Climate Impact Report – 8/28

August 28, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 8/28

Severe storms Monday evening and another round early Tuesday morning left more than 140,000 people without power in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota.
On Tuesday, the Minnesota State Fair’s opening was delayed for the first time ever after a night of severe storms.
On Tuesday, Michigan residents faced extreme heat that felt like 100 degrees, violent thunderstorms that knocked out power to more than 365,000 homes and businesses, and tornado sirens.
On Tuesday, residents of Hawaii’s Big Island began preparing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Gilma.
- On Tuesday evening, Gilma was weakening but was still expected to bring heavy rainfall to portions of the Hawaiian Islands as early as Friday.
On Tuesday, Tropical Storm Hector was weakening. The storm was 1,400 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California and had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
- Hector was forecasted to dissipate by Friday as it entered the Central Pacific.
On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center began monitoring a new disturbance in the central Atlantic Ocean that had a 20% chance of formation over the next week.

As of Wednesday, 48 large active wildfires have burned 2,103,454 acres across CA and ID. This year to date, 32,905 wildfires have burned 6,401,345 acres across the country.
In California, 5 fires have burned 529,472 acres as of Wednesday.
- As of Wednesday, the Park Fire has burned 429,603 acres and is 89% contained.
In Idaho, 7 fires have burned 153,890 acres as of Wednesday.

At least 55 million Americans are under heat alerts as the hottest weather of the season spreads across the eastern half of the U.S., with dozens of record highs broken or tied.
While many students were headed back to school, cities like Chicago, St.Louis, and Cincinnati were 10 to 15 degrees hotter than normal.
- Three schools in Baltimore City dismissed students early due to extreme heat.
- To avoid students sitting in hot classrooms, schools in Philadelphia planned for early dismissal.
At 99 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat index of 115 degrees, Chicago, Illinois, had its hottest day of the year.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Washington D.C. for the 12th time – the most it has received since 2005.