Key Facts Of The Day 3/22

Storms and Flooding

• On Tuesday, a strong late-season Pacific storm brought damaging winds and more rain and snow to saturated California.
  • On Tuesday, at least two people were killed, and several others were injured by falling trees in California.
  • As snow covered portions of Interstate 80 in Northern California, flooding prompted the temporary closure of other roadways further south, including several in Santa Cruz County and a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway south of Los Angeles.
  • As of Wednesday, more than 125,000 utility customers in California were without power.
  • On Tuesday evening in Southern California, the Weather Service issued a rare tornado warning for parts of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.
  • An Amtrak commuter train carrying 55 passengers struck a downed tree and derailed near the East Bay village of Porta Costa.
  • A severe windstorm across the ocean blasted Santa Cruz County with wind gusts up to 80 MPH at midday.
• Locally heavy rain and snowmelt may cause flooding Wednesday in southern California and central Arizona.
  • On Tuesday, some residents of north-central Arizona were told to prepare to evacuate because of rising water levels in rivers and basins.

Wildfire

• As of March 17, 8  large active wildfires have burned 5,090 acres across the country.
• As of March 17, 5,972 wildfires have burned 77,759 acres across the country.
• In Florida, 4 fires have burned 4,032 acres as of March 17.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 150 acres as of March 17.

Extreme Heat

• Although recent storms have helped alleviate some drought conditions in the West, experts warn that the region still has not escaped longer-term conditions.
  • California’s infrastructure was designed to rush water from north to south without much concern for recharging underground aquifers; as a result, stormwater runoff largely flows out to sea.
• This winter’s bountiful rainfall in the West has already triggered considerable growth in grasses and scrub that will dry out by summer, leaving a larger, thicker fuel bed for wildfires.
• The basin of the Colorado River, which runs through seven Western states and part of Mexico, received comparatively little rainfall from the atmospheric rivers.
  • Although snowfall in the mountains was substantial, the long-term state of the river remains dire.
• Farmers and ranchers face ongoing drought conditions in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas.
  • Dry conditions have led cattle ranchers to downsize their herds and sell their cattle because they lack grass or hay.
  • Crop farmers are running into similar conditions with hot temperatures and high winds, making it difficult to get crops planted.

New Reports and Data

• A March 2023 study found that people might be more favorable to removing fuel subsidies if told where the money would instead be spent.
• A March 2023 study found that the forest growing season in the eastern U.S. has increased by a month due to temperature warming.
• A March 2023 study found that the removal of prevention programs and climate change have increased the rates of Malaria in Peru.