Climate Impact Report – 10/2

October 2, 2023

Key Facts Of The Day 10/2

On Friday, heavy rain caused severe flooding across New York, leading Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency as rising waters disrupted travel and stranded people in cars and homes.
- Throughout the day, cascading waterfalls shut down subway lines across much of the city.
- By the end of the day, the overall attendance rate at public schools fell to roughly 77%.
- Many flights were canceled or delayed at Kennedy and La Guardia.

As of last Thursday, 38 large active wildfires have burned 395,936 acres across 9 states: AZ, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, OR, UT, and WA. This year to date, 43,884 wildfires have burned 2,386,791 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 8,982 acres as of Thursday.
In California, 6 fires have burned 169,173 acres as of Thursday.
In Colorado, 2 fires have burned 3,943 as of Thursday.
In Louisiana, 2 fires have burned 38,414 acres as of Thursday.
In Oregon, 12 fires have burned 126,823 acres as of Thursday.
In Washington, 9 fires have burned 22,462 acres as of Thursday.

As midwestern cities swelter under extreme heat, urban shade trees fall by the millions as a tiny beetle devours them.
- In Minneapolis, Minnesota, more than 48% of the city’s population lives on heat islands where asphalt and buildings raise temperatures by as much as 8 degrees Fahrenheit.
Minnesota’s Twin Cities Marathon was canceled because of extreme heat.
- The current temperature forecasted in the Twin Cities is 91 degrees, becoming the hottest October temperature on record, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Phoenix, Arizona, had the driest monsoon season since the weather service began record-keeping in 1895.
- This year’s monsoon season in the arid Southwest dropped only 0.15 inches of rainfall from June 15 to September 30.
A lingering drought affecting more than 80% of Texas is causing wildfires, hurting agriculture, and drying up water supplies throughout the state.
- The lack of rainfall has caused many public water systems across the state to issue varying levels of water restrictions or ask the public to conserve water.
- Lake Travis near Austin was 36% full on Thursday, down from 49% at the same time last year.
- In Temple, Stillhouse Hollow Lake was 58.5% full on Thursday, compared to 76% this time last year.
- In North Texas, North Fork Buffalo Creek Reservoir near Wichita Falls was only 29.7% full on Thursday, a huge drop from 49.6% last year.