Climate Impact Report – 8/19

August 19, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 8/19

Severe thunderstorms and showers across the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast triggered devastating flash flooding.
- On Sunday, heavy rainfall in southwestern Connecticut led to mudslides, washed-out roads, and flash flooding.
  - Emergency crews carried out widespread water rescues, especially in the Southbury area.
  - In Connecticut, rivers breached roadways in several places.
- On Sunday night, heavy rains were also inundating New York City.
  - On Sunday night, all trains between New York and Philadelphia were temporarily suspended.
  - All major airports in the region grounded flights.
- Two locations — parts of Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut and Suffolk County, New York —experienced historic rainfall, reaching the threshold of a 1,000-year rainfall event.
On Sunday, Ernesto became a hurricane again, sending powerful swells toward the U.S. east coast.

As of Monday, 62 large active wildfires have burned 2,237,578 acres across AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, WA, and WY. This year to date, 30,866 wildfires have burned 5,401,881 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 2 fires have burned 29,398 acres as of Monday.
In California, 7 fires have burned 527,210 acres as of Monday.
- As of Monday, the Park Fire has burned 429,388 acres and is 53% contained.
In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 4,273 acres as of Monday.
In Oregon, 16 fires have burned 612,789 acres as of Monday.
In Texas, 2 fires have burned 2,450 acres as of Monday.
In Washington, 11 fires have burned 125,114 acres as of Monday.

On Monday, another day of extreme heat is underway in North Texas, and excessive heat warning remains in place for most of the region.
On Saturday, extreme heat at a Colorado airshow caused about 100 people to seek emergency treatment and sent 10 people to hospitals.
Classrooms in Richmond, Virginia, now need more air conditioning during the back-to-school season than they did over the last 50 years because of increasingly hotter temperatures.