While wildfires in some places were destroying thousands of acres of land and forcing numerous evacuations, the smoke shrouded other locations in thick darkness during daylight hours. Meanwhile, a historic tornado ripped through Iowa, and Tropical Storm Chantal went as quickly as it came. And let's not forget about the runaway mattresses that caused quite a scene in Colorado.
Let's take a look back at the week that was.
Some Americans heated about latest home thermostat recommendations
Some like it hot? Not quite. At least not when it comes to the thermostats of many Americans this summer, it turns out. Some of them expressed online that they weren’t cool with the latest recommendations for optimal cooling and energy efficiency in their homes.
Energy Star, which is the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s joint federal program, suggested that consumers set thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit when they’re at home and awake and 85 F when they’re out of the house.
Social media users were most heated about the recommendations for when they’re asleep, with many believing 82 F while they’re snoozing is far too warm for comfort. “We live in a humid environment,” wrote Phillip Hoey, one of 1,774 responses to our @AccuWeather Twitter poll on the topic. “A setting of 82 F while sleeping will have you waking up in a pool of sweat in the morning.”
The DOE says people can knock about 3% off their utility bills for every degree that they raise the set temperature on their central A/C system. It boils down to whether a customer prioritizes either keeping cool or keeping utility costs low, but Consumer Reports offers guidelines for finding a happy medium.
Holiday plans go up in flames as rampant wildfires force thousands to evacuate
Around 9,000 people had to get out of harm’s way on the Canary Islands when another round of wildfires ripped through Gran Canaria on Saturday. High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds fueled the rapidly spreading blaze on Sunday and Monday. By Tuesday, fire that prompted 40 towns on the island to evacuate had also charred 29,653 acres, the Canary News reported.
The Government of Spain’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, said the official response to the out-of-control wildfire was one of the greatest firefighting deployments in Spain recently, according to the Associated Press. Just last week, hundreds evacuated due to the first round of wildfires on Gran Canaria, which is the third-largest and second-most populous island of the Canary Islands.
Airborne mattresses result in hilarious mayhem in Denver neighborhood
(Robb Manes)
Aladdin’s magic carpet has nothing on these flying mattresses. More than 150 inflatable beds that went tumbling through the air last weekend in Stapleton, Colorado, were supposed to be set up for the “Bed Cinema” outdoor movie event in the neighborhood on Aug. 17, but as the winds picked up, the mattresses went along for the ride.
Nearby swimmers were treated to some unexpected pool floats as some of the mattresses flew over a gate and onto a pool deck. No one appeared to be hurt; in fact, laughter could be heard in the videos posted online as people dodged the flying air beds.
Man nearly struck by lightning shares ordeal with AccuWeather
The man who appeared to be struck by lightning last week in a now-viral video spoke with AccuWeather about the experience. In the heart-stopping clip, 49-year-old Romulus McNeill can be seen recoiling and running after a lightning bolt flashes nearby.
"There was a big boom, there was a big bright flash and I was just trying to get out of there as fast as I can," McNeill said in a phone interview. "I didn’t know what happened, all I know is that something that was quick and intense and powerful, and I just wanted to get to my car."
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell explained that McNeill wasn’t directly struck, but it was definitely close enough to give him a good scare. “Based on the shadows of the trees in the video, I’d say a flag pole, building or tree in the upper right of the photo, off camera, was the object that was struck,” Ferrell said. Check out the crazy video here.
EF3 tornado rips through central Iowa
Iowa’s strongest tornado since October 2013 wreaked havoc over Lacona on Tuesday, Aug. 20 — but miraculously, no one was reportedly hurt.
(Photo/National Weather Service Des Moines)
The EF3 twister knocked down trees and power lines as it inflicted significant damage on homes . Surveyors examined the path of the tornado and found debris scattered over a quarter of a mile into nearby fields. They determined the path length of the tornado to be 5.5 miles and the maximum width of the tornado to be 700 yards, according to KRCG.
Before this, the last tornado in Iowa with stronger estimated maximum wind speeds happened in 2013, when an EF4 tornado hit Woodbury County, Iowa, with estimated wind speeds of 170 mph.
Chantal forms, quickly weakens in northern Atlantic
And just like that, Chantal was kaput. The previous tropical storm developed several hundred miles south of Newfoundland on Tuesday night. By the following evening, the third named storm of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season had quickly lost steam and was downgraded to a depression .
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported Friday morning that Chantal’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 30 mph, with additional weakening to a tropical low predicted by late Sunday or Monday.
Colorado State University (CSU) Meteorologist Philip Klotzbach tweeted some interesting stats related to Chantal, including that before its formation, the Atlantic Ocean had no named storms from July 15 to Aug. 19. This is the first hurricane season to achieve this since 1982, according to Klotzbach.
Phenomenon plunges Brazilian city into afternoon darkness
Residents in São Paulo, Brazil, were likely checking their clocks in confusion at 3 p.m., local time, on Aug. 19, wondering why it was suddenly so dark outside.
The culprit for the darkness shrouding Brazil’s largest city was a combination of wildfire smoke, dense rain clouds and a cold front. "The smoke didn't come from fires in the state of São Paulo, but from very dense wildfires that have been happening for several days in Rondônia and Bolivia," Josélia Pegorim, a meteorologist with Brazilian TV channel Climatempo, said in an interview with Globo.
Marcus Mendes shot the surreal spectacle on video from his high-rise apartment and told AccuWeather that the weather rapidly changed throughout that Monday. "I thought we were about to get hit with a heavy storm, but instead of raining, it just kept getting darker and darker," said Mendes, who added that the lack of thunder and lightning was strange for what he thought was a bad storm approaching.
Multiple AccuWeather staff writers contributed to this story.
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