Facts Of The Day 9/7

Extreme Heat

• Almost 1 in 3 people in the United States experienced a weather disaster over the past 3 months.

• More than 200 medical journals declared climate change as the greatest threat to public health in an editorial.

• Foodservice employees have increasingly quit over the past year and a half, citing reasons including inadequate cooling in kitchens as a reason.

• Since 2000, Denver, Colorado has set or tied daily high-temperature records for 19 of 30 days in the month of September.

• Maricopa County, Arizona has seen 113 deaths this year, which is doubled compared to the same time last year.

• A man in New Orleans, Louisiana, became the 5th senior to die from heat exhaustion in a recent heatwave after Hurricane Ida shut down power across the state.

• To maximize water use, some farmers in California have resorted to planting permanent crops such as almonds which produce a higher profit but also require more water.

• Some Arizona farmers have switched from crops such as alfalfa to guayule, which is a potential source of rubber due to the drought.

• A New Mexico rancher has slashed his mother’s herd in half and sent about 200 cows to slaughter earlier this year due to drought conditions.

• A new tool by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will allow the public to monitor red tide levels in the waters of Florida and other Gulf states which could let them plan outdoor activities accordingly.

• Red tide in Florida continues to persist in the waters around Pinellas County, although beachgoers said the conditions have improved since the 4th of July.

• A Florida coalition hopes to keep the state’s farmworkers safer from heat-related illnesses by requiring scheduled breaks, increased heat-stress symptom monitoring, and education and training.

• Frustration has been simmering among Louisiana residents who have continued to go without power after Hurricane Ida in the midst of summer heat.

• As of Monday morning, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources reported 24 swim advisories for state beach parks due to toxic algae from the hot and dry summer.

• On Friday, the Sanilac, Lapeer, Tuscola, Huron, and St. Clair counties in Michigan were granted disaster declarations due to extreme drought conditions, making them eligible for USDA aid.

• The Metro Detroit, Michigan area broke multiple records for heat and rain:

  • This was the 7th wettest summer and the 9th warmest going back to 1874.

  • Flint, Michigan experienced the 3rd wettest summer.

  • Saginaw, Michigan experienced the 8th wettest summer.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, there are currently 81 large active wildfires that have burned 2,851,438 acres across CA, CO, ID, MN, MT, NV, WA, OR, UT, WA, and WY. This year to date, 43,457 wildfires have burned 5,073,241 acres across the country.

• Hotel workers are the unsung pit crew members who stayed behind to feed and refuel the thousands of firefighting personnel who came to fight the Caldor Fire in California.

• Lower-income residents face the possibility of never coming back to Tahoe after losing their homes to the Caldor Fire in California.

• In California, the Caldor Fire burned 215,400 acres and was 44% contained as of Monday.

  • As of Tuesday morning, the Caldor Fire has destroyed 714 residences, 18 commercial buildings and damaged another 74 structures.

  • As Caldor Fire evacuees return home, they face disrupted supply chains at stores, unhealthy air quality, and bears roaming through the area.

• One new fire sparked in Idaho on Monday – the Jakes Gulch burned 325 acres and was 0% contained.

Hurricanes

• At least 57 people have died and at least 4 people are missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida as of Tuesday morning.

• Ida tied the Last Island Hurricane in 1856 and Hurricane Laura in 2020 as the strongest hurricane based on wind speed at 150 MPH at landfall.

  • More than 1 million people in Louisiana alone lost power due to Ida, making it the 2nd largest power outage in the state since 2000.

  • At least 4 people have died and another 141 people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in Louisiana after power outages forced people to rely on generators for electricity after Ida.

  • At least 7 nursing home residents in Louisiana have died after Hurricane Ida forced them to evacuate into an overcrowded warehouse turned into a temporary shelter, which had received more than 840 people.

  • Almost 14,000 people in Lafourche Parish in Louisiana are without homes as Ida destroyed about 75% of the structures there.

  • Southeast Louisiana could see a mass exodus similar to previous movements after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

• At least 11 of the 13 people found dead in New York City as of Saturday were living in basement apartments, most of which had not been legally converted into residential spaces.

  • Delivery workers operating through Ida in New York faced issues such as spending their own money to repair an electric scooter, poor pay, and safety hazards such as floods.

  • Damage in Queens, New York included caved-in walls, damage totaling thousands of dollars, and flooded basements.

  • Staten Island residents say they cannot get remediation companies or contractors to visit their homes, where damage includes flooded basements that have damaged water heaters, refrigerators, and washing machines.

  • Mass transit was set to resume service in New York after service was suspended last Wednesday.

• 25 people have died in the aftermath of Ida in New Jersey, where at least one-third of those deaths were people who had been trapped in their cars.

  • A tornado that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in New Jersey has killed at least 13 cows with another 100 gone missing on one of the state’s largest dairy farms.

  • The South Orange & Maplewood School School District in New Jersey has pushed back the start of the school year to September 13th after suffering significant damage from Ida.

  • Some residents of Manville, New Jersey have lost everything after Ida dropped 10 inches of rain which required multiple water rescues.

• Larry became a Category 3 hurricane over the weekend and is located about 830 miles southeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 120 MPH as of Tuesday morning.

  • Larry is expected to create life-threatening rip currents along the east coasts of the United States and Canada.

  • There are no land warnings or watches as of Tuesday morning.

• A tropical disturbance is expected to pass over Florida later this week but its chances for development remain at 30% as of Tuesday morning.

  • The area of low pressure was located in Bay of Campeche as of Tuesday morning and is expected to reach the northern Gulf of Mexico in the next few days.

  • While the system is forecast to bring rain to Florida, it could develop in the Atlantic as it moves along the coasts of the Carolinas next week.

Climate Studies