Key Facts Of The Day 5/3

Storms and Flooding

• Since Sunday night, up to two feet of snow fell in the hills of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in what has become a historic May snowstorm for the area.
  • The Weather Service office for Marquette demolished the daily record of 5.4 inches of snowfall after it recorded 19.8 inches on Monday alone.
    • It also became the snowiest day in Marquette in May and so late in the year, as well as the 11th snowiest day on record overall.
    • The heavy snow led to numerous power outages and dangerous travel in the hardest-hit spots.
• The high country of West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania have also witnessed rare May snow accumulation.
  • Tallies as high as half a foot or more of snow have been reported.
• One of the nation’s busiest passenger rail lines is shut down indefinitely in Southern California after a rain-soaked cliff dumped debris on its tracks.
  • Tracks in north San Diego County have also been closed because of coastal erosion.
    • The situation has prompted the San Diego Association of Governments to push for the track to be moved to safer ground within a decade rather than an earlier plan to move it by 2050.

Wildfire

• As of April 28, 13  large active wildfires have burned 45,376 acres across CO, FL, KS, NJ, NM, NC, OK, and WV.
• As of April 28, 12,972 wildfires have burned 392,287 acres across the country.
• In Colorado, 1 fire has burned 4,618 acres as of April 28.
• In Florida, 2 fires have burned 1,353 acres as of April 28.
• In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 989 acres as of April 28.
• In North Carolina, 1 fire has burned 32,400 acres as of April 28.
• In Oklahoma, 5 fires have burned 2,384 acres as of April 28.

Extreme Heat

• Forecasters from the World Meteorological Organization report increased chances that the global climate pattern known as El Niño will arrive by the end of summer.
  • El Niño will bring increased chances for hotter-than-normal temperatures in 2024.
  • There is about a 60% chance that El Niño will form between May and July and an 80% chance it will form between July and September.
• An exceptionally wet and cool winter and spring so far has led to improved conditions in nearly every part of Oregon, but drought still persists.
  • Parts of eastern Oregon can still expect to face water supply problems this summer.
  • It will likely take several years with favorable weather to truly end the drought.
• Citrus County, Florida, is going through its driest year on record since 2017, and farmers say ongoing drought conditions have been troublesome for their operations.
• Thirteen Nebraska counties have been declared natural disaster areas due to ongoing drought.

New Reports and Data

• An April 2023 study found that forests with a wide range of tree species sequester more climate-warming carbon.
• An April 2023 study found that early-nesting ducks are at increased risk due to changes in climate.