Key Facts Of The Day 1/31

Storms and Flooding

• More than 40 million people from Texas and Oklahoma to Kentucky and West Virginia are under various forms of winter weather alerts today.
  • A winter storm bringing the triple threat of ice, sleet, and snow to parts of the South and central U.S. has prompted officials to close roads and schools.
  • Heavy icing is expected across portions of Texas through the Tennessee River Valley.
    • Significant icing of about half an inch is expected on roads in Austin, San Angelo, and Dallas.
    • In Dyer County, Tennessee, icy conditions led officials to shut down the Interstate 155 bridge.
  • Dallas Police have reported about 370 accident-related calls so far, but there are likely a lot more.
  • One person has already been confirmed dead in a 10-car pile-up in Austin, Texas.
  • Several school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Austin were closed Tuesday.
  • On Tuesday, nearly 1,000 flights in the U.S. were canceled as an ice storm swept over parts of the South.

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.
• California’s recent flooding could set the stage for a dangerous wildfire season.
  • Moisture from atmospheric river storms leads to vegetation growth across California, then all that growth dries out and becomes additional fuel for wildfires.

Extreme Heat

• In Phoenix, Arizona, there are vast disparities in how heat affects residents.
  • While some residents can afford to run their AC constantly, many low-income residents struggle to pay high utility bills and suffer in the heat.
• The Earth will surpass the internationally agreed-upon climate change threshold of 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) between 2033 and 2035.
• On Tuesday, western states could pass a second deadline to agree to massive cuts to their reliance on the Colorado River, despite warnings that the Biden administration could slash water deliveries to Arizona, California, and Nevada without a state-led plan in place.
• 2022 was the Earth’s second-costliest year on record for drought.

New Reports and Data

• A January 2023 study found that reducing the amount of steel that needs to be replaced due to corrosion could have measurable effects on how much greenhouse gases are produced to make steel.
• A January 2023 study found that seasonal temperature, plant moisture loss, and wind speed primarily drive fires that sweep across the same landscape multiple times.