Climate Impact Report – 9/26

September 26, 2023

Key Facts Of The Day 9/26

Potent storms this week will bring bouts of significant rain, gusty winds, and rough seas to the coastal Northwest.
As of Tuesday morning, Tropical Storm Philippe was located about 845 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean with maximum sustained winds of up to 45 MPH and posed no immediate threat to land.
A tropical development could once again form in waters near the U.S. close behind the homebrew development of Tropical Storm Ophelia.
- Even if a named storm does not form, tropical moisture from the region could continue to fuel downpours and thunderstorms in part of the Southeast in the coming days.

As of Tuesday, 36 large active wildfires have burned 305,720 acres across 11 states: AZ, CA, CO, ID, LA, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, and WA. This year to date, 44,395 wildfires have burned 2,389,797 acres across the country.
In Arizona, 2 fires have burned 8,324 acres as of Tuesday.
In California, 5 fires have burned 164,210 acres as of Tuesday.
In Colorado, 3 fires have burned 5,942 as of Tuesday.
In Louisiana, 2 fires have burned 38,414 acres as of Tuesday.
In Nevada, 1 fire has burned 469 acres as of Tuesday
In New Mexico, 1 fire has burned 12,841 acres as of Tuesday.
In Oregon, 12 fires have burned 127,162 acres as of Tuesday.
In Washington, 7 fires have burned 17,674 acres as of Tuesday.

As of September 16, Maricopa County has confirmed 289 heat-associated deaths; another 262 deaths are under investigation.
- By this time last year, there were 80 fewer deaths confirmed to be heat-associated and 46 fewer deaths that were still under investigation.
Saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico is creeping up the drought-stricken Mississippi River and threatening drinking water supplies in some Louisiana communities.
- Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he is just a couple of days away from requesting an emergency declaration from the federal government.
- The southeastern corner of the state, Plaquemines Parish, is already under a drinking water advisory due to high salt levels in the water.

A September 2023 poll found that 64% of U.S. adults say both that they’ve recently experienced extreme weather and that they believe it was caused at least partly by climate change.
A September 2023 study found that alcohol- and drug-related hospitalizations spike in warmer weather.