Key Facts Of The Day 09/06

Hurricanes

• As of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Danielle was located 835 miles west-northwest of the Azores and moving northeast at eight MPH.
• As of Tuesday morning, Tropical Storm Earl was located 345 miles north of St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and moving north at seven MPH.
  • Tropical Storm Earl’s winds increased to 65 MPH and forecasters said the storm could become a hurricane by Wednesday.
• As of Tuesday morning, over 50 million people are under flood watch in the Northeast.
• On Sunday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency in two counties after a string of heavy thunderstorms flooded roadways, knocked down trees and submerged homes.
  • The counties, Chattooga and Floyd received an estimated 12 inches of rain.
    • Schools in Chattooga County will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because the flash flooding left hundreds without drinking water. 
  • Homes and cars were flooded in the Summerville area. Because of flash flooding at the Raccoon Creek Filter plant, the city of Summerville urged residents to boil all water before drinking.
  • Images of the storm damage showed flooded playgrounds, washed-out, and several communities partially submerged.
• The National Weather Service records August 5, 2022, as the rainiest day in Death Valley’s history.
  • Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds pointed to climate change as a cause for the 1,000-year flash flood in the nation’s driest and hottest place.

Wildfires

• As of Thursday, there are currently 46 large active wildfires that have burned 302,460 across AZ, CA, ID, MT, OR, UT, and WA. As of Thursday, 48,331 wildfires have burned 6,153,171 acres across the country.
• In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 1,362 acres as of Thursday.
• In California, 8 fires have burned 23, 773 acres as of Tuesday.
  • The Mountain Fire has burned 11,690 acres and is 20% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Route Fire has burned 5,208 acres and is 98% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Mill Fire has burned 4,263 acres and is 55% contained as of Tuesday.
  • The Fairview Fire has burned 2,400 acres and is 5% contained as of Tuesday.
    • The Fairview fire killed two people and injured another.
    • Thousands of homes remained under evacuation orders Tuesday.
    • The fire destroyed at least seven structures and damaged several others. 
    • The Hemet Unified School District said schools will be closed Tuesday because of the fire.
• In Idaho, 14 fires have burned 129,306 acres as of Thursday.
• In Montana, 10 fires have burned 14,129 acres as of Thursday.
• In Oregon, 9 fires have burned 30,363 acres as of Thursday.
  • The Rum Creek Fire has burned 14,940 acres and is 1% contained as of Thursday.
• In Utah, 1 fire has burned 11,702 acres as of Thursday.
• In Washington, 3 fires have burned 4,748 acres as of Thursday.

Extreme Heat

• A vast dome of high pressure has settled over California, inflicting sweltering and record-setting temperatures across much of the state and threatening to strain the state’s power grid.
  • Gilroy hit 112 degrees, breaking a daily record of 106, set just two years ago. 
  • Temperatures in Livermore hit 116, topping a daily record of 108 degrees from 1950.
  • Pasadena reached 103 degrees over the weekend, breaking a daily record set in 1938. 
  • Burbank hit 110 degrees.
  • On Monday, Sacramento Executive Airport reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the September record of 109 degrees set in 2020.
  • Stockton hit 112 degrees, topping the September record of 111 degrees set in 2020. 
  • Vacaville hit 115 degrees, 3 degrees hotter than the monthly record set in 2020.
  • On Sunday, Death Valley hit 124 degrees, breaking the daily record by 2 degrees.
• California is sweltering in a record-breaking September heat wave, sending electricity demand soaring and triggering repeated calls for residents to cut back on their power usage to prevent rolling blackouts.
  • Last Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency to increase energy production and relaxed rules aimed at curbing air pollution and global warming gases.
  • The California Independent System Operator (ISO) issued a stage one warning statewide that electricity supplies were nearing danger territory.
    • Northern California entered stage two, where the grid manager seeks power from all sources and amps up calls for consumer conservation. Stage three can trigger rolling blackouts.
  • The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom also urged residents to decrease their power usage during “unprecedented temperatures.”
• As temperatures rise, some students are sent home because schools are unprepared for days of extreme heat.
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends a temperature range between 68 and 76 degrees for indoor office workplaces; however, classroom temperatures have risen above 80 degrees during the beginning and end of a school year in recent years.
  • Columbus, Ohio teachers went on strike this past week, citing cooling systems in need of repair.
  • In Clayton County, Georgia, elementary and middle schools are without proper cooling, and hundreds of HVAC repairs need to be made to prevent, in some cases, hot air blowing out of vents and making classrooms inhospitable to students.
  • The Baltimore City Public School system dismissed students at two dozen schools without air conditioning last week as the city braces for a heatwave.
  • A 2020 study found that for every 1-degree Fahrenheit temperature increase, student learning drops by 1 percent.

New Reports and Data

• A September 2022 study found that a large number of old toys and dress-up items made of plastic contained toxins that can disrupt growth and development and reproductive capacities in children. 
• An August 2022 study found that oyster reef habitats disappear as Florida becomes more tropical.