Climate Impact Report – 12/13

Key Facts Of The Day 12/13

Storms And Flooding

• On Thursday, a burst of arctic air and lake-effect snow, along with feet of snow and freezing winds, affected millions across the Midwest and Northeast.
  • The arctic blast affected the eastern half of the United States, from Minnesota to northern Florida and New England.
  • Lake-effect snow brought 3.5 feet of snow to western New York and up to 20 inches to northern Michigan. 
  • Winds gusted to nearly 40 mph and created whiteout conditions in the heaviest lake-effect snow bands.
  • As of Friday morning, the highest cumulative snowfall was reported in Eden, New York, at 42.5 inches. 
  • A Lake-Effect Snow Warning continued Friday morning for Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York. Some areas are expected to receive an additional six inches to 12 inches of snow.
• Starting Friday, an Atmospheric River event with a pair of severe storms was forecasted to bring heavy rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds to Southern Oregon and Northern and Central California.
  • The storms were expected to trigger significant power outages and travel issues. 
• Several winter storms are expected to bring heavy rain and snow across parts of the country, potentially causing shipping delays before the holidays. 
• A new report found that through November 2024, the average time between billion-dollar disasters was only 12 days, a significant decrease compared to an average of 82 days between disasters in the early 1980s.

Wildfires

• As of Friday, December 6, there were zero large active wildfires in the United States. This year to date, 52,447 wildfires have burned 8,406,135 acres across the country.
• As of Friday morning, the Franklin Fire in Malibu, California, has burned more than 4,037 acres and is 30% contained.
  • The blaze forced evacuation warnings for 20,000 residents and more than 8,000 homes and businesses.
  • At least nine structures were reported destroyed, and another six were damaged. 
  • On Thursday, more than 12,500 people were under evacuation warnings. 

Extreme Heat

• A new study predicts that 2024 will be the first year that the annual global average temperature anomaly exceeds 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
  • The study found that year-to-date (January through November 2024), global surface temperature ranked highest in the 145-year record at 1.54°C (2.77°F) above the early industrial (1881-1910) baseline average.