Key Facts Of The Day 11/4

Hurricanes

• As of Thursday morning, Tropical Storm Wanda is 705 miles west-northwest of the Azores and moving at 9 MPH, with top winds at 50 MPH.

  • Wanda could arrive on Ireland’s shores next Tuesday.

  • Models show Wanda gaining strength over the weekend with its maximum sustained winds up to 60 MPH, but weakening by Monday to 45 MPH and becoming an extratropical storm.

• Since 1980, when NOAA began calculating overall damage costs, the U.S. has seen more than 300 extreme weather events rack up bills of over $1 billion each.

  • In 2020, there were 22 weather and climate disasters totaling a new record at $1 billion.

• The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated Texas’ financial losses from Winter Storm Uri would range from $80 billion to $130 billion.

• Due to extreme climate events such as floods, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and hurricanes, at least a half-dozen tribal communities formally decided to relocate to higher ground.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, there are currently 6 large active wildfires that have burned 336,400 acres across CA,  MT, OR, and WA.

• Southern California Edison raised its estimated losses from 2017 and 2018 wildfires to $7.5 billion.

• Durango and Montrose interagency wildfire dispatch centers could close down in Colorado.

• Texas A&M Forest Service encourages residents to help prevent wildfires during hunting season.

• People who are disabled are among those most adversely affected in emergencies caused by climate change.

• In California, 3 fires have burned 202,805 acres as of Friday.

  • The Alisal Fire burned 17,281 acres and was 99% contained as of Friday.

  • The KNP Complex Fire burned 88,307 acres and was 73% contained as of Friday.

• In Montana, 1 fire has burned a total of 1,379 acres as of Friday.

• In Oregon, 1 fire has burned a total of 24,894 acres as of Friday.

• In Washington, 1 fire has burned a total of 107,322 acres as of Friday.

Extreme Heat

• Klamath River tribes and conservationists have asked the State Water Resources Control Board to establish permanent instream flow requirements for the Scott and Shasta rivers, in an attempt to save threatened salmon.

• As the drought persists and crops diminish, a Pinal County, Arizona five-generation family farm faces the possibility of having to sell their farm.

• As the Colorado River continues to be depleted, Native American tribes seek water-management roles.

• The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decided against flooding the Grand Canyon amid drought.

• Red tide conditions continue to improve across Tampa Bay area beaches, but are still present in Hillsborough and Sarasota counties.

• California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) offered new proposals to reduce outages during extreme heat events.

  • The Demand Response Program for Residential Customers would pay residential customers $2 per kilowatt-hour for reductions in energy use at critical times.

  • The new Smart Thermostat Incentive Program would provide $22.5 million in total incentives to install smart thermostats that assist customers in reducing air conditioning usage a few degrees during critical times.

  • CPUC is also proposing 4 new energy storage microgrid projects for San Diego Gas & Electric to provide a total of 160 megawatt-hours of capacity to fill electricity shortfalls.

New Reports And Data

• A November 2021 study found that women exposed to smoke from landscape fires during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with low or very low birth weights.

• A November 2021 study found three ways to reduce the carbon footprint of food purchased by US households.

• A November 2021 study found a way to develop a color changing indicator to predict algal blooms.