excessive rainfall and flash flooding.
  • Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible across Hermits Peak, Calf Canyon, Cooks Peak, Cerro Pelado, Black, and Bear Trap burn scars.
  • Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations within and downstream of recent burn scars.
• An overnight summer storm amid an ongoing heat wave brought rain, thunder, and lightning to Southern California.
  • A chance of thunderstorms will continue through the day Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
  • The lack of moisture also brings an increased chance of dry lightning strikes, which could result in brush fires.
• A surge of warm, humid air will fuel powerful thunderstorms into Wednesday night, putting more than 35 million people at risk of severe weather in the Ohio Valley and part of the mid-Atlantic.

Wildfires

• As of Wednesday, there are currently 45 large active wildfires that have burned 1,805,559 across AK, AZ, CO, FL, GA, NV, NM, NC, SD, and UT. As of Wednesday, 31,442 wildfires have burned 3,245,270 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 29 fires have burned 1,056,817 as of Wednesday.
  • The Apoon Pass Fire has burned 63,056 acres and is 0% contained as of Wednesday.
    • The Apoon Pass Fire ranks as the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s second-largest tundra fire on record.
  • The East Fork Fire has burned 166,587 acres and is 67% contained as of Wednesday.
    • The East Fork Fire near the Yup’ik village of St. Mary’s, sparked by lightning on May 31, is among the biggest tundra fires on record in Alaska.
  • Alaska wildfires have already burned 1 million acres, crossing that threshold earlier in the summer than in any summer in recent decades.
  • The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is now burning in larger areas and more frequently.  
  • This year’s fires are the product of a combination of long-term climate change and short-term ignition forces.
• In Arizona, 6 fires have burned 64,465 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 1,654 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Florida, 1 fire has burned 415 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Georgia, 1 fire has burned 880 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 3,209 acres as of Wednesday.
• In New Mexico, 3 fires have burned 671,495 acres as of Wednesday.
  • The Black Fire has burned 325,128 acres and is 68% contained as of Wednesday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 341,471 acres and is 72% contained as of Wednesday.
    • In a new report, the U.S. Forest Service says it relied on poor weather data and failed to understand how climate change had dried out the landscape in the New Mexico blaze.
      • Persistent drought, limited overwinter precipitation, less than average snowpack, and fuel accumulation all contributed to increasing the risk of fire escape.
      • The report also found that numerous details about weather conditions were “overlooked or misrepresented,” and noted some automated weather stations nearby weren’t functioning.
      • Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director with Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, said authorities “can no longer manage fire according to the calendar date” and should incorporate climate data more thoroughly into their models.
  • The Midnight Fire has burned 4,896 acres and is 98% contained as of Wednesday.
  • Anger and frustration have been simmering among residents and elected officials in northern New Mexico, where hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of residents were displaced.
  • Spots considered sacred by the ranching and farming families who have called the region home for generations have been wiped out.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 615 acres as of Wednesday.
• In South Dakota, 1 fire has burned 3,000 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 3,009 acres as of Wednesday.
• In New Jersey, the Mullica River Fire has burned 13,500 acres and is 95% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The blaze became the largest New Jersey wildfire since 2007.
  • No injuries were reported, but the blaze threatened at least 18 structures in the Wharton State Forest area, including the Batsto Village historic site.
  • Officials ruled out natural causes, and New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said the fire could have been avoided.
• The number of acres burned so far this year is more than two and half times the national average for the past 10 years.

Extreme Heat

• A survey by NPR, Harvard University, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that Americans connect extreme heat and climate change to their health and long-term financial problems.
  • In California, 71% of those surveyed reported that heat was the top climate impact.
    • California lawmakers are considering legislation that would make indoor cooling a housing right, which would particularly help renters.
    • A resident of Bakersfield, Minerva Contreras’s summer electricity bill runs between $600 and $800 a month; after the landlord spent $3,000 to fix the air conditioning, he raised the rent to $1,300.
  • Nearly one-quarter of those who experienced extreme weather in the past five years said someone in their household had a serious health problem as a result.
  • Overall, 11% of Americans personally affected by heat say their households have faced serious health problems resulting from a lack of air conditioning in their homes.
    • Even greater shares of Native American, Latino, Black, and Asian adults agreed with that sentiment.
• As climate change makes heat waves increasingly more likely across the nation, libraries have begun playing a key role in ensuring readers and residents can stay cool and safe.
  • The Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System allows residents to borrow box fans.
  • One library branch in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is opening on Sundays for the first time ever this summer.
  • During one heat wave in May, the D.C. Public Library tweeted a reminder to city residents that the library was also open for those who wanted to cool down and take a mental break from the heat.
  • Other libraries do serve as official cooling centers when their municipalities direct them to. 
• 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.
  • Many deaths are never confirmed as heat-related and aren’t always noticed because of the stigma of homelessness and lack of connection to family.
  • This summer will likely bring above-normal temperatures over most land areas worldwide.
  • In Las Vegas, teams deliver bottled water to homeless people living in encampments around the county and inside a network of underground storm drains under the Las Vegas strip.
  • Homeless people are about 200 times more likely than sheltered individuals to die from heat-associated causes.
  • In Phoenix, officials and advocates hope a vacant building recently converted into a 200-bed shelter for homeless people will help save lives this summer.
• On Tuesday, temperatures soared into the 80s and 90s degrees in the eastern Great Lakes and interior Northeast, which was record territory for some cities across the region. 
  • Cleveland, Ohio tied a daily record high of 95 degrees, originally set in 1945. 
  • Bradford, Pennsylvania set a new record of 89 degrees, topping the old daily record set in 1991 by 1 degree.

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 health problems and long-term financial problems as a result.
• A June 2022 analysis found that racial and ethnic minority groups are at the highest risk from various natural hazards.