Climate Impact Report – 6/17

June 17, 2025

Key Facts Of The Day 6/16

As of Tuesday morning, the death toll from flash floods that started in West Virginia this past weekend rose to seven storm-related deaths and at least two missing people.
- West Virginia is forecast to see additional flash floods this week as severe storms with expected rainfall of up to 1.5 inches per hour make their way across the state.
On Monday, at least 16 tornadoes were reported from Colorado to Minnesota.
Rounds of severe storms are expected to continue across the north-central and eastern United States this week, increasing the risk for flash floods.
On Tuesday, severe thunderstorms are expected to bring damaging winds, scattered large hail, winds up to 100 mph, and tornadoes across the central and southern Plains and the lower to mid-Missouri Valley.
On Tuesday, Tropical Storm Erick was located 460 miles from Mexico’s southwestern coast. Meteorologists warned that the storm could rapidly strengthen into a hurricane this week.
Tropical Storm Erick is the earliest fifth-named storm since July 9, 1956.

As of Monday, the Rowena Fire had burned 3,636 acres and was 24% contained.
- At least 56 homes and 91 additional structures had been destroyed by the Rowena Fire.
- On Monday, a level three evacuation order was lifted.
Experts warned that increased dried vegetation and higher temperatures caused by human-induced climate change will create larger California wildfires this summer.
Funding cuts to federal programs that assist with firefighting, prevention, and recovery are also expected to worsen this summer’s wildfires.

Over the next two weeks, 40 states are expected to be hit with extreme heat and humidity.
- Above-average ocean temperatures combined with southerly winds are fueling high heat and humidity levels this week. By the weekend, a heat dome is expected to form.
- Over the next week, about 170 million people are expected to see temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
- On Wednesday and Thursday, a level three of four risk of heat-related impacts is expected across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, and an extreme, level four of four risk is expected to be reached across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Southeast by Monday.
These impacts pose serious health risks for people without access to cooling or hydration.