WEEKLY WATER NEWS

24-28 December 2007

DataStreme Water in the Earth System (WES) will return for Spring 2008 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 14 January 2008. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Water News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Sincerely,

Ed Hopkins and the AMS WES Central Staff

Water in the News:

• Eye on the Tropics -- Tropical cyclone activity was reported last week in the South Indian Ocean basins. The tropical storm identified as Tropical Storm 06S that had formed over one week ago near Diego Garcia, was later given the name Tropical Cyclone Celina as it continued its track to the southwest across the South Indian Ocean to near La Reunion Island before dissipating. Images generated from data collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite show the temperature of the tops of the clouds surrounding this cyclone. [NASA Hurricane Page] An image obtained from the METEOSAT-7 geosynchronous satellite shows the clouds associated with Tropical Cyclone Celina as this tropical storm was passing near Mauritius and La Reunion Islands. [NOAA OSEI]
  A second tropical cyclone within the last week formed to the southeast of Diego Garcia This cyclone was initially called Tropical Storm 07S and then Tropical Cyclone Dama, as it moved first to the west-southwest, before recurving to the south and then southeast. By the end of the week, it had dissipated. An AIRS image from NASA's Aqua satellite shows the temperature of the tops of the clouds surrounding this cyclone. [NASA Hurricane Page] An image from the METOSAT-7 satellite shows the clouds accompanying Tropical Cyclone Dama. [NOAA OSEI]
• Cold front churns across the Gulf -- Images obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite at the start of last week contain several indications of the strong winds from the northwest that followed behind a cold front traveling across the Gulf of Mexico. The images show long cloud streets of stratocumulus clouds, or rows of clouds oriented along the path of the winds, that developed as cold air streamed across the warm surface waters of the Gulf, resulting in destabilization of the near surface air and cloud formation. Some other cloud features apparent from the images included cloud waves that paralleled the coast. In addition, one of the images also showed sediments in the nearshore waters off the southwest coast of Florida, due to the strong winds disturbing the water and churning the sediments. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• An update on La Niña -- An image depicting the global sea surface temperature anomalies (arithmetic differences between observed and average temperatures) collected by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite during the month of November 2007 shows a continuation of the conditions that are associated with an La Niña episode, with below average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific off the coast of South America. A continuation of a moderately strong La Niña through the winter of 2007-2008 is being predicted by NOAA forecasters. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• An updated drought forecast issued -- Forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center recently released their latest US Drought Outlook for the upcoming three months of January through March 2008 that indicates a persistence or intensification of drought conditions across the Southeast, the high Plains and sections of the Southwest. However, the forecasters predicted improvement of drought conditions across the Great Basin, the northern Rockies and scattered areas of the Midwest and the Middle Atlantic States. [NOAA News]
• Saharan dust helped put the chill on the 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season -- Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center who analyzed data obtained from NASA satellites claim that one-third the drop in sea surface temperatures across the North Atlantic between June 2005 and 2006 was due the dust from Africa's Sahara Desert that was carried over the North Atlantic. The reduced sea surface temperature appears to result in a reduction in the number of hurricanes from 15 during the record 2005 season to only five in 2006. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Contractor selected to place lightning detector on a satellite platform -- NOAA and NASA officials recently announced the selection of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company to develop a new instrument called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper to be placed on NOAA's next geostationary satellite series (GOES-R) set to launch in December 2014 that will detect patterns in lightning flashes across the Western Hemisphere. [NOAA News]
• New facilities being built for Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory -- Ground was recently broken that marked the start of construction of a new research facility for the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, which will increase the size of the current facility in Ann Arbor, MI. This laboratory focuses on a variety of environmental issues involved with Laurentide Great Lakes of North America. [NOAA News]
• Sulfur dioxide may have maintained a warm early Martian climate -- Geoscientists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology propose that sulfur dioxide released by volcanoes may have kept the climate of Mars sufficiently warm between 4.0 and 3.5 billion years ago so as to even permit the possible formation of a liquid water ocean on the Red Planet. [EurekAlert!]
• Global changes in climate could be affecting El Niño events -- Scientists from Chile and France studying marine cores containing diatoms from northern Chile's Bay of Mejillones claim that the frequency and intensity of the rhythmic variations in the atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) appear to be influenced by changes in global temperature. [EurekAlert!]
• Report issued on German tsunami warning system -- As the third anniversary of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami approaches, a report was issued by German geo and marine scientists as to the current status of the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean, which should be operational by the end of 2008. [EurekAlert!]
• Accurate density measurements of reference water made -- Researchers at Germany's Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt have developed a technique called the Magnetic Flotation Method that allows them to accurately measure the density of ultra-pure water over a large range of temperatures, which represents an important contribution to the oceanographic measurements of ocean currents. [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 25 December 1974...Tropical Cyclone Tracy (a hurricane in the waters surrounding Australia) made landfall near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Excellent warnings kept the death toll to between 50 and 60, with more than 20,000 people evacuated in the week following the storm. Some areas were totally devastated. Peak wind speeds exceeded 174 mph. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 25 December 1988...A massive winter storm made for a very white Christmas in the western U.S. Las Vegas, NV reported snow on the ground for the first time of record. Periods of snow over a five-day period left several feet of new snow on the ground of ski areas in Colorado, with 68 inches reported at Wolf Creek Pass. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 25-26 December 1927...The worst Christmas blizzard in a century buried the United Kingdom. While most of the country experienced snow, the south bore the brunt of the storm with drifts in places to 15 feet or more. Many roads were blocked with stranded vehicles. (The Weather Doctor)
• 26 December 1836...A snow cornice built out from a chalk cliff at Lewes, England, the result of heavy snow and high wind that began on the 24th. This cornice, which overhung a row of houses, collapsed in the day's sunshine on the 26^th, with eight people dying in the crushed homes. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 26-31 December 1993...The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race off Australia was plagued by hurricane-force wind gusts in excess of 74 mph and 33 foot high seas. Of 104 starters, only 37 yachts finished the race. On the 28^th, one yacht owner spent five hours in the water after being swept overboard. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 26 December 2004…A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale approximately 100 miles off the western coast of Sumatra created a tsunami that caused devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at more than 300,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials. Indonesia was worst affected with as many as 219,000 people killed. (Wikipedia)
• 28 December 1879...Seventy-four lives were lost when a passenger train plunged from the track as the middle section of the Tay Bridge at Tayside, England collapsed into the Tay Estuary. The failure of the bridge was believed to have been caused by two or three waterspouts that were sighted close to the bridge immediately before the accident. (The Weather Doctor)
• 28-29 December 1879...An extraordinary snowfall of 17 inches of snow fell in Palestine. In his 1883 report on the climate of Palestine, the U.S. consul reported snow (mainly light and quickly melting) falling on Jerusalem in only 14 of the previous 22 years. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28-29 December 1955…Thompson Pass received 62.0 inches of snow, which set the all-time 24-hour maximum snowfall record for the state of Alaska. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 30 December 1955...Anchorage, AK reported an all-time record snow depth of 47 inches. (30^th-1^st) (The Weather Channel)
• 30 December 1972...The 86-foot high wave measured by the ship Weather Reporter was the world's highest measured wave. The wave was measured in the North Atlantic Ocean at 59 degrees North latitude and 19 degrees West longitude. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 30 December 1996-6 January 1997...Approximately 25 inches of rain and snowmelt flooded the Truckee River and other rivers along the eastern Sierra. The floodwaters made a temporary lake on the eastern side of Truckee Meadows. The airport at Reno, NV was flooded, with water reaching the fuselage of some airliners. The floods caused more than 500 million dollars in regional damage. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

Return to DataStreme WES Website

Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2007, The American Meteorological Society.