Climate Impact Report – 9/27

Quick Facts

Conditions over the central Atlantic have caused Tropical Storm Philippe’s track to shift much farther to the west, and the system will bring some impacts to the islands of the northern Caribbean by this weekend.
The wettest day of the year is possible for Seattle as storms continue to hit the coastal Northwest with significant rain and wind.
Tropical Storm Hilary destroyed Camp River Glen in the San Bernardino Mountains.

As of Wednesday, 38 large active wildfires have burned 388,787 acres across 10 states: AZ, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, NV, OR, UT, and WA. This year to date, 43,831 wildfires have burned 2,386,207 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 3 fires have burned 10,382 acres as of Wednesday.
In California, 5 fires have burned 164,331 acres as of Wednesday.
In Colorado, 2 fires have burned 3,943 as of Wednesday.
In Louisiana, 2 fires have burned 38,414 acres as of Wednesday.
In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 469 acres as of Wednesday.
In Oregon, 12 fires have burned 127,162 acres as of Wednesday.
In Washington, 7 fires have burned 17,953 acres as of Wednesday.
On Monday, the first of thousands of residents who lost their homes in the wildfire that destroyed the Hawaii town of Lahaina returned to their devastated properties.
- The wildfire killed at least 97 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, most of them homes.

Twin Cities Marathon runners are warned about extreme heat and humidity for Sunday’s race.
A migrant worker died at a North Carolina farm on a day when temperatures approached 100 degrees.
63% of summer days in Austin this year had extreme heat made three times more likely by climate change.
- EMS officials reported 778 cases of heat-related illnesses in Austin between June 1 and August 31, up from 648 in 2022 and 305 in 2021.
- This year marked Austin’s second-warmest summer on record.

A September 2023 study found that a naming-and-shaming mechanism can be an effective incentive for many countries to uphold their pledges to reduce emissions.
A September 2023 study found that the western edge of Chicago experiences up to 32% higher concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution compared to the rest of the city.