WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

9-13 July 2018

Items of Interest:

Webinar in the Climate Science Special Report Seminar Series will be conducted this week -- The first seminar of eight in the Climate Science Special Report Seminar Series will be held at noon (Eastern Time) on Thursday (12 July). This webinar, entitled "Climate Science: What's New?" will feature Katharine Hayhoe, Atmospheric Scientist, Texas Tech University as the speaker. She will highlight key results from the first volume of the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment, on which she was a lead author. In addition, she will outline what can be expected from the second volume on how climate change is affecting regions and sectors across the U.S. The Climate Science Special Report Seminar Series is co-sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program and NOAA's National Ocean Service. [NOAA Climate.gov Teaching News]
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2018 Campaign for July is underway -- The seventh in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2018 will continue through Friday, 13 July. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. These constellations are Hercules in the Northern Hemisphere and Scorpius for the Southern Hemisphere. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The eighth series in the 2018 campaign is scheduled for 2-11 August 2018. [GLOBE at Night]
Higher than normal ocean tides anticipated this coming week along nation's coasts -- According to the NOAA National Ocean Service's High Tide Bulletin for Summer 2018, higher than average tides are expected between 11 and 16 July for most of the Pacific Coast of the US, stretching southward from Alaska to California and along the nation's Atlantic Coast, running from Maine southward to Florida's East Coast. Higher than average tides also can be expected surrounding Hawaii and the US Pacific Islands. A new moon occurring on Thursday evening (12 July), coupled with lunar perigee (when the Moon is closest to Earth) that follows five hours later on Friday morning, will be responsible for the perigean spring tide that creates higher than normal high tides. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
Fisheries celebrating Habitat Month -- The NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation has proclaimed that NOAA Fisheries is observing July as "Habitat Month", which celebrates the benefits of habitat conservation to fish and wildlife, communities, and the economy. During the month examples will be highlighted of how healthy habitat is the foundation for sustaining fisheries and recovering protected species. This year's theme is "The Power of Partnerships!" [NOAA Fisheries Feature Story]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Several tropical cyclones were reported to have been traveling across the North Atlantic and both the eastern and western North Pacific basins during the past week:

In the North Atlantic basin, the second tropical depression formed last Thursday that eventually became Hurricane Beryl, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2018. As the time of formation, this tropical depression, identified as Tropical Depression TD-2) was nearly 1400 miles to the east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles. Traveling westward, this tropical depression strengthened to become Tropical Storm Beryl on Thursday afternoon. Beryl intensified to become a hurricane early Friday morning as maximum sustained surface winds reached 75 mph. At that time, this hurricane's center was located approximately 1140 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles. This relatively compact-sized hurricane took a slight turn to take a path toward the west-northwest. By late Saturday morning, this category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale had weakened sufficiently to cause it to be downgraded to a tropical storm when maximum sustained surface winds fell to 65 mph as Beryl was within 760 miles to the east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles. Beryl began to become disorganized as it continued toward the west-northwest on Sunday afternoon. By late Sunday evening, remnants of former Tropical Storm Beryl were spread over the northeastern Caribbean, approximately 80 miles to the west-northwest of Dominica or 300 miles to the southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Current forecasts indicate that the remnants of Beryl should move across the northeast Caribbean, passing to the south of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Monday. Additional information and satellite images associated with Hurricane Beryl (or TD-2) are available from the NASA Hurricane Page
The third tropical depression of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season (TD-3) formed last Friday afternoon approximately 235 miles to the south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. After heading toward the Carolina coast on Saturday, TD3 slowed and became stationary as it strengthened to become Tropical Storm Chris on Sunday morning. At that time, this new tropical storm was located approximately 150 miles to the south of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. During the rest of Sunday, Chris strengthened as it wandered over the offshore waters nearly 200 miles to the south-southeast of Cape Hatteras. Tropical Storm Chris should become a hurricane on Monday as it would travel slowly toward the east-southeast.
In the eastern North Pacific, Tropical Storm Fabio continued to travel toward the west away from the western coast of Mexico at the start of last week. By midmorning on Monday, Fabio had strengthened to a hurricane as maximum sustained surface winds had reached 75 mph. At that time, the center of Fabio was located approximately 700 miles to the south of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Fabio continued to strengthen as it headed toward the west-northwest on Monday and into Tuesday. By Tuesday evening, as Fabio was approximately 680 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, maximum sustained surface winds surrounding the hurricane's center had reached 110 mph, making Fabio a strong category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. During the remainder of last week, Fabio weakened to a tropical storm during the predawn hours of Thursday as it traveled toward the west-northwest and northwest. Fabio weakened to a post-tropical cyclone or remnant low during the hours after sunrise on Friday as it was located approximately 1285 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas. Although Fabio remained well offshore of the North American continent, ocean swells generated by Fabio created high surf and potentially dangerous rip currents along sections of the coasts of southern California and the Baja California Peninsula late last week. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and additional information on Hurricane Fabio.
In western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Prapiroon was continuing to travel northward across the East China Sea at the start of last week after passing just to the west of Okinawa during the previous weekend. Prapiroon then began curving toward the north-northeast as it passed just to the west of southwestern Japan's Kyushu Prefecture and to the east of the Korean Peninsula. Moving over the Sea of Japan, Prapiroon dissipated after traveling across northern Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture by midweek. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Prapiroon.
The tenth tropical depression of 2018 in the western North Pacific basin (TD-10W) formed last Tuesday evening (local time) to the southeast of Guam. TD-10W strengthened to a tropical storm on Wednesday and then to Typhoon Maria as it headed toward Guam during the second half of last week. Strong winds on Wednesday and Thursday caused damage to US Air Force aircraft located at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base. By Friday, Maria had undergone explosive intensification as it became a super typhoon with maximum sustained wind speeds approaching 160 mph, which is equivalent in strength to a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Maria weakened slightly as it continued traveling to the west-northwest across the East China Sea over the weekend. As of Monday (local time), Typhoon Maria was traveling toward the west-northwest as it was located slightly less than 500 miles to the southeast of Okinawa. Maria was forecast to make landfall along the eastern coast of China by midweek. Check the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite information on Super typhoon Maria (formerly TD-10W).

Updated Atlantic hurricane season outlook foresees less activity -- Philip Klotzbach and fellow hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University, issued their updated July forecast for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season that contained changes to their earlier April and late May forecasts. In their newly issued forecast they now foresee below-average tropical cyclone activity, which is in contrast to their April forecast when they envisioned slightly above-average activity. They changed their current outlook for the number of named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms with sustained surface winds of at least 39 mph) from 14 to 11 because of the formation of Subtropical Storm Alberto over the Gulf of Mexico in late May; thus, the total seasonal forecast for named storms would remain the same as earlier envisioned. They also reduced their number of anticipated hurricanes (maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) from six at the end of May to four and their number of projected major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) would drop from two to one. The probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the United States coastline and in the Caribbean also has been decreased. This change in their outlook is due to colder than average surface waters in the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic and the increased odds that a weak El Niño would develop during the next several months, which would include the main portion of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. [The Tropical Storm Project]
Satellites track Saharan dust layer spreading westward across the Atlantic Ocean -- A map was generated that displays a relatively thick dust layer spreading westward across the tropical North Atlantic from the Sahara Desert to the western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in late June. A map shows the dust column mass density that was generated from data collected by the MODIS sensors on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. The dust plume that continued for approximately 10 days was affecting the air quality in North and South America and could also be responsible for suppressing formation of Atlantic hurricanes and in the decline of coral reefs. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New tools that track ocean currents and eddies could help pinpoint marine "hotspots of risk" -- A team of researchers from NOAA and several other research institutions has been developing a new high-resolution "Lagrangian Coherent Structures" mapping technique that can be used to model dynamic features in ocean surface currents. The maps can identify coherent structures such as ocean fronts and eddies, identified as "hotspots of risk," as they represent a convergence of masses of fish, predators and fishers, which increase the risk of entangling non-target fish and protected species such marine mammals, sea turtles and sharks. Using this technique, NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center has developed "EcoCast," a mapping tool to help fishers identify productive fishing areas, while avoiding areas with high risk of catching other, unintended species. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Story]
Drones and other remotely piloted aircraft collect data and help in future weather and climate research across the Arctic -- NOAA scientists have been participating in several field campaigns in which autonomous unmanned vehicles such as drones and tethered weather balloons have been used as platforms to collect environmental data over tundra, ice and water in northern Alaska. These data are then used to help improve weather and climate predictions. The field campaigns, which have been supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, have been conducted along the Beaufort Sea coast of northern Alaska near Prudhoe Bay. Later this summer, two additional field campaigns will be conducted, with one in support of the Year of Polar Prediction, while the second will be in support of Stratified Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic (SODA), which is an interagency effort led by the US Office of Naval Research. [NOAA News]
Red clay runoff discolors western Lake Superior-- A digital photograph taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows the discolored appearance of the waters of western Lake Superior along the shore to the southeast of the twin ports of Superior, WI and Duluth, MN following torrential rains in mid-June. The rains sent increased quantities of red clay sediment down the Nemadji River and into the Lake Superior Harbor. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New primary driver of extreme Texas heat waves has been found -- A team of scientists from Columbia University and several universities in China recently reported finding that a strengthened gradient or change in ocean temperatures from west to east across the tropical Pacific during the preceding winter appears to be the main driver of more frequent heat waves in Texas during the following summer. With the enhanced ocean temperature gradient, convection is enhanced in the western Pacific, while convection is suppressed in the eastern Pacific. These changes in convection can affect the atmospheric flow pattern, which eventually forms a high pressure circulation pattern over the Texas region in the summer. [NOAA Research News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

10 July 1979...Hurricane Bob became the first Atlantic Hurricane to be given a male name. (National Weather Service files)
11 July 1576...The British seaman Martin Frobisher sighted Greenland during one of his attempts to find the Northwest Passage. (Wikipedia)
11 July 1776...The English explorer Captain James Cook began his third and final voyage, exploring the North Pacific, western North America to as far north as the Bering Strait and the Sandwich Islands (later renamed the Hawaiian Islands), where he was killed in February 1779. (Wikipedia)
12 July 1844...Captain J.N. Taylor of the Royal Navy first demonstrated the fog horn. At the time, it was called a telephone - to mean far-signaling, thus an instrument like a fog-horn, used on ships, railway trains, etc., for signaling by loud sounds or notes. The 19 July 1844 Times (London) reported, "Yesterday week was a levee day at the Admiralty, and amongst the numerous models...was Captain J. N. Tayler's telephone instrument... The chief object of this powerful wind instrument is to convey signals during foggy weather. Also the Illustrated London News on 24 Aug. 1844 referred to "The Telephone; a Telegraphic Alarum. Amongst the many valuable inventions...that of the 'Telephone, or Marine Alarum and Signal Trumpet', by Captain J. N. Taylor." (Today in Science History)
12 July 1920...The Panama Canal was formally dedicated, having taken more than 30 years to overcome the enormous engineering challenges and complete at a cost of $347 million. The first ship had traveled through six years earlier when the Panama Canal opened to shipping on 15 Aug 1914. At that time, the world scarcely noticed the event since German troops were driving across Belgium toward Paris and the newspapers relegated the Panama story to their back pages; the greatest engineering project in the history of the world had been dwarfed by the totality of World War I. (Today in Science History)
12 July 1993...A magnitude 7.8 earthquake that was situated offshore of Hokkaido, Japan produced a tsunami that killed 202 people on the island of Okushiri. (Wikipedia)
13 July 1996...Heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Bertha caused roads to washout in the Camden, ME area. Two people were hurt when they drove into a 600-pound boulder that had fallen onto the roadway due to the heavy rain. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
15-16 July 1916...A dying South Atlantic Coast storm produced torrential rains in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Altapass, NC was drenched with 22.22 inches of rain, a 24-hour rainfall record for the Tarheel State, and at the time, a 24-hour record for the U.S. (The current 24-hour rainfall record for the US is 43 inches set 25-25 July 1979 at Alvin, TX). Flooding resulted in considerable damage, particularly to railroads. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) (NCDC)
16 July 1999...A plane piloted by John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed into Long Island Sound as haze or a dark night sky caused him to lose control of the aircraft. (National Weather Service files)