Key Facts Of The Day 3/14

Storms and Flooding

• As of Tuesday morning, a winter storm caused a plane to slide off a taxiway, hundreds of school closings, canceled flights, and thousands of power outages in parts of the Northeast.
  • On Tuesday, more than 400 flights traveling to, from, or within the U.S. were canceled.
• While some residents have yet to recover from last week’s storms, another atmospheric river hit California on Tuesday.
  • As of Tuesday morning, across California, the severe weather caused scattered highway and school closures and transportation delays, and more are expected as conditions worsen.
  • Officials in Santa Barbara County issued evacuation orders for people living near the burn scars of recent wildfires, which can be even more prone to flooding and mudslides than other areas.
  • Wind gusts could reach 55 to 70 MPH or more along the immediate coastline and at elevations above 1,000 feet in the hills.
  • The small farm community of Pajaro remains flooded after a levee broke early Saturday along the Pajaro River between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
  • The storm is predicted to bring another two to five inches of rain along the coast and in valleys, and up to eight inches in the mountains.
  • The Los Angeles region has already received at least twice the average amount of cumulative rainfall for this point in the year.

Wildfire

• As of March 10, 4  large active wildfires have burned 4,178 acres across the country.
• As of March 10, 5,431 wildfires have burned 73,072 acres across the country.
• In Florida, 2 fires have burned 3,362 acres as of March 10.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 316 acres as of March 10.
• Last Friday, managers at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico issued a temporary fishing closure because Rio Grande cutthroat trout and other species reintroduced following the 2011 blaze aren’t recovering as expected.

Extreme Heat

• California officials issued a ban on salmon fishing anywhere along the state’s coast for the remainder of the season as the drought dwindles the salmon population.
• A new study found that climate change has intensified droughts and rainfall over the past 20 years, leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage, and humanitarian crises and conflict.
  • The study noted that infrastructure like airports and sewage treatment plants designed to withstand once-in-a-100-year events are becoming more challenged as these extremes happen more often and with more intensity.
  • Water stress is expected to significantly affect poor, disenfranchised communities and ecosystems that have been underfunded and exploited.

New Reports and Data

• A March 2023 study found that climate change has intensified droughts and rainfall over the past 20 years.
• A March 2023 study found that entire populations of Antarctic seabirds failed to breed due to extreme, climate-change-related snowstorms.
• A March 2023 study found that ozone pollution is linked with increased hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease.