Welcome to the Daily Weather Update from FOX Weather. It’s Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, and it’s Leap Day! Start your day with everything you need to know about today’s weather. You can also get a quick briefing of national, regional and local weather whenever you like with the FOX Weather Update podcast.
Historic wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma have torched more than 1 million acres, but some snow and less windy conditions could help provide firefighters with a bit of help on Thursday.
While snow accumulations won’t amount to much more than an inch, the wind will die down, forecast to be around 10-15 mph throughout the day. This could provide some relief, but stronger winds and warmer temperatures are expected to return on Friday.
As of the last report, the Smokehouse Creek Fire, located in the Texas Panhandle, is the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history, burning more than 850,000 acres with only 3% containment and prompting evacuations in its path. Hutchinson County officials said one person was killed and dozens of structures were damaged after flames erupted Monday.
A crippling snowstorm begins Thursday in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, with up to 12 feet of snow possible at some of the highest peaks by the time the system moves out.
And while the snowfall totals may be threatening, winds of more than 100 mph are expected in some locations, leading to intense blizzard conditions.
Intuitive Machine’s Nova-C Moon lander Odysseus will go to sleep after operating on the lunar surface nearly a week after the private company returned the U.S. to the Moon for the first time since 1972. A photo taken on Tuesday showed Odysseus on the surface of the Moon.
Japan’s official space agency made a surprise announcement Tuesday that its moon lander survived a lunar night and is again communicating with operators. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon mission, or SLIM for short, landed upside down on the Moon on Jan. 19 and, within a few weeks, entered a period without sunshine, where temperatures dropped to more than -200 degrees.
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