Key Facts Of The Day 08/31

Hurricanes

• Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency in Jackson, with 180,000 people in the area facing low or no water pressure, and water unsafe for drinking.
  • The city and state have already begun distributing bottled water to residents, but the crisis could also disrupt other essential services.
  • The city cannot produce enough water to fight fires, flush toilets, and meet other critical needs.
  • Heavy rains and flooding from the Pearl River have caused serious complications with one of two treatment plants that provide water for Jackson.
    • With the plant not functioning as normal, raw reservoir water is being pushed into pipes that feed Jackson’s water supply.
  • The Pearl River floods are also impacting communities beyond Jackson, including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which issued a boil water advisory on Monday.
  • The city of Jackson has been dealing with a substandard water system for years.
    • Local advocates say that the city’s water problems are rooted in a history of racism and neglect.
• At least four people, including two children, were killed in severe storms Monday as strong winds left behind damage from Texas to Michigan.
  • The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center received more than 330 reports of severe winds from Monday’s storms.
  • Severe gusts of up to 81 MPH ripped trees out of the ground and downed power lines in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois, knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of people.
    • In Michigan alone, there were more than 600,000 outages Monday night.
• After a quiet August, hurricane forecasters are monitoring a potential storm.
  • As of Tuesday, there was an area of cloudiness and thunderstorms about 875 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea.
  • The area of low pressure was expected to develop over the next several days and become a tropical depression later this week.
  • Forecasters said the disturbance had a 50% chance of becoming a tropical system within the next two days and an 80% chance within the next five days.

Wildfires

• As of Wednesday, there are currently 41 large active wildfires that have burned 289,515 across AZ, CA, ID, MT, OR, UT, and WA. As of Wednesday, 48,211 wildfires have burned 6,137,232 acres across the country.
• In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 1,362 acres as of Wednesday.
• In California, 5 fires have burned 105,185 acres as of Wednesday.
  • The McKinney Fire has burned 60,138 acres and is 99% contained as of Wednesday.
• In Idaho, 14 fires have burned 128,041 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Montana, 9 fires have burned 13,606 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Oregon, 8 fires have burned 26,142 acres as of Wednesday.
  • The Rum Creek Fire has burned 12,916 acres and is 1% contained as of Wednesday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 11,702 acres as of Wednesday.
• In Washington, 3 fires have burned 3,477 acres as of Wednesday.

Extreme Heat

• California is facing a prolonged late-summer heat wave this week, with widespread triple-digit temperatures.
  • Excessive heat watches will go into effect today and will remain in effect through Sunday evening in a large swath of Southern California, including much of the normally temperate coastline.
  • Temperatures were predicted to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit in many valley and mountain locations.
  • Temperatures in the Sacramento Valley could range as high as 112 degrees on Sunday and Monday.
• This summer, rainfall has been relatively absent from many parts of the Northeast.
  • For the first time in seven years, all of Massachusetts is currently experiencing some level of drought.
  • All of New York City is also experiencing drought conditions, with some areas considered to be in severe drought, as rainfall totals remain well below typical levels for the summer months.
  • Weeks of dryness can have long-lasting impacts on crops, even after a heavy summer rain. The ground can become so parched that it soaks up all the rain right away, making it harder for plants to absorb enough water.

New Reports and Data

• An August 2022 study found that housing a growing population in homes made of wood instead of conventional steel and concrete could avoid more than 100 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2100.
• An August 2022 study found that over the past 20 years Arctic lakes have been drying up.