Climate Impact Report – 10/21

October 21, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 10/21

So far this year, the Atlantic Ocean has experienced cyclone activity that is 31% above average.
Over the weekend, two storms formed in the Atlantic Ocean.
- On Saturday, Tropical Storm Nadine made landfall near Belize City, Belize, with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour.
- Nadine lasted for about 12 hours, making it the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season to last two days or less at tropical storm or hurricane strength.
- On Sunday evening, the 15th named storm of the 2024 season, Hurricane Oscar, made landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.
- As of Monday morning, Oscar had been demoted to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour.
Meteorologists confirmed that Hurricane Milton spawned at least 41 tornadoes and is expected to be ranked 13th for the most tornadoes produced by a hurricane in the U.S. since 1995.
Hurricane Milton was responsible for at least 460,000 gallons of raw sewage being spilled in Palm Bay, Florida, increasing the risk of toxic algae blooms and water contamination.
Combined losses from Hurricanes Helene and Milton were expected to exceed $1 billion in the Sarasota-Manatee area located along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

As of Monday, 30 large active wildfires have burned 1,117,707 acres across CA, ID, MI, MN, MT, OK, OR, SD, UT, WY. This year to date, 43,245 wildfires have burned 7,921,605 acres across the country.
In California, 3 fires have burned 49,589 acres as of Monday.
In Idaho, 5 fires have burned 331,020 acres as of Monday.
In Michigan, 1 fire has burned 100 acres as of Monday.
In Minnesota, 1 fire has burned 1,000 acres as of Monday.
In Mississippi, 1 fire has burned 1,333 acres as of Monday.
In Montana, 1 fire has burned 208 acres as of Monday.
In Oklahoma, 1 fire has burned 1,100 acres as of Monday.
In Oregon, 2 fires have burned 3,594 acres as of Monday.
In South Dakota, 1 fire has burned 732 acres as of Monday.
In Utah, 2 fires have burned 33,198 acres as of Monday.
In Wyoming, 1 fire has burned 96,179 acres as of Monday.

Michigan cities are experiencing unusually high fall weather this week.
- On Sunday, Traverse City and Pellston, Michigan, set record daily highs of 79 degrees and 77 degrees, respectively.
- On Monday morning, some Michigan cities had warmer temperatures than parts of Florida.
Researchers found that almost half of the heatwaves and cold snaps reaching the ocean’s twilight zone, located between 200 and 1,000 meters below sea level, are driven by large eddy currents. Due to climate change, these currents have become increasingly more intense, threatening aquatic wildlife.