Key Facts Of The Day 1/30

Storms and Flooding

• As of Monday morning, more than 50 million Americans were under winter weather watches and advisories, as a prolonged and potentially significant icing event affects at least 15 states.
  • Total freezing rain amounts could become significant across central Texas, southwest Oklahoma, and central Arkansas.
  • A three-day ice accumulation could exceed a half inch over parts of central Texas and Arkansas, and parts of Tennessee could see more than a quarter inch of ice.
  • The weather service warned that scattered tree damage and power outages are possible in addition to the potentially hazardous travel conditions.
  • Texas oil and gas producers were told to secure their equipment and facilities ahead of the potentially treacherous winter weather, since it’s known to be vulnerable to low temperatures by freezing natural gas lines, causing valves to seize up, and disrupting power supplies.
• As of Monday, a cold winter storm continued to bring rain and snow to Southern California, with weather experts and local officials advising commuters to remain vigilant of dangerous driving conditions.

Wildfire

• As of January 27, there are currently 0  large active wildfires that have burned 0 acres across the country.
• As of January 27, 1,392 wildfires have burned 11,005 acres across the country.

Extreme Heat

• Hydrologists and state officials said that when allocating water, Nevada, Arizona, and California need to take into account the more than 10% of the water that evaporates, leaks, or spills from the Colorado River.
  • The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimated that roughly 1.5 million acre-feet of water are lost to evaporation, transportation, and inefficiencies each year in Arizona, Nevada, and California. That’s 50% more than Utah uses in a whole year.
• Global warming caused the largest glacier between the high peaks of Mount Rainier and Glacier Peak, Hinman Glacier, to disappear.
  • Before global warming caused the glacier to disappear, the Hinman Glacier was one of four named glaciers that provided cool water to the Skykomish River in the hottest, driest time of the year.
• Global warming is rapidly changing the Arctic ecosystem and causing the polar nights to get darker by delaying and reducing snowfall and increasing rain.

New Reports and Data

• A January 2023 study found that people exposed to the deadly Camp Fire in 2018 displayed altered cognitive function months later, a growing phenomenon known as ‘climate trauma.’
• A January 2023 study found that the United Kingdom severely underestimates its greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas production, and many other countries probably do as well.
• A January 2023 study found that at high elevations of the Greenland Ice Sheet, the years 2001 to 2011 were 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than in the 20th century and represent the warmest decade in the last thousand years.