WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

30 July - 3 August 2018

Item of Interest:

Mars is that bright object in the nighttime sky -- With planet Mars making its closest approach to Earth in the past 26 months on Tuesday, 31 July 2018, the Red Planet will appear to be the brightest in over two years during the nighttime hours of 27 July through 30 July. At closest approach on the 31st, Mars will only be 35.8 million miles from Earth. To view Mars, look for a bright object crossing the southern sky through most of the nighttime hours. [NASA Mars Exploration]
A celebration -- Wednesday, 1 August 2018, is the ancient Celtic holiday of Lammas that corresponds to one of the cross-quarter days, lying nearly halfway between the summer solstice (21 June 2018) and the autumnal equinox (23 September 2018). This holiday, also known as "loaf-mass day", originally marked the first wheat harvest of the year in the British Isles. [Editor's note: Next Tuesday morning, 7 August 2018, represents the exact halfway point between the dates of the solstice and equinox. EJH]
In the Land of the Midnight Sun -- The sun will set at Barrow, AK early Thursday morning (2:02 AM AKDT on 2 August 2018), marking the first time in 12 weeks (since 10 May 2018) that the sun has gone below the local horizon. However, the sun will remain below the horizon for 64 minutes before rising at 2:06 AM on Thursday. On each day until mid-November, the length of night will increase at Barrow. On the afternoon of 18 November 2018, the sun will set and remain below the horizon for a stretch of two months until late January 2019, when the sun will reappear above the horizon for slightly more than one hour, weather permitting.
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2018 Campaign for August commences -- The eighth in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2018 will commence this Thursday (2 August) and continue through Saturday, 11 August. 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 Cygnus 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 ninth series in the 2018 campaign is scheduled for 1-10 September 2018. [GLOBE at Night]
Coast Guard Day is celebrated this weekend -- Saturday, 4 August 2018, is designated Coast Guard Day, as the day commemorating the founding of the United States Coast Guard as the Revenue Cutter Service on 4 August 1790, by then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. A fleet of the first ten Revenue Service cutters were authorized by Congress with the responsibility for enforcement of the first tariff laws enacted by Congress under the Constitution. The Coast Guard was given its current name in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the US Lifesaving Service. In 1939, the US Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Coast Guard. Since 2001, the US Coast Guard has been part of the US Department of Homeland Security. [US Defense Department]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Tropical cyclone activity was found this past week in both the western and eastern sections of the North Pacific basin.

In the western North Pacific basin:
- Tropical Storm Ampil continued to the northwest along the northeastern coast of China and then into northeastern during the first several days of last week after producing torrential rainfall and damaging winds in Shanghai over the previous weekend. Following landfall, Ampil weakened to a tropical depression and eventually became a remnant low by midweek as the system was 500 miles to the west of Inchon, South Korea. By then, this system was heading toward the northeast across northeastern China. Heavy rain also fell in China's Shandong Province, where at least one fatality was reported due to the flooding. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Ampil.
- Tropical Depression 13W (TD-13W), which was also known as "Josie," continued traveling toward the north over the East China Sea offshore of the southeast coast of China at the beginning of last week. By Tuesday it passed Taiwan before dissipating. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on TD-3W.
- Tropical Depression 14W (TD-14W) strengthened to become Tropical Storm Wukong at the beginning of last week as the system was approximately 330 miles to the east of Minami Tori Shima, a Japanese coral atoll also known as Marcus Island. By Wednesday Wukong had strengthened to become a category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it was nearly 600 miles to the north-northeast of Minami Tori Shima. Curving toward the north-northeast, Typhoon Wukong weakened and began to lose its tropical characteristics approximately 670 miles east of Misawa, a city on Japan's Honshu Island. Eventually, Wukong became an extratropical storm before dissipating. A sequence of satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Wukong appear on the NASA Hurricane Page.
- Tropical Depression 15W (TD-15W), which was located nearly 400 miles to the north-northwest of the Caroline Islands at the start of last week, intensified to become Tropical Storm Jongdari, the twelfth named tropical cyclone of 2018 in the western North Pacific, as it traveled northward and then to the northeast. Jongdari became the fourth typhoon of the year by Thursday. Curving toward the northwest and then to the west and west-northwest, Typhoon Jongdari made landfall on the coast of the Mie Prefecture of Japan's Honshu Island on Saturday as a category 1 typhoon. Heading toward the west-southwest across Honshu, Typhoon Jongdari had weakened to a tropical storm by Sunday morning. By late Sunday night this tropical storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression as it was located southwest of Japan's Kyushu Island. Additional information and satellite images for Typhoon Jongdari are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In eastern North Pacific basin:
- A tropical depression formed on Thursday afternoon approximately 1100 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. During the predawn hours of Friday morning this tropical depression became Tropical Storm Gilma, the seventh named tropical cyclone of 2018 in the eastern North Pacific. For the remainder of Friday and then through Saturday and early Sunday, Gilma took a path toward the west or west-northwest. By midafternoon on Sunday, Gilma had become a remnant low as it was located approximately 1040 miles to the east of Hilo, HI, or just to the east of the 140th west meridian longitude, which marks the boundary between the eastern and central Pacific basin. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite imagery and additional information on Tropical Storm Gilma.
- Another tropical depression formed in the far western sections of the eastern North Pacific basin last Thursday afternoon, approximately 1430 miles to the east-southeast of Hilo, HI. This tropical depression, which was identified as Tropical Depression 9E (TD-9E), was relatively short-lived as it began dissipating by Friday morning after traveling westward. At this time, TD-9E was approximately 1255 miles to the east-southeast of Hilo, or to the east of the 140th meridian of longitude. However, remnants of TD-9E moved into the central Pacific later Friday. A satellite image and additional information on TD-9E can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Searches conducted in California's national marine sanctuaries for deep-sea corals and sponges -- Scientists are currently conducting expeditions onboard the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada to explore the coral, sponge, and groundfish communities in the waters of NOAA's Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries off the coast of north-central California. The expedition, which is scheduled to run through early August, will employ a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), launched from the ship and sent to as deep as 6000 feet in the ocean, where real-time video and images will be sent to the ship via a connecting cable. The ROV will collect geological and biological specimens for identification. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
Take a virtual dive into Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary -- NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program has developed a "Virtual Dive Gallery of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary" that is found in the coastal waters off Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. Six dives are currently available that show various views of the sanctuary, such as tunicate and cup corals and the Metridium wall off Tatoosh, Island. These sanctuary views can be enjoyed on a personal computer or a smartphone. The images on the tours have been developed in collaboration of The Ocean Agency, an international nonprofit organization from Chicago, IL dedicated to marine conservation. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
NOAA's Veteran and Conservation Corps programs are highlighted -- NOAA Fisheries and partners are providing job training for veterans and young people through hands-on work experience in on-the-ground restoration projects designed to generate skills. These programs also provide the opportunity to learn about habitat conservation and restoration. Three unique regional efforts are underway in the five Gulf Coast States and in California and Washington on the West Coast that are designed to protect, conserve and restore a wide range of habitats and species. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
Shark fishing in Gulf of Mexico -- More than two dozen photographs were taken during the Bottom Longline Survey conducted by the NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Fisheries Science Center and Mississippi Laboratories in the Gulf of Mexico. This survey is intended to monitor inter-annual variability of shark populations along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
The South Pacific Oscillation could help forecast a possible El Niño in near future -- A meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma wrote a guest post to the ENSO Blog of the ClimateWatch Magazine describing how seasonal forecasters should be looking to atmospheric and oceanic features in the South Pacific before judging the type of El Niño event that is anticipated over the next several months. He is pointing to the existence of a Southern Pacific Oscillation (SPO), or a pattern of sea level pressure (SLP) variations in the Southeast Pacific between latitudes of about 60°S and 35°S during Southern Hemisphere winter (June, July and August). According to his analysis of the current pressure patterns across the South Pacific, if an El Niño forms this year, it should be a "weak" Central Pacific event, similar to the one in 2004-2005, where above average sea surface temperatures should develop over the central equatorial Pacific near the Dateline. [NOAA Climate.gov 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:

30 July 1997...Two waterspouts moved onshore in northern Virginia Beach, VA. One tracked into Norfolk. (National Weather Service files)
31 July 1498...On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, the explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to reach the island of Trinidad. (Wikipedia)
31 July 1978...A 50-yard wide waterspout came onshore at Kill Devil Hills, NC and destroyed a small house. One person died and four were hurt. Waterspouts are typically considered relatively benign. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
1 August 1498...Christopher Columbus reached Venezuela, the first known European to visit that country. (Wikipedia)
1-3 August 1989...Hurricane Chantal made landfall along the Upper Texas coast about sunrise on the 1^st. Chantal deluged parts of Galveston Island and southeastern Texas with 8 to 12 inches of rain. Unofficial totals ranged up to twenty inches. Winds gusted to 82 mph at Galveston, and reached 76 mph in the Houston area. Tides were 5 to 7 feet high. The hurricane claimed two lives, and caused 100 million dollars damage. The remains of Hurricane Chantal also deluged north central Texas with heavy rain. Up to 6.50 inches drenched Stephens County, and Wichita Falls reported 2.22 inches of rain in just one hour on the 2^nd. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
1 August 2002...At the Delaware Bay buoy located 26 miles southeast of Cape May, NJ, an ocean water temperature of 83.1 degrees Fahrenheit was measured--marking the highest ocean temperature recorded at that buoy since observations began there in 1984. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
2 August 1880...Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was adopted officially by the British Parliament, selected because Greenwich had been the national center for time since 1675. GMT was originally set-up to aid naval navigation, but was not on land until transportation improved. GMT was adopted by the U.S. at noon on 18 Nov 1883 when the telegraph lines transmitted time signals to all major cities. Subsequently, GMT was adopted worldwide on 1 Nov 1884 when the International Meridian Conference met in Washington, DC, USA and 24 time zones were created. (Today in Science History)
2-3 August 1922...A typhoon hit the China Coast at Swatow on the night of the 2^nd. The wind and the storm surge killed as many as 50,000 of the city's 65,000 residents. Barometric pressure at landfall had dropped to at least 932.3 millibars (27.53 inches). (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
3 August 1492...The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, in command of three ships, embarked from the Spanish port of Palos de la Frontera on a journey westward in search of a sea route to Asia. This expedition, which reached the Bahamas near North America on 12 October, was the first of four expeditions that Columbus made to the "New World". (The History Channel)
3 August 1864...The crew of a Union fleet witnessed a waterspout move right past their ship, causing no damage, in Albemarle Sound, NC. (National Weather Service files)
3 August 1958...At 11:15 EDT, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the first ship to reach the geographic North Pole submerged, traveling at a depth of approximately 500 feet from the Beaufort Sea near Point Barrow, AK on 1 August to the Greenland Sea near Spitzbergen on 5 August. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
3 August 1960...A severe squall line with hurricane force winds crossed Chicago and then proceeded across Lake Michigan. Two hours later a seiche caused the lake to rise as much as four feet along the Chicago shore. One man died clinging to a rope on the lake side of a filtration plant near Navy Pier. (National Weather Service files)
3 August 1970...Hurricane Celia made landfall near Port Aransas on the Texas coast, producing wind gusts to 161 mph at Corpus Christi, and estimated wind gusts of 180 mph at Arkansas Pass. Even at Del Rio, 250 miles inland, Celia produced wind gusts to 89 mph. The hurricane was the most destructive of record along the Texas coast (until Hurricane Alicia in 1983) causing $454 million damage as 8950 homes were destroyed on the Coastal Bend. Celia also claimed eleven lives and injured 466 people. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
3-4 August 1978...The remnants of Tropical Storm Amelia produced up to 32 inches of rain on Schackelford County in Texas, an incredible amount of rain for a far-inland and non-mountainous area. A twenty-foot wall of water killed six during the evening of the 4^th in Albany, resulting in 89 percent of the city being covered by water. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
4(?) August 1609...A tempest struck the western Atlantic Ocean scattering small British convoy headed to Virginia. Two vessels sank; another, the Sea Venture was presumed lost. However, a ship made landfall on Bermuda, shipwrecking the crew. After a ten-month stay to build two small rescue boats, they sailed to Jamestown (Virginia) Colony. Incident accounts may have provided William Shakespeare with background material for The Tempest. (The Weather Doctor)
4 August 1666...A violent hurricane raked the island of Guadeloupe, destroying all boats along its coast, including a 17-ship fleet with 2000 troops. The island's batteries, with 6-foot thick walls, were destroyed and the 16-pounders (large cannons) were washed away. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
4 August 1858...After several unsuccessful attempts, the first trans-Atlantic cable, a 2000-mile submerged telegraph line conceived by Cyrus W. Field, was completed by USS Niagara and British ship Agamemnon. While the first messages were exchanged between President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria on 16 August, the cable ceased functioning in early September. The first permanent trans-Atlantic cable was laid in 1866. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
5-6 August 1959...Hurricane Dot crossed Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands producing sustained winds of 103 mph and gusts to 125 mph. Over 6 inches of rain fell there and over 9 inches on the island of Hawaii. The sugar cane crop on Kauai sustained $2.7 million in damages. (Intellicast)
5 August 1980...Hurricane Allen reached category five status (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) for the first of three times during its long path across the Atlantic with a pressure of 911 millibars (26.90 inches of mercury) while south of Puerto Rico. (National Weather Service files)
5-7 August 1997...Although far to the southwest, Hurricane Guillermo generated surf to 12-foot heights along the beaches of southern California. In Newport Beach, lifeguards made almost 300 rescues on the 5^th and 6^th. Rip currents were responsible for one death and three injuries. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)