Climate Impact Report – 1/9

January 9, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 1/9

As of Tuesday morning, more than 40 million people were under severe storm threat from New Mexico to Maine.
- Several major metropolitan areas along the East Coast could see flooding, including Atlanta, Washington, DC, and New York City, where rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is possible.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 11 million people from the Florida Panhandle to North Carolina are at risk of tornadoes.
As of Tuesday morning, more than half the U.S. population was under wind alerts, making widespread power outages possible.
As of Tuesday morning, winter storm alerts are in effect for areas of eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and eastern Wisconsin, as well as interior parts of the Northeast and New England.
- Widespread snowfall between 6 to 12 inches is possible, and some areas could see even more.
On Monday, blizzard conditions buried parts of the southern Plains and the central U.S. under heavy snow and blistering winds, creating hazardous road conditions that trapped drivers, forced several highway closures, and at times made rescues near-impossible.

As climate-driven wildfires spiral out of control, scientists have shown for the first time that toxic smoke is likely poisoning killer whales off North America’s west coast.
Five months after wildfires destroyed homes and lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui, many residents impacted by the destruction are facing an ongoing mental health crisis.

Every day in 2023 was at least 1 degree Celsius warmer than the preindustrial Earth.
- Nearly half of 2023 was above 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- For the first time, two days in November 2023 hit more than 2 degrees Celsius above the Earth’s preindustrial daily temperatures for that time of the year.
In 2023, the average annual temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 54.4 degrees Fahrenheit — 2.4 degrees above the 20th-century average — ranking as the nation’s fifth-warmest year.
Colorado’s annual average temperatures increased by 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit between 1980 and 2022.