Climate Impact Report – 6/26

Key Facts Of The Day 6/26

Hurricanes And Storms

• On Wednesday, severe thunderstorms left nearly 50,000 residents in the metro Atlanta, Georgia area without power. 
  • Severe storms brought heavy rains and damaging winds, which downed trees, damaged vehicles, and caused severe power outages. 
  • As of Thursday morning, 18,568 customers in Georgia were still without power.  
  • On Thursday, a Code Orange Air Quality Alert was in effect for Atlanta and surrounding counties, meaning air quality could be unhealthy for certain groups, including children, older people, and people with asthma or other breathing conditions.  
  • Severe thunderstorms also caused power outages in the Carolinas. As of Thursday morning, 10,279 customers were still without power in South Carolina. 

Wildfires

• As of Thursday, 64 large active wildfires have burned 327,113 acres across AK, NM, UT, OR, AZ, ID, WA, MT, WY, NV, and FL. This year to date, 33,411 wildfires have burned 1,726,4225 acres across the country.
  • In Alaska, 49 fires have burned 234,848 acres as of Thursday. 
    • Last week, several wildfires erupted across Alaska amid widespread red flag warnings and the state’s first-ever heat advisory.
    • Two of the largest fires, the Bear Creek Fire and the Saint George Creek Fire, burned nearly 40,000 acres near Denali National Park together.  
  • In Arizona, 1 fire has burned 2,278 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Florida, 1 fire has burned 350 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Idaho, 1 fire has burned 144 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Montana, 1 fire has burned 493 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 17,714 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In New Mexico, 4 fires have burned 48,648 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Oregon, 2 fires have burned 3,746 acres as of Thursday. 
  • In Utah, 2 fires have burned 35,914 acres as of Thursday.
  • In Washington, 1 fire has burned 1,509 acres as of Thursday.
  • In Wyoming, 1 fire has burned 2,321 acres as of Thursday.

Extreme Heat Wave

• On Thursday, approximately 130 million people across the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio Valley, and the Southeast were still under heat advisories from a dangerous heatwave.
  • Despite peak temperatures being over, the heat index in Mid-Atlantic cities, including Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, Charleston, West Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, was expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• As of Thursday, 322 daily high temperature records were broken during the heat wave. 
  • The New York-Kennedy Airport marked the largest temperature difference after hitting 102 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 21 degrees hotter than normal.
• On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was briefly hospitalized and treated for dehydration. Temperatures in Washington, D.C., had reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with a “feels like” temperature reaching 109 degrees Fahrenheit.