Climate Impact Report – 8/3

August 3, 2023

Key Facts Of The Day 8/3

Daily rounds of thunderstorms will cause many hazards, including life-threatening flash floods across the central U.S.
- In some cases, a few tornadoes may be triggered in the strongest storms.
- On Saturday, a strong storm system will begin to roll eastward over the central Plains.
- During Saturday afternoon and night, the risk of severe thunderstorms will extend farther to the northeast into portions of southern Minnesota and much of Iowa while storms continue to erupt in eastern Colorado.
- On Sunday, some of the major metro areas of the Midwest, including Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis, may be at risk for dangerous, powerful, and disruptive storms.
The Atlantic hurricane season is pacing ahead of the historical average for the number of named storms to date.
- This hurricane season could be the eighth in a row, with the number of named storms being at or above the historical average of 14.
- AccuWeather forecasts 13 to 17 named storms this year, including four to eight hurricanes.
- AccuWeather forecasters say the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) this hurricane season will reach 105 to 135, which is around or above the 30-year historical average of 123 and up from the initial forecast of 75 to 105.

As of Thursday, 60 large active wildfires have burned 404,422 acres across AK, AZ, CA, ID, MT, NM, OR, TX, and WA. This year to date, 30,875 wildfires have burned 1,234,438 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 11 fires have burned 35,275 acres as of Thursday.
In California, 5 fires have burned 97,703 acres as of Thursday.
- The York Fire burned 94,009 acres and was 34% contained as of Thursday.
  - Firefighters battling the massive York Fire on the California-Nevada border have had to balance their efforts with concerns about disrupting the fragile ecosystem in California’s Mojave National Preserve.
In New Mexico, 12 fires have burned 99,075 acres as of Thursday.
In Texas, 2 fires have burned 1,407 acres as of Thursday.
In Washington, 1 fire has burned 16,110 acres as of Thursday.

Heat alerts are in effect for about 60 million people from Georgia to Kansas, as well as an area in Arizona and southeastern California.
- The National Weather Service warns of “extremely dangerous” peak heat indices above 110 degrees Fahrenheit across the Gulf Coastal states from this weekend into next week, posing major health risks.
- A few locations could see a heat index approaching or exceeding 120 degrees.
- One side effect of the heat wave and below-average Southwest monsoon is the development of drought conditions in parts of Arizona and New Mexico.
- Drought conditions are also forecast to expand in Texas.
On Wednesday, Phoenix reached a high of 111 degrees, which begins a new string of days with high temperatures of 110 degrees or higher.
The extreme heat in Phoenix is withering some of its famed saguaro cactuses.
- At the Desert Botanical Garden, three saguaro cactuses have toppled over or lost an arm in the last week, a rate that officials there say is highly unusual.
The Houston region in Texas has recorded at least three heat-related deaths since the start of the year, all within the last six weeks.

An August 2023 study found that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated the planet.
A July 2023 study found that dune restoration could increase the resilience of Southern California’s urban beaches to sea level rise.