Climate Impact Report – 8/7

Key Facts Of The Day 8/7

Hurricanes

• Over 120 million people in the Eastern U.S. are at risk of severe thunderstorms Monday with damaging wind gusts, large hail, heavy rain, and a few tornadoes possible from Philadelphia to Atlanta.
  • On Monday morning, thunderstorms were already producing localized torrential downpours and slowing travel in parts of the central Appalachians and the Northeast.
  • The primary threat for severe weather will be due to powerful wind gusts of 60-70 MPH.
  • Wind gusts in some storms will be strong enough to bring down trees and power lines and can lead to minor property damage.
  • A few of the most potent storms will have the potential to produce hail and a tornado.
  • From Tuesday to Tuesday night, thunderstorms, some capable of producing severe weather, will spread across Connecticut to southwestern Maine.
    • Thunderstorms across New England can bring flooding downpours, localized damaging wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes to locations like Boston, Providence, Rhode Island, and Portland, Maine.

Wildfires

• As of Monday, 87 large active wildfires have burned 512,836 acres across AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, NM, OR, TX, UT, and WA. This year to date, 31,840 wildfires have burned 1,317,057 acres across the country.
• In Alaska, 21 fires have burned 80,284 acres as of Monday.
• In Arizona, 10 fires have burned 27,816 acres as of Monday.
• In California, 7 fires have burned 103,404 acres as of Monday.
  • The York Fire burned 93,078 acres and was 93% contained as of Monday.
  • On Sunday, two firefighters and a helicopter pilot fighting a wildfire in Southern California were killed when they collided with another helicopter.
• In New Mexico, 14 fires have burned 121,574 acres as of Monday.
• In Texas, 4 fires have burned 2,609 acres as of Monday.

Extreme Heat

• The southwestern part of the U.S. continues to face heat advisories.
  • About 65 heat records were set or tied across Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas on Saturday and Sunday.
  • At least 120 more heat records could be set from Sunday through Tuesday.
  • Austin, Texas, hit 105 degrees Sunday, marking the 30th consecutive day with a high temperature of over 100 degrees.
  • Albuquerque reached a high of 102 Saturday – breaking the prior record of 98 degrees set in 1995.
  • Parts of Texas, like El Paso and San Antonio, to the southeast in Birmingham, Charleston, South Carolina, Memphis, Tennessee, and Miami, are experiencing extreme heat, with heat indexes ranging between 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
• A Texas couple died in their home after air conditioning broke during an intense heat wave.
• The world’s ocean temperatures have climbed to their hottest level on record, prompting scientists to warn of immediate and wide-ranging consequences for the planet.
  • The average daily global sea surface temperature rose to 69.76 degrees Fahrenheit on Aug. 4, far above the average for this time of year.
  • The surface temperature of the world’s oceans would typically be expected to reach its highest in March rather than in August.

New Reports and Data

• An August 2023 study found that chronic exposure to fine particulate air pollutants and nitrogen dioxide may increase non-lung cancer risk in older adults.
• An August 2023 study found that changing climate conditions and the state of the ocean led to an enhanced risk for marine heatwaves and cold spells.