 Download
Cat Report
(65kb pdf)
Cover Page
Heat wave - United States, Canada
Typhoon Saomai - Mariana Islands, Philippines,
Japan, Taiwan, China
Flood - Ethiopia
Severe storms, Tornadoes and torrential
rains - United States
Typhoon Xangsane - Philippines, Vietnam,
Thailand
Snowstorm - United States
Wildfire - United States
Other events
|
Catastrophe Report 10
July 25th - November 8th 2006 |
Heat wave - United States, Canada
| Territory: |
|
United States, Canada |
| Region: |
|
All regions |
| Date: |
|
15 July – 27 August |
| Event: |
|
Heat wave |
| Impact: |
|
At least 225 deaths have been blamed on the heat
wave conditions, including 163 in California and 31 in New York
City, although this is likely to be a considerable under-estimate.
NOAA calculated that the residential energy demand rose by
close to a quarter in response to the elevated temperatures.
This was reflected in the fact that all seven regional independent
electricity grid operators, which serve two-thirds of the
US population, satisfied new record demands in July, totalling
475,717 MW. High temperatures, lightning and heat-related
storms resulted in 765,000 customers in California losing
their electricity supply, along with over half a million in
Illinois and Missouri, including half the population of St.
Louis. New York was also affected by power outages. In California,
the heat killed 25,000 head of cattle and 700,000 fowl. The
former reduced dairy production by up to 15 percent and is
expected to have a serious impact on the state’s US$4.5
billion dairy industry. Dairy, beef and poultry losses in
Fresno County alone amounted to US$85 million. Californian
crops were also badly affected, in particular, walnuts, peaches,
nectarines and plums. Natural gas prices surged as demand
shot up, with a possible consequence that bills could rise
in the winter.
|
| Summary: |
|
Between 15 and 22 July, an exceptional heat
wave spread across the United States and Canada, leading –
on 17 July – to all but one of the contiguous US states
experiencing temperatures in excess of 32? C (90? F). In the
remaining state – North Dakota – temperatures had
peaked at 40? C (104? C) the day before. Over the next week,
the west coast and south-west deserts were worst affected, before
the highest temperatures migrated to the east at the end of
the month and in early August. For the rest of August, the SE
states and the Southern Plains suffered the highest temperatures,
before the heat wave finally broke on August 27th. July 2006
ended as the second hottest on record, with 2,300 daily temperature
records broken. The average July-August 2006 temperature for
the contiguous United States was 1.3? C (2.4? F) above the average
of 22.3? C (72.1? F), maker the summer the second hottest since
the ‘dustbowl’ year of 1936. The highest temperatures
recorded were 47? C (117? F) in Pierre (South Dakota) on July
15th and 46? C (115? F) in California’s Central Valley
on July 23rd. In Canada, temperatures peaked at 42.1? C (107.8?
F) in Lytton, British Colombia. |
| Data sources: |
|
NOAA Climate of 2006 – July
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/jul/jul06.html
NOAA Climate of 2006 – August
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2006/aug/aug06.html
|
| Additional sources:
|
|
The International Research Institute for
Climate and Society (IRI)
http://iri.columbia.edu/climate/cid/Aug2006/impacts.html#USheat
|
| |
|
|
|
|
