Facts Of The Day 8/03

Extreme Heat

• The Bureau of Land Management intends to collect as many as 6,000 additional wild horses and burros in addition to the 1,200 already rounded up to prevent widespread thirst and mortality in the animals due to drought.

• Drought has caused reduced weight in animals which is expected to affect Montana’s hunting season.

• On Tuesday, North Dakota officials plan to attend a groundbreaking for the Red River Valley Water Supply Project that is intended to address the ongoing drought. The cost of the project is currently estimated at $1.22 billion and has a goal to be completed by the end of the decade.

• The number of ducks in North Dakota has fallen to its lowest number since 1994.

• Utah has joined Arizona, New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and Nevada in moving out of exceptional drought down to extreme drought after seeing intense thunderstorms over the weekend.

• As of Monday, 99% of Arizona’s land has been in a drought that has lasted years and is accelerating.

  • The state’s $23 billion agricultural industry uses more than 70% of the irrigated water.

  • Due to the drought and water agreements, up to 30% of farmland in Pinal County may not be irrigated in the next few years.

• Pavement covers about 40% of urban space in the United States while absorbing 90% of the solar radiation it receives.

  • Cool pavements, which are about three times more reflective than conventional pavements, could reduce the frequency of heatwaves in urban areas by 41%.

• The Tampa Bay, Florida, Great Bay Scallop has been canceled this year because of the high levels of red tide.

• As of Monday, Pinellas County, Florida workers have cleaned up 1,751 tons or 3.5 million pounds of dead sea life caused by the red tide.

• One Washington farm has lost 98% of its onion crop due to the recent heat waves in June 2021.

  • Without federal aid, the farm expects to grow 2 to 3 acres in 2022, representing 2% of its 2019 acreage.

• Montana’s drought contributed to Monday’s flash flood threats, as mountainsides with burn scars and steep terrain were considered a risk due to the looseness of the soil.

• Kalispell, Montana had the second warmest July on record with an average of 71.5 degrees, which is 6.6 degrees above normal.

• Salem, Oregon had the hottest month ever in July 2021, with an average temperature of 73.3 degrees.

Wildfires

• There are currently 97 large wildfires that have burned 1,868,204 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, MN, MT, NV, SD, UT, WA, and WY.

• 9 new large fires were reported across California, Montana, Oregon, and South Dakota and 4 large fires were reported contained on Monday.

• The US Forest Service has promised to be more aggressive when responding to wildfires after being criticized for being too slow.

• California regulators warned utility companies that power outages to prevent wildfires should only be done as a last resort due to issues such as medically vulnerable people needing electricity to live. One fire was contained – the Hungry IC Fire burned 364 acres.

• Three new fires were sparked in California on Monday – Antelope Fire burned 175 acres and was 0% contained, the McCash Fire burned 500 acres and was 1% contained, River Complex Fire burned 980 acres and was 0% contained.

• According to census data, about 17,000 homes in Colorado have been built in the top 1% of areas at most risk for wildfires.

• Counties in Colorado have sued oil companies for damages, claiming the firms covered up the dangers of the climate crisis, including wildfires.

• Two fires were contained in Idaho on Monday – the Haynes Fire burned 472 acres and the Iron Fire burned 133 acres.

• Two new fires sparked in Montana on Monday – the Eagle Butte Fire burned 2,000 acres and was 40% contained and the Whitetail Creek Fire burned 330 acres and was 0% contained.

• Oregon OSHA announced it would be placing additional protections in place against wildfire smoke hazards to protect workers.

• Two new fires sparked in Oregon on Monday – the Big Hamlin Fire burned 100 acres and was 0% contained and the Skyline Ridge Complex Fire burned 100 acres and was 0% contained.

• Two new fires sparked in South Dakota on Monday – the Calico Fire burned 420 acres and was 25% contained and the Whipple Camp Fire burned 4,000 acres and was 0% contained.

• One new fire was contained in Wyoming on Monday – the Warm Oil Fire burned 394 acres.

Hurricanes

• Tropical Storm Hilda was located nearly 1,000 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.

  • Hilda became a hurricane on Saturday and remained one until early Tuesday when it lost enough wind intensity to be downgraded to a tropical storm.

  • Hilda had maximum sustained winds of 80 MPH as of Monday night and is expected to continue to weaken over the next several days.

  • The remnants of Hilda may bring additional rain to Hawaii early next week.

• Tropical Depression Ignacio was located about 700 miles South of Tropical Storm Hilda, which is nearly 1,000 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California as of Tuesday morning.

  • Ignacio became a tropical storm on Monday morning but weakened back to a tropical depression on Tuesday morning.

  • Ignacio had maximum sustained winds of 40 MPH as of Monday night and is expected to continue to deteriorate into a remnant low by Tuesday night.

• Hundreds of passengers faced delays or cancellations due to storms in the Dallas/Fort Worth region.

  • On Sunday, 80 American Airlines flights were diverted to other airports, 947 delayed and 283 canceled.

  • On Monday, more than 500 American Airlines flights were canceled and another 854 flights were delayed.

  • Southwest Airlines delayed more than 1,100 flights, while another 44 were canceled on Monday.

  • Sprint Airlines canceled 304 flights on Monday, after canceling 165 flights Sunday

Climate Studies