Key Facts Of The Day 1/26

Storms and Flooding

• As of Thursday morning, a wind advisory will stretch across swaths of Southern California, while parts of the Northwest are under an air stagnation advisory that could impact people with respiratory conditions.
• On Thursday, tens of thousands of people were without power after a storm spawned tornadoes in the South and delivered snow to parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
  • There were more than a dozen reported tornadoes across communities in Texas and Louisiana that damaged many properties.
  • The heaviest snowfall fell across parts of northwestern Arkansas, southern Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma.
• On Tuesday, a tornado tore through communities southeast of Houston as an intensifying storm whipped across the Gulf Coast and began sweeping northeast across the United States.
  • The tornado in Houston destroyed a senior assisted living center near the city.
  • As the storm moved into Louisiana from Texas on Tuesday, three people were hospitalized with mild to moderate injuries after storms damaged mobile homes in an area northwest of Baton Rouge.

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

• A Maricopa County judge in Arizona denied residents emergency relief over their Scottsdale water source that has been cut off since Jan. 1 because of drought conditions.
  • The cutoff only affected those getting water delivered by tankers, not households that rely on wells.
• Despite the increased snowpack in the Western Rockies from recent winter storms, climate change brings the threat of warmer weather and earlier springs, which could derail the benefits of more snowpack.
  • Warmer weather earlier means less snow could fall in the winter months, and snowpack could melt and evaporate faster.

New Reports and Data

• A January 2023 study found that the water-filtering abilities of farmed kelp could help reduce marine pollution in coastal areas.
• A January 2023 study found that urbanization and climate change are changing the strength and seasonality of flooding in the Las Vegas region.