Climate Impact Report – 7/18

July 18, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 7/18

On Wednesday, severe storms and at least four tornadoes ravaged New York state, leaving widespread damage, hundreds of thousands of energy connections lost to downed power lines, and killing at least one person.
- Winds of almost 80 mph were strong enough in Rome, New York, to overturn vehicles, smash windshields, destroy the roof and tower of a church, and move a B-52 bomber several feet off its platform outside the entrance of the decommissioned Griffiss Air Force Base.
On Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service issued a rare flash flood emergency in northern Arkansas, where water rescues and evacuations also took place.

As of Thursday, 57 large active wildfires have burned 618,190 acres across AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NJ, NM, OR, UT, and WA. This year to date, 25,343 wildfires have burned 3,169,281 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 6 fires have burned 49,636 acres as of Thursday.
In California, 11 fires have burned 100,950 acres as of Thursday.
In Colorado, 2 fires have burned 1,828 acres as of Thursday.
In New Mexico, 6 fires have burned 17,175 acres as of Thursday.
In Oregon, 12 fires have burned 327,732 acres as of Thursday.
In Washington, 3 fires have burned 26,724 acres as of Thursday.

Over 300 deaths suspected to be linked to this summer’s record-breaking heat wave are being investigated in Maricopa County, Arizona.
- Almost 100 of those suspected heat deaths are attributed to a single week, from July 7 to 13, when temperatures reached 118 degrees.
Amtrak passengers are seeing record delays as climate change accelerates and intense heat waves, downpours, and high winds become more frequent.
- An analysis found that extreme weather events bogged down Amtrak trains for more than 4,010 hours in the 2023 fiscal year.
- About 30% of trains that arrived late in the 2023 fiscal year were delayed for heat reasons, accounting for nearly 1,200 hours of overall delays.