Key Facts Of The Day 1/18

Storms and Flooding

• More than 15 million Americans — from Colorado to Michigan — are under winter weather alerts.
• Across the South, a tornado watch is in effect from eastern Texas into Arkansas through Wednesday afternoon.
• Midway through January, the National Weather Service has already received 124 preliminary reports of tornadoes.
  • Human-caused climate change and the expanding presence of warm, moist air over the southern and central United States during the dead of winter are probably helping to fuel these violent storms.
  • On Monday, Iowa, which hasn’t seen a January tornado since 1967, was hit by two tornadoes.
• Nine atmospheric river storms have dumped rain and snow on California since late December, cutting power to thousands, swamping roads, toppling trees, unleashing debris flows, and triggering landslides.
  • At least 20 storm-related deaths have occurred, and a 5-year-old boy remained missing after being swept out of his mother’s car by floodwaters in San Luis Obispo County.
  • On Monday, the University of California, Berkeley, Central Sierra Snow Lab tweeted that it had recorded 49.6 inches of new snow since Friday.
  • In San Francisco, 20.3 inches of rain has fallen at the city’s airport since Oct. 1.
  • On Monday, Gov. Newsom signed an executive order to bolster the state’s emergency storm response and help communities that suffered damage.
  • President Joe Biden will travel to California’s central coast on Thursday to visit areas affected by the extreme weather.
• More than 2 feet of snow fell over two days across parts of northern Arizona, becoming the 25th largest snow event in Flagstaff history and breaking the record for single-day snow accumulation on Sunday.
  • The Flagstaff Airport measured 14.8 inches on Sunday, smashing the previous record of 8.9 inches that was held for 45 years.
  • As the snow continued to fall, accumulation eventually reached 30 inches at the airport by Tuesday morning.
  • Northern Arizona University canceled classes Monday through Wednesday due to the inclement weather, delaying the start of the school’s spring semester.
  • Flagstaff Unified School District also closed schools on Tuesday as snow continued to fall and road conditions remained questionable.
• The Midwestern grid operator’s preliminary report found that more than one-fourth of natural gas generation went offline during Winter Storm Elliott.

Wildfire

• As of January 13, there is currently 1 large active wildfire that has burned 475 acres across FL. As of January 17, 543 wildfires have burned 4,578 acres across the country.

• In Florida, 1 fire has burned 475 acres as of January 13.

Extreme Heat

• Danone aims to cut methane emissions from its fresh milk supply chain by 30% over the next seven years.
• The series of extreme storms that just barreled through California left behind a snowpack that is on pace to rival the state’s largest in recent history. However, California will have to wait and see if there’s significant precipitation between now and the traditional end of the state’s wet season in April.
  • Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, was at 83% of its historical average on Tuesday.
    • The Lake Shasta reservoir is used by the federal Central Valley Project, which did not deliver any water to many farmers during last year’s spring and summer because of shortages.

New Reports and Data

• A January 2023 survey found that a quarter of U.S. adults consider putting off significant life events like having children over concerns about climate change.
• A January 2023 study found that weather anomalies called “precipitation shocks” are associated with an increased risk of pediatric diarrhea in many parts of the world.
• A January 2023 report found that natural disasters displaced more than 3.3 million Americans in 2022.