Destructive, Deadly, and Record Weather Persists

More than 1,400 tornadoes have been reported this year in the United States—a record number compared to historic data—with 70 of those categorized as F2 or greater, according to NOAA/National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. In total last year, 1,197 tornado reports were confirmed, with an additional 97 preliminary tornadoes yet to be verified for the Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 period. This was above the 1991-2010 U.S. annual average of 1,251 tornadoes. Further, last July saw 111 confirmed tornado reports compared to 116 so far this July. 

On Monday, thunderstorms and tornados in the Midwest have left more than 500,000 without power, NBC News reports. The National Weather Service in Chicago said: “This storm is producing multiple tornadoes at the same time!” Tornadoes also touched down in Chicago on Sunday, marking a previously rare event. Before Sunday, only six tornadoes had been reported in the last 70 years in Chicago. A tornado also was confirmed in Des Moines, Iowa.

In Texas, approximately 150,000 people are still without power, mostly in the Greater Houston area, eight days after Hurricane Beryl made landfall. At least 13 people in the Houston area are believed to have died as a result of the hurricane, ABC 13 reported.

The U.S. also is experiencing a historically hot summer and has been the hottest summer on record for roughly 100 U.S. cities nationwide, CNN reported. Heat is also suspected in the deaths of more than three dozen people in the U.S. this July—which is likely an underestimate—with many of those deaths occurring in the West where cities have set record high temperatures.

Those temperatures have fueled wildfires in the West. On Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency over the threat caused by wildfires burning tens of thousands of acres. At least eight wildfires were burning in the northwestern state early Tuesday, according to state fire officials. The largest fire—the Cow Vally Fire—has consumed more than 132,500 acres and is only 5% contained.

Last week, California also reported its first fatality attributed to a wildfire this year, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). So far this year more than 3,800 wildfires have occurred across the state, with 226,542 acres burned and 154 structures damaged or destroyed. That’s compared to just 10,080 acres at this time last year—and the five-year average of 38,593 acres burned. California’s largest fire this year, Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County, has burned 38,653 acres and is 38% contained, Cal Fire reported.