Key Facts Of The Day 08/17

Hurricanes

• More thunderstorms are forecast this week for West Virginia, including areas that flooded on Monday after up to 5 inches of rain fell in some areas.
  • West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency in Fayette and Kanawha counties hit by flooding from heavy rains. 
  • Some people had to be rescued by water as the flooding damaged more than 100 homes, bridges, and roads.
  • Drinking water systems also were disrupted, and more than 2,000 customers lost electricity.
  • Several feet of mud made roads impassable in the Smithers area along the Fayette-Kanawha county line.
• The National Park Service in Death Valley will receive $11.7 million in emergency relief from the Transporation Department to reopen its roads after massive rains damaged the park on August 5. 
  • In addition to damaged roadways, NPS said more than 600 feet of a water main that serves park residences and maintenance facilities suffered catastrophic damage.
  • Officials at Death Valley said most park roads remain closed due to the extensive damage, along with the park’s most visited areas: Furnace Creek Visitor Center, Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, Dante’s View, and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.
• Since October, more than 425,000 people have discontinued their coverage from FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program after FEMA began to raise rates on millions of properties to reflect flood risk more accurately. 
• A new study found that Atlantic hurricanes are actually forming earlier over time as the ocean warms.
  • The average storm formation period has shifted by about five days per decade, on average, since 1979. 
  • The date of the first storm to make U.S. landfall has shifted by about two days per decade since 1900.

Wildfires

• As of Tuesday, there are currently 57 large active wildfires that have burned 1,434,578 across AK, AZ, CA, FL, HI, ID, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, OR, TX, UT, and WA. As of Tuesday, 42,349 wildfires have burned 5,917,086 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 12 fires have burned 800,788 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Arizona, 2 fires have burned 1,833 acres as of Tuesday.
• In California, 6 fires have burned 109,713 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The McKinney Fire has burned 60,392 acres and is 95% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Oak Fire has burned 19,244 acres and is 98% contained as of Tuesday.
• In Florida, 1 fire has burned 1,400 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Hawaii, 1 fire has burned 25,000 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Idaho, 10 fires have burned 92,002 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Montana, 11 fires have burned 31,701 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 1,966 acres as of Tuesday.
• In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 341,735 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has burned 341,735 acres and is 98% contained as of Tuesday.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 1,226 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Oregon, 4 fires have burned 6,258 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Texas, 1 fire has burned 700 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 11,702 acres as of Tuesday.
• In Washington, 2 fires have burned 796 acres as of Tuesday.

Extreme Heat

• Hot weather is expected again Wednesday and Thursday in western Oregon and Washington state. 
  • Multnomah County, which includes Portland, will offer people places to stay cool Wednesday as temperatures potentially reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • The National Weather Service says overnight lows are expected to stay near 70 degrees, offering little relief.
  • A heat advisory has also been issued for the Puget Sound region in Washington state from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday at midnight, with temperatures expected to be in the 90s.
  • An excessive heat warning will also be in effect for areas along the Cascade foothills from the Washington border with Canada south to Lewis County in southwest Washington, where temperatures could reach 100 degrees. 
• For the second year in a row, Arizona and Nevada will face cuts in the water they can draw from the Colorado River as the West endures more drought.
  • Arizona will lose an additional 80,000 acre-feet of water — 21% less than its total share but only 3% less than what it’s receiving this year.
    • An average household uses one-half to one acre-foot of water a year.
    • State officials said this year’s cuts would extend to tribes and growing cities that rely on the Colorado River, including Scottsdale.
  • Nevada also will lose about 8% of its water supply, but most residents will not feel the effects because the state recycles most of its water indoors and doesn’t use its full allocation.
  • Because the states failed to meet a federal deadline to figure out how to cut their water use by at least 15%, they could see even deeper cuts that the government has said are needed to prevent reservoirs from falling so low they cannot be pumped.
  • The water level at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest man-made reservoir, has plummeted so low that it’s currently less than a quarter full and inching dangerously close to a point where not enough water would flow to produce hydroelectric power at the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border.

New Reports And Data

• An August 2022 study found that Atlantic hurricanes are actually forming earlier over time as the ocean warms.
• An August 2022 study found that residents of some of the highest-risk U.S. counties for heat exposure have the lowest levels of concern about climate change.