Extreme Heat

• An analysis found that climate change was the cause of the extreme heat wave that recently affected the Pacific Northwest.

• Oregon’s death toll from the late June heatwave has reached 107 people with victims aged 37 to 107.

• The Texas power grid has already seen 1,280 unplanned summer outages.

  • 1,100 power outages happened in June and 90 happened in May.

  • Several unplanned outages happened the week of June 14th, with power usage going up to a near record of 69,000 MW.

• Anglers have been told to avoid fishing along a 120-mile stretch of the Colorado River due to the extreme drought.

• Wildfires and extreme heat place disabled people especially at risk in relation to factors such as transportation, mobility, access to electricity and air conditioning.

Wildfires

• There are currently 47 large wildfires active across AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, MT, NM, UT and WA. Nationally, 515,449 acres have burned so far this year.

• Wildfires are an increasing risk in areas where the danger had been previously minimal.

• Smoke from the Pacific Northwest wildfires has created a haze over most of Pennsylvania and South Jersey.

• Wildfires cause long-lasting health impacts for firefighters including harder arteries and a decline in fitness after a single fire season.

• Programs that allow grazing animals to rotate through properties and eat grasses and shrubs may reduce wildfire risk.

• California saw 4,599 fires that scorched 114.8 square miles between Jan. 1 and July 4. During the same period last year the state had 3,847 fires that burned 48.6 square miles.

• Excessive heat warnings and excessive heat watches have been issued for most of the Northwestern Nevada and Northwestern California regions.

• In California, the Beckwourth Complex Fire has burned 3,000 acres had  34% containment as of Wednesday morning. Nearby areas remained under evacuation orders on Wednesday.

• In California, the Tennant Fire has burned 10,614 acres and was 71% contained Wednesday night. The Tennant Fire spawned a fire tornado which occur in extreme conditions when ground-level winds come into contact with a fire and whip it into the air.

• In California, the Lava Fire has burned about 25,000 acres and was 72% contained Wednesday afternoon. A helicopter battling the Lava Fire reportedly crashed in Lake Shastina.

• Colorado’s Congressional delegation has proposed multiple pieces of legislation on issues to combat droughts and wildfires including wildfire management and the creation of a Climate Conservation Corps.

• Hot and dry weather conditions are expected in Colorado this week, increasing concerns about wildfire conditions.

• Several fires in North and North-Central Idaho were sparked by lightning strikes.

• Thunderstorms also may have sparked fires in the Nez Perce – Clearwater National Forest.

• In Idaho, the Dixie Fire has burned more than 7,000 acres and had unknown containment as of Wednesday morning. The Dixie and Comstock areas remained under evacuation orders as of Wednesday morning.

• In Idaho, the Pine Creek Fire has burned more than 200 acres and had unknown containment as of Thursday morning. 20 to 30 homes are threatened as of Thursday morning.

• In Montana, Lolo National Forest saw over 800 lightning strikes on Wednesday which resulted in multiple fires.

• Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued the Emergency Conflagration Act to bring additional help for wildfires on Tuesday.

• In Oregon, the Jack Fire has burned 2,395 acres and had unknown containment as of Wednesday evening. Areas east of Roseburg were evacuated on Tuesday.

Hurricanes

• Tropical Storm Elsa made landfall in Taylor County along the North Florida Gulf Coast at around 11am local time on Wednesday with an estimated maximum wind speed of 65 MPH.

  • Elsa killed at least one person in Florida and injured at least 10 in Georgia by a possible tornado that touched down at a Navy base campground.

  • As Elsa moved ashore, winds registering at 72 MPH were recorded at Horseshoe Beach.

  • Elsa was located about 150 miles southwest of Raleigh, North Carolina as of Thursday morning.

  • Myrtle Beach, South Carolina saw winds of 41 MPH and a gust of 54 MPH Thursday morning.

  • Areas from South Carolina to Massachusetts are under tropical storm warnings and tropical conditions of winds 39+ MPH will spread along much of the East Coast through Friday.

  • Elsa is projected to track through the Southeast from South Carolina to southeast Virginia through Thursday night, and then move through the Northeast on Friday.

  • On Wednesday, a brief EF0 tornado downed a tree onto a home in Columbia, Florida. Later in the afternoon, a tornado tore through the southside of Jacksonville, downing trees and power lines.

  • 45,000 homes and businesses were without power in South Carolina and Georgia early Thursday.

  • Elsa has placed more than 30 million people under a tropical storm warning as of Thursday morning.

  • New York City issued a flash flood warning starting at midnight Thursday and lasting until noon Friday due to Elsa.

  • The coastal parts of Massachusetts, as well as parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, have a tropical storm warning in effect through Friday evening due to heavy rains from Elsa.