Weekly Water News

DATASTREME WES WEEK ONE: 1-5 September 2008

Water in the News:

(Tues.) Gustav, then Hanna -- On Monday morning, Hurricane Gustav made landfall in Louisiana with high winds and some flooding and tornadoes. New Orleans was spared potential destruction. [CNN] Hanna is a strong tropical storm heading for the Bahamas with a predicted path beyond to the eastern U.S. [CNN]
A silver anniversary for a cloud and climate research project -- NASA scientists and their colleagues recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), which was originally designed as the first project of the World Climate Research Program to study the role that clouds play in the planetary climate. [NASA]
Monsoon rains flood India -- Comparison of images made over northern India from data collected by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite over a two-week period in August shows the flooding that redirected the flow of one of the tributaries to the Ganges caused by torrential summer monsoon rains across sections of northern India. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Public hearing to be held on coastal management appeal -- NOAA has scheduled a public hearing in late September to receive public comments concerning a Coastal Zone Management Act appeal filed by the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency concerning the proposed extension of California State Route 241 in Orange and San Diego counties, following an objection to the project by the California Coastal Commission. [NOAA News]
Shrinking of Aral Sea documented from space -- A recent image obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the decrease in the size of Aral Sea in the Former Soviet Union during the last eight years as documented by the NASA satellites. Much of the decrease in the Aral Sea, which was world's fourth-largest inland sea, has been because of river diversions made to make arid sections of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan fertile cropland. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Antarctic research helps Martian climate change research -- Researchers at Boston University have been applying knowledge gained from Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys in their study of the craters on the surface of Mars in an effort to arrive at an understanding of the changes in Martian climate. [EurekAlert!]
Explaining Greenland's ice sheet -- Using computer models, scientists at the United Kingdom's Universities of Bristol and Leeds conclude that a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide was a greater contributor to the development of the Greenland ice sheet in the last three million years than the tectonic uplift of North America's Rocky Mountains. [EurekAlert!]
Approaching an all-time record minimum Arctic ice cover -- Recent observations made by the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite indicate that the extent of the current polar ice cover over the Arctic Ocean this summer had shrunk to a level that would rival the record minimum Arctic ice cover from last summer (September 2007). [ESA]
Smarter hurricane evacuations could save lives -- A graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a software program that could aid emergency officials in making timely decisions concerning evacuation of residents within their jurisdiction ahead of an approaching hurricane. [EurekAlert!]
LIDAR sees sky in 3-D -- A consortium that includes Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the Swiss National Science Foundation and MeteoSwiss, the nation's weather service, recently inaugurated a LIDAR measurement system that provides a three-dimensional view of the overhead sky, including a continuous flow of data on atmospheric temperature and humidity up to a 10-km altitude. [Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]
Super-volcano site is cooler than expected -- Geologists from Colorado State University and the University of Wyoming who have been making temperature measurements of the molten rock below the "Yellowstone hotspot" have found the temperatures in this region have been lower than expected. This region is responsible for the famous geysers within the Park and it was the site for an ancient super volcano that erupted approximately 600,000 years ago, spreading ash an area covering approximately half of what is now the United States. [NSF News]
Coastal Oregon's earthquake zone more active than California's San Andreas Fault -- Scientists at Oregon State University claim that the Blanco Transform Fault Zone located approximately 200 miles off the southern and central Oregon coast appears to be more active than the famous San Andreas Fault in California. [Underwater Times]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including 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.

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD --

A request: If you have some water-related experience that you would like to share with other DataStreme WES participants, please send them to the email address appearing at the bottom of this document for possible inclusion in a News file. Thank you. EJH

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme WES website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Water News.

Welcome to DataStreme Water in the Earth System (WES)! You are embarking on a unique teacher-enhancement experience that focuses on water and energy flow in the global water cycle from an Earth system perspective. Throughout this learning experience, you will be accessing the DataStreme WES website frequently to obtain and interpret a variety of environmental information, including the latest observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DataStreme WES website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Water News that includes Water in the News (a summary listing of current events related to water), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to water in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past hydrologic events such as major floods). When appropriate, Supplemental Information will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DataStreme WES website to access and download the second part of weekly Investigations A & B (plus supporting images) that begin in your DataStreme WES Investigations Manual. These materials should be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Tuesday and Thursday. Click the appropriate buttons to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DataStreme WES website provides links to the Earth System, Atmospheric, Oceanic (and Inland Seas), and Terrestrial Information, and extras–glossaries of terms, maps, educational links, and WES information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the WES website.

Under Atmospheric Information, click on Water vapor (WV) Satellite. This is the latest satellite depiction of atmospheric water vapor at altitudes generally between 3000 and 7000 m (10,000 to 24,000 ft). Press your "back" button and then click on Latest WV Animation to view the movement of water vapor and clouds in the atmosphere. Although water vapor is an invisible gas, satellite technology makes it possible for us to "see" and follow the flow of water vapor in the atmosphere as part of the global water cycle. Bright white blotches are clouds; black indicates areas of very little or no water vapor and, at the other extreme, milky white signals a relatively high concentration of water vapor. Use the "back" button on your viewer to return to the DataStreme WES website.

The flow and transformations of energy are fundamental aspects of the global water cycle. Heat flows within the Earth system from where it is warmer to where it is colder. In this regard, it is useful to monitor temperatures remotely, by satellite. For a global view of the satellite-derived pattern of sea-surface temperatures, click on Sea Surface Temperatures under Oceanic (and Inland Seas) Information. Note that the color scale at the bottom is in degrees Celsius and temperatures are averaged over a 7-day period. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Return to the DataStreme WES website.

As part of the global water cycle, precipitation that reaches the ground vaporizes back into the atmosphere, runs off into rivers and streams, seeps into the ground, or is stored in lakes or glaciers. Under Terrestrial Information, click on River Flood Conditions for the recent status of river levels monitored at various gauging stations around the nation. Note that in the Map Legend, river stages are rated from "no flooding" to "major flooding" using a color code. Now return to the DataStreme WES website.

Extras include color photographs arranged by week (chapter) to supplement your study of the DataStreme WES textbook. For example, click on Chapter 1 and then click on the first thumbnail for an enlarged image with the caption, "Water in Three Phases."

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DataStreme WES website. You may want to "bookmark" this page on your computer. Return frequently to get into the flow of DataStreme WES!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest WV Animation indicates that clouds and water vapor generally move from [(west to east)(east to west)] across the nation.
In the tropical Pacific, the highest sea-surface temperatures occur in the [(western)(eastern)] portion of the ocean basin.

Historical Events

1 September 1923...A typhoon swept over the Tokyo, Japan metropolitan area, followed by an earthquake that evening. Typhoon winds fanned fires set by the earthquake. As many as 143,000 people died in the multi-disaster. (The Weather Doctor)
1 September 1914...The town of Bloomingdale, MI was deluged with 9.78 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record for the Wolverine State. (31^st-1^st) (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
1 September 1988...Thunderstorms produced heavy rain in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Ely, MN was drenched with three inches of rain in two hours, and pelted with one-inch hail. The heavy rain flooded streets and basements, and the high water pressure that resulted blew the covers off manholes. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1-2 September 1935...Perhaps the most intense hurricane ever to hit the U.S. struck the Florida Keys with sustained winds of over 155 mph with gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the 1^st, the "Labor Day Hurricane" formed rapidly over the Bahama Islands and intensified into a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir Simpson Scale) with sustained winds of over 155 mph and gusts exceeding 200 mph. On the next day, this hurricane generated a fifteen-foot tide and waves thirty feet high, as it became the first known Category-5 hurricane to hit the US Mainland. More than 400 persons perished in the storm on that Labor Day, including many World War I veterans building a bridge from the Keys to the mainland. The barometric pressure at Matecumbe Bay, FL hit a record low for the U.S. at 26.35 inches (or 892 millibars). (David Ludlum) (The Weather Doctor)
3 September 1821...A hurricane made landfall at Long Island, near the current J.F. Kennedy Airport, then moved through western Connecticut. The hurricane produced a record high tide at New York City. (David Ludlum)
3 September 1970...During the early evening hours, in the midst of a severe hailstorm at Coffeyville, KS, a stone 17.5 inches in circumference and 1.67 pounds in weight was recovered. At the time, it was the largest measured hailstone in U.S. weather records. Average stone size from the storm was five inches in diameter, with another stone reportedly eight inches in diameter. (David Ludlum)
4 September 1939...A "Once-in-a-Hundred-Year" thunderstorm deluged Washington, DC with 4.4 inches of rain in two hours. September of that year was very dry across much of the nation, and Washington, DC received more rain in that two-hour period than most other places in the country that entire month. (David Ludlum)
4-6 September 1970...Moisture from Pacific Tropical Storm Norma led to heavy rain and severe flooding over a three-day span. Unprecedented rains caused rivers in central Arizona to rise five to ten feet per hour, sweeping cars and buildings as far as 30 to 40 miles downstream, leading to the greatest natural disaster of record for Arizona. Flooding claimed the lives of 23 persons, mainly campers, and caused millions of dollars damage. Water crested 36 feet above normal near Sunflower. Workman's Creek was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State. An estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
4 September 1997...A 15-foot deep by 150-foot wide wall of water, mud, boulders and debris flowed down Mill Creek Canyon into Forest Falls, CA, where 2.5 inches of rain fell in 45 minutes. Roads, vehicles, houses and businesses were battered, with $3.5 million in damage and two injuries. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
6 September 1667...A "Dreadful hurricane" hit Virginia with 12 inches of rain. It overturned houses, stripped the fields of crops and pushed tides 12 feet above normal. (Intellicast)
6 September 1992 (date approximate)...A downpour of rain near Bombay, India caused stampede of worshippers at a temple dedicated to Varuna, god of rain. Eleven people died. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 September 1970...A lightning bolt struck a group of football players at Gibbs High School in Saint Petersburg, FL, killing two persons and injuring 22 others. All the thirty-eight players and four coaches on the field were knocked off their feet by the lightning discharge. (The Weather Channel)
7-9 September 1992...Heavy rain swamped northern Pakistan, resulting in phenomenal flooding. On the 9th, 6.72 inches of rain fell in 20 hours at Islamabad. The rain and flooding led to the collapse of 2.8 million homes, with at least 1184 deaths and roughly 4 million made homeless. Rivers in Punjab widened to 20 miles. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)