Rare West Coast tropical storm and massive heat dome
For the first time in 84 years, a tropical storm hit the West Coast of the U.S. Meantime, the heat of summer was turned to extreme this week with 126 million Americans in some form of heat advisory.
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The first tropical storm to hit southern California in 84 years has moved on leaving heavy damage in its wake. Large equipment led the clean up of mud in mountain and desert towns with area residents lending a hand.
The amount of precipitation that swept across the Death Valley region hit hard in an area unaccustomed to heavy cloudbursts.
Senior Public Information Officer Shane Reichardt, Riverside County Emergency Management Department: "In the hills above us, we had approximately 13 inches of rainfall in a short amount of time. That's really the kind of rainfall rates that cause the damages that we are seeing downstream. So, that 13 inches basically equates to about a 1000-year storm."
As Hilary moved east, Nevada felt the impact of the storm clouds as did areas of Oregon and Idaho.
Tropical Storm Harold came ashore in southern Texas this week.
Here in Corpus Christi, thousands of homes were battered by high wind and heavy rain - eventually losing power as the first storm of the season slammed the area. Harold stayed just below hurricane status.
One of the hottest weeks in the Grain Belt lived up to its forecasts. Triple-digit temperatures and heat indexes blanketed 22 states as more than 126 million people were under heat warnings for several days.
The Drought Monitor actually improved as a whole in the continental U.S., staying consistent with the last several weeks of readings. However, conditions intensified in the areas already plagued by drought.
For Market to Market, I’m Colleen Bradford Krantz.
Contact: Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.org