Climate Impact Report – 8/13

August 13, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 8/13

On Monday, Tropical Storm Ernesto formed as the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The National Hurricane Center predicts Ernesto will move across portions of the Leeward Islands on Tuesday morning and go near or over the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico by Tuesday evening.
Puerto Rico activated the National Guard and canceled the start of classes in public schools.
Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said more than 340 shelters across the island would be available if necessary.
Officials also warned Ernesto would cause widespread power outages given the fragile state of Puerto Rico’s power grid, which crews are still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm.
Ernesto is forecast to strengthen over the next few days and could reach hurricane strength by Thursday.

The northern half of the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s reservation was without electricity for 21 hours last weekend following a storm that blew down a major electrical transmission line.
Major flooding from the Ogeechee River forced Chatham County, Georgia, residents from their homes.

As of Tuesday, 77 large active wildfires have burned 2,321,579 acres across AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, MT, NV, OR, TX, WA, and WY. This year to date, 29,547 wildfires have burned 5,224,060 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 7 fires have burned 67,980 acres as of Tuesday.
In California, 8 fires have burned 524,425 acres as of Tuesday.
- As of Tuesday, the Park Fire has burned 429,263 acres and is 39% contained.
In Colorado, 2 fires have burned 16,870 acres as of Tuesday.
In Florida, 2 fires have burned 2,500 acres as of Tuesday.
In Idaho, 14 fires have burned 249,611 acres as of Tuesday.
In Montana, 4 fires have burned 5,109 acres as of Tuesday.
In Nevada, 3 fires have burned 4,423 acres as of Tuesday.
In Oregon, 21 fires have burned 782,393 acres as of Tuesday.
In Texas, 1 fire has burned 1,100 acres as of Tuesday.
In Washington, 8 fires have burned 122,001 acres as of Tuesday.
In Wyoming, 3 fires have burned 2,829 acres as of Tuesday.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July 2024 was the warmest July on record for the globe in NOAA’s 175-year record.
With the temperature outlook expected to be well above average across almost the entire country, school administrators, athletic directors, and parents are faced with safely navigating extreme heat as many students return to school in August.
A new study found that extreme heat aggravated by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year.