Climate Impact Report – 8/29

August 29, 2024

Key Facts Of The Day 8/29

On Friday and Saturday, tropical storm Gilma is expected to weaken and bring up to three inches of rain and sustained winds of 40 mph to Hawaii’s northern coast.
Tropical Storm Hector weakened on Thursday, with sustained winds of 40 mph. Hector is expected to dissipate on Friday.
On Thursday morning, 117,852 Michigan customers were still without power after extreme heat and severe thunderstorms on Wednesday caused hundreds of thousands of customers to lose power.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a “slight risk” of severe weather in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area. The area is expected to see more thunderstorms, high winds, heavy rain, and an isolated tornado threat.

As of Thursday, 46 large active wildfires have burned 1,823,499 acres across ID, OR, WY, MT, WA, CA, TX, NV, SD, NM, AND UT. This year to date, 33,060 wildfires have burned 6,408,323 acres across the country.
In California, 5 fires have burned 529,472 acres as of Thursday.
- As of Thursday, the Park Fire has burned 429,603 acres and was 92% contained.
In Idaho, 11 fires have burned 143,799 acres as of Thursday.
In Montana, 5 fires have burned 5,572 acres as of Thursday.
In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 6,146 acres as of Thursday.
In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 2,167 acres as of Thursday.
In Oregon, 8 fires have burned 124,312 acres as of Thursday.
In South Dakota, 1 fire has burned 1,959 acres as of Thursday.
In Texas, 1 fire has burned 725 acres as of Thursday.
In Utah, 1 fire has burned 2,243 acres as of Thursday.
In Washington, 5 fires have burned 53,882 acres as of Thursday.
In Wyoming, 6 fires have burned 461,520 acres as of Thursday.

On Wednesday, 51 million people, from St. Louis, Missouri, to New York City, were under heat advisories.
On Wednesday, several cities broke record-high temperatures.
- On Wednesday, the D.C. area reached a high of 101 degrees, breaking the previous Aug. 28 record high of 99 degrees from 1948. This was the fifth record high temperature in D.C. during the 2024 summer.
- Wednesday also marked the 47th day this year that D.C. reached at least 90 degrees, seven days more than the yearly average.
- On Wednesday, Greenwood, Mississippi, broke its record-high for August 28th after hitting a high of 103 degrees.
- On Wednesday, Columbus, Ohio, reached 97 degrees, tying the city’s record high set in 1948.
Extreme temperatures will end in the Northeast on Thursday but linger in the Ohio Valley and Tennessee Valley through Friday.
On Thursday, the heat index is forecast to climb to 104 degrees in Nashville, Tennessee, and Columbia, South Carolina; 102 degrees in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Louisville, Kentucky; and 105 degrees in Greenville, Mississippi.
A new report found that annual heat-related deaths increased by 117% from 1999 to 2023.