WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

16-20 July 2018

Items of Interest:

Hurricane awareness week in New England and interior New York State -- During week of 15-21 July 2018, several coastal New England states will observe New England Hurricane Awareness Week. Sections of interior New York State will also schedule Hurricane Awareness activities.
Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Honolulu will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this past weekend and at the start of this week (15-17 July). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Honolulu and the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. The other time when Oahu experienced a zenithal sun was in late May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
Shark Week 2018 starts next weekend --The Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2018, a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks, starts next Sunday evening, 22 July. The week, which is the 30th, has 22 specials features nearly one dozen celebrates and is also promoted on social media networks. Shark Week was first run in July 1987 in an effort to raise public awareness and respect for sharks. [The Discovery Channel]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, several tropical cyclones were found traveling across the North Atlantic and the western North Pacific basins:

In the North Atlantic basin, the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl, which had been the first Atlantic hurricane of 2018, were found traveling to the west-northwest across the waters of northeastern Caribbean at the start of last week. The National Hurricane Center issued its last advisory on the remnants of Beryl early last Monday morning as the remnant low was approximately 80 miles to the west-northwest of Dominica or 300 miles to the southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. However, satellite surveillance indicated these remnants to have continued toward the west-northwest and then northwest, passing the Bahamas and over the waters of western North Atlantic. During the predawn hours of this past Saturday, the National Hurricane Center declared that the remnants of Beryl had redeveloped into Subtropical Storm Beryl, which was located 290 miles to the north of Bermuda. On Saturday, Beryl began to curve to the north-northeast. On Sunday, Beryl was accelerating before making an abrupt turn to the east-northeast. As of late Sunday night, Beryl became a remnant low as it was located 455 miles to the north-northeast of Bermuda or 420 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on former Hurricane Beryl.
Tropical Storm Chris was meandering off the coast of the Carolinas at the start of last week. For most of last Monday, the center of Tropical Storm Chris was stationary while it strengthened approximately 200 miles to the south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. On Tuesday, Chris began to move toward the northeast, becoming the second Atlantic hurricane of 2018 on Tuesday afternoon as it was heading toward the northeast, away from the Carolina coast. By late Tuesday, Hurricane Chris had intensified to a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, with maximum sustained surface winds reaching 105 mph as it was approximately 245 miles to the east-southeast of Cape Hatteras. Chris began to weaken on Wednesday as it continued toward the northeast. On Thursday morning Tropical Storm Chris lost its tropical characteristics and became a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph as it continued to race off toward the northeast. At that time, the center of this system was located 290 miles to the east of Halifax, Nova Scotia or 275 miles to the southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Additional information and satellite images on Hurricane Chris are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Maria, which had become a super typhoon equivalent in strength to a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale late in the previous week, weakened slowly and then re-intensified as it traveled toward the west-northwest passing across the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Maria then weakened as it moved across the East China Sea during the early part of last week. As of late Wednesday, Maria made landfall near Fuzhou a city in Fujian Province, China. After making landfall, Maria weakened rapidly and dissipated by early Friday. Check the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite information on Super typhoon Maria.
Over this past weekend, the eleventh tropical depression of 2018 in the western Pacific formed nearly 480 miles to the northeast of Manila, Philippines. This system, identified as Tropical Depression 11W (TD-11W), was tracking toward the west-southwest and then toward the west as of Monday (local time). Current forecasts indicate that TD-11W should strengthen to a tropical storm as it continues to travel toward the west early this week. Brushing the northern coast of the Philippine Island of Luzon, this tropical storm should continue westward and cross China's Hainan Island by midweek. Eventually, the tropical storm should cross the Gulf of Tonkin and make landfall along the northern coast of Vietnam. After landfall, the system should weaken as it continues across Vietnam and into northern Laos.
NOTE: During the week before last, former Typhoon Prapiroon had dissipated over the Sea of Japan after traveling across northern Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture. The remnants of Prapiroon produced torrential rains across part of Japan from the early morning of 2 July through the morning of 9 July, creating Japan's worst flooding disaster in 35 years. The rain also caused deadly landslides and numerous fatalities. [NASA Earth Observatory] Information on former Typhoon Prapiroon is available on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Updated El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion is released -- Forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) released their monthly El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion late last week. They reported an ENSO-neutral situation continued through June 2018, with slightly above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) found across the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean. A relatively warm volume of water was expanding upward from below in the eastern Pacific. In addition, other oceanic and atmospheric conditions remained close to average, suggestive of the continuation of an ENSO-neutral situation with neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions prevailing. The prediction models used by the forecasters indicate a continuation of the ENSO-neutral conditions through the remainder of Northern Hemisphere summer (June, July and August), with the majority of the models indicating the likely onset of an El Niño by the start of boreal autumn (September through November). Therefore, the forecasters have continued an El Niño Watch as part of the CPC's ENSO Alert System Status, since they increased the chance of El Niño conditions occurring in boreal autumn to approximately 65 percent and give about a 70 percent chance for El Niño in Northern Hemisphere's 2018-2019 winter season. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center] Note: The criteria used for CPC's ENSO Alert System is available.
An ENSO blog was written by a contractor with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center that explains the decision-making process that CPC and IRI forecasters use in determining the existence of El Niño conditions. She notes that ENSO-neutral conditions are continuing despite a recent warming of the waters in the deeper region of the eastern equatorial Pacific and a steady rise in the sea surface temperatures in a region of the central equatorial Pacific (called Niño3.4) used as a standard to determine the occurrence of an El Niño or La Niña. She also explains why the forecasters make ENSO forecasts, as these are important in the issuance of CPC seasonal outlooks for the upcoming Northern Hemisphere winter (December-February). [NOAA Climate.gov News]
An El Niño forecast from Down Under -- Forecasters with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently issued an updated ENSO forecast, in which they reported a continuation of ENSO-neutral conditions. However, they note that the latest model outlooks along with a recent warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean indicate that the likelihood of El Niño forming in Southern Hemisphere spring (September-November) has increased. Therefore, they have changed the Bureau's ENSO Outlook to "El Niño WATCH," meaning that the likelihood of El Niño forming during the remainder of 2018 is approximately 50%. [Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology]
Unmanned ocean gliders to be used to help improve hurricane forecasts -- Over the next several weeks, NOAA, the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System and university partners are scheduled to launch a fleet of 15 unmanned gliders into the waters of the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Ocean to collect important oceanic data involving tropical cyclones that could prove useful to forecasters. These gliders will dive to a depth of approximately a half of a mile below the surface and collect ocean temperature and salinity data before resurfacing and transmitting these collected data to a satellite and then to the Global Telecommunications Center for use by NOAA's National Weather Service. [NOAA Stories]
Decline in Great Lakes ice cover is seen over last four decades -- A team of scientists from NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLREL) and the University of Michigan recently reported on their analysis of the Great Lakes ice climatology dataset for the last 45 winters (1973-2017). They found a marked decline in the maximum extent of winter ice cover on all the lakes over the past four decades, with the greatest declines occurring on Lakes Superior, Huron, St. Clair, and Erie. Since Great Lakes ice cover appears to be a sensitive indicator of regional climate and climate change, the decreasing maximum ice extent of Great Lakes ice is attributed to a combination of natural climate influences, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), as well as influences from anthropogenic forced climate change. The ice cover also affects the ecosystem of the Lakes along with the people who rely upon this ecosystem. [NOAA NCEI News]
Smaller harmful algal bloom predicted this summer for western Lake Erie -- Late last week scientists from NOAA and the partner institutions of Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio State University, Heidelberg University and University of Toledo predict a harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie for the 2018 summer that would be smaller than the previous year, but larger than in 2016, which had a relatively mild bloom. The anticipated bloom should also be much smaller than the record 2015 bloom. This 2018 seasonal forecast involves the generation of a severity index based upon numerical models that involve assessing and predicting the nutrient runoff. In addition, the hope is for more accurate forecasts, since NOAA will increase use of data obtained from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-3a satellite. This Earth observation satellite is dedicated to oceanography that is part of the European Union's Copernicus program. The satellite, which was launched in 2016, measures coastal water color and shows the location of HABs. [NOAA News]
Possible meteorite fragments recovered from a national marine sanctuary in Washington state -- A team of scientists from NOAA, NASA and the Ocean Exploration Trust retrieved and are studying several pieces of a possible meteorite from the waters of NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary offshore of Washington. A meteorite, which was tracked by the National Weather Service's Doppler Radar, broke into numerous pieces before hitting the sanctuary's waters on the evening of 7 March 2018; a sonic boom also was recorded. The team worked with the Exploration Vehicle (E/V) Nautilus using a multibeam sounder to map the impact site and then recover parts of the meteorite using an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) from the seafloor mud in waters about 350 feet deep and approximately 16 miles offshore. [NOAA News]
Significant harmful algal bloom is predicted this summer for western Lake Erie -- Late last week scientists from NOAA and the partner institutions of Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio State University, Ohio's Heidelberg University and University of Michigan predict a harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie for summer 2017 that would be smaller than the record 2015 bloom, but at levels found in 2013 and 2014. This final version of the 2017 seasonal forecast involves the generation of a severity index, based upon the amount of the bloom's biomass, from numerical models that involve assessing and predicting the nutrient runoff. The anticipated significant algal bloom is due to recent above average runoff into western Lake Erie and from coastal water color obtained from the European Sentinel-3 satellite. [NOAA 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:

17 July 1858...The U.S. sloop Niagara departed Queenstown, Ireland to assist in laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. (Naval Historical Center)
17 July 1994...The Polar Sea departed from Victoria, BC on operation Arctic Ocean Section 1994 and became the first U.S. surface vessel to reach the North Pole. She then transited the Arctic Ocean back to her home port in Seattle, WA. (USCG Historian's Office)
17 July 1998...A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroyed 10 villages in Papua, New Guinea killing an estimated 1500 people, leaving 2000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless. (Wikipedia)
18 July 1986...Videotapes, taken by the deep-sea Alvin submersible, showing SS Titanic's remains were released. Looking like huge stalagmites, rusticles ("rust icicles") are a byproduct of the bacteria slowly converting the iron in the hull. The colony of iron-eating bacteria flourishes in the anaerobic (without oxygen) environment inside the hollow multi-layered rusticles while on the outside, porous layers support oxygen-dependent bacteria. In this eerie way, there is still life on the Titanic as the ship lies deep on the ocean floor. (Today in Science History)
18-19 July 1979...A 30-foot high tsunami wave leveled four Indonesian villages on the Sunda Islands during the night. The wave swept 1500 feet inland, causing 589 deaths among the sleeping villagers. A landslide from Mount Werung (Lomblen Island) caused the tsunami. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
18-22 July 1997...Hurricane Danny, the only hurricane that made landfall in the continental US in 1997, moved inland into coastal Alabama at a snail's pace. Radar storm total estimates of 43 inches over Mobile Bay. A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell on 19-20 July at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
19 July 1843...The first all-metal liner, the SS Great Britain, was launched from Bristol, England. Designed by I. K. Brunel, the SS Great Britain was the first of the great steamships. She was the world's first screw-propeller driven (and first iron-hulled) steamship to cross the Atlantic (1845). The six-masted, single-screw, 3,270-ton vessel is 322 feet in length overall and carried a crew of 130 including 30 stewards for her 360-seat dining room. As the world's biggest ship of the time, she embarked on a varied career, first as a luxury liner carrying passengers to New York and Melbourne, then as a ferry carrying troops to the Crimea and India, and finally as a cargo ship, before being abandoned in the Falkland Islands in 1886. She was brought back to Bristol on this day in 1970, where she is now being restored by volunteers to her original appearance at the Great Western Dock in which she was built. (Today in Science History)
19 July 1886...A hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico crossed Florida causing great damage from Cedar Keys to Jacksonville. This was the third hurricane in one month to cross the Florida peninsula. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
19 July 1897...LT Robert E. Peary, USN, departed on a year-long Arctic Expedition that made many important discoveries, including one of largest meteorites, Cape York. (Naval Historical Center)
19 July 1994...Hurricane Emilia was the first of three Category-5 hurricanes to develop in the Central Pacific in 1994 as unusually warm sea temperatures prevailed south of Hawaii. Sustained winds reached 160 mph. (Intellicast)
20 July 1964...Four Navy divers entered Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off Bermuda for an 11-day experiment. On the 22^nd they submerged and then surfaced on 31 July 1964. (Naval Historical Center)
20 July 1985...Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank approximately 40 miles off the coast of Key West, FL, in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $400 million in coins and silver ingots. (InfoPlease.com)
22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)