Weekly Ocean News

20-24 August 2018

Items of Interest:

Understanding the meaning of sea level and its changes -- NOAA has a five-part Explainer feature that defines several terms used to describe sea level (global sea level, local sea level and mean sea level). Knowledge of these terms is important for answering several questions that involve measurement of sea level, the changes in sea level, relating sea level changes with a changing climate and in how changes in sea level would affect the public. [NOAA News]
Investigating the history of weather data -- NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) maintains a Historical Observing Metadata Repository (HOMR) that is designed to help researchers as well as the public get a better understanding of the weather records archived by NCEI from around the world. In this case, metadata are data providing information about other data, such as weather and climate data obtained from observations. HOMR contains accessible records of historical names, identifiers, locations, observation times, and equipment for stations not only in the United States, but for many other participating nations. [NOAA NCEI News]
Online tool is available to assess daily weather records -- NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has a readily accessible Daily Weather Records Data Tool that provides summaries of recent global and U.S. daily weather records with options to view monthly, annual, all-time, or selected records. This tool, which provides insight into recent weather and climate behavior, analyzes maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and snowfall records from a selected set of weather observing stations in NCEI's Global Historical Climatological Network. [NOAA NCEI News]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Several tropical cyclones (low pressure systems that form over tropical ocean waters) were found across the North Pacific and North Atlantic basins during the past week:

In the western North Pacific basin:
- Tropical Storm Yagi made landfall along the coast of China's Zhejiang province late Sunday at the start of last week. Accompanied by locally heavy rainfall, this tropical storm continued inland before dissipating. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and additional information on Yagi.
- Tropical Storm Leepi was passing south-southeast of Iwo To, Japan at the start of last week. Over the next several days, Leepi curved toward the west-northwest and made landfall on the eastern coast of Japan's southern island of Kyushu early last Wednesday. Following landfall, Leepi weakened to a tropical depression as it continued westward, dissipating by Wednesday near Busan, South Korea. Additional information and satellite images for Tropical Storm Leepi can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
- Hurricane Hector, which had been a category 4 hurricane as it traveled westward from the eastern North Pacific basin and across the central North Pacific during the previous week, became a tropical storm on last Sunday afternoon before reaching the International Dateline (longitude 180 degrees). After crossing the Dateline early last Monday, Hector entered the western North Pacific basin, but still retained its name. Therefore, Hector was the first named tropical cyclone to travel across portions of all three North Pacific basins since Genevieve in 2014.Hector weakened as it continued to travel toward the west-northwest. By late Wednesday, Hector had become a tropical depression and then a remnant low. Check the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite images pertaining to Hurricane Hector.
- Tropical Depression 20W became Tropical Storm Bebinca as it northward traveled across the South China Sea at the start of last week. Eventually, Bebinca made landfall in northern Vietnam this past Thursday (local time). The remnants of Bebinca continued to move westward into Laos. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and more information on Tropical Storm Bebinca.
- Tropical Depression 21W formed over the East China Sea and then strengthened to become Tropical Storm Rumbia last Wednesday and on the following day, it made landfall near Shanghai, China. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Rumbia.
- A tropical depression (TD-22W) formed from an area of low pressure over the waters of the Philippine Sea last Wednesday. This tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Soulik. By Thursday, this system had become a severe tropical storm before intensify to the sixth typhoon in the 2018 Pacific typhoon season. As of Sunday morning (local time), Typhoon Soulik, a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale was moving toward the west-northwest as it was approximately 75 miles to the west of Iwo To, Japan. Soulik was forecast to continue intensify as it would travel toward the west-northwest at the start of this week before curving toward the north. By late this week Typhoon Soulik was expected to intensify to a major typhoon as it would approach the western Japanese islands and the Korean Peninsula. The NASA Hurricane Page has more information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Soulik.
- Tropical Depression 23W formed near the Marshall Islands this past Thursday. Moving generally toward the west and then toward the northwest at the start of this past weekend, this system became Tropical Storm Cimaron. As of Sunday morning (local time), Cimaron was approximately 450 miles to the east of Saipan. Cimaron was forecast to continue its travel toward the northwest, intensifying into a typhoon as it approaches Iwo To, Japan and then to Japan's island of Honshu by late in the week.
In the eastern North Pacific basin:
- A tropical depression formed on Tuesday evening approximately 1115 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. On Wednesday morning this system became Tropical Storm Lane as it continued traveling toward the west-northwest. By Wednesday evening, Lane had become the sixth hurricane of 2018 in the eastern Pacific. At that time, Hurricane Lane was approximately 1540 miles to the west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas. Lane continued to strengthen to a major category 3 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) on Friday evening and to a category 4 hurricane during the predawn hours of Saturday. Continuing its track toward the west-northwest, Hurricane Lane moved across the 140 west meridian of longitude, the boundary between the eastern and central Pacific basins, on Saturday afternoon. As it continued westward across the central Pacific basin, Lane began weakening. By Sunday morning Hurricane Lane was a category 3 hurricane that was located approximately 890 miles to the east-southeast of Hilo, on Hawaii's Big Island. Hurricane Lane was forecast to continue traveling toward the west and west-northwest as a slowly weakening hurricane over the early part of this new week. According to this projected track, Hurricane Lane should pass well to the south of the main Hawaiian Islands by Thursday of this upcoming week. Additional information and satellite images can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page for Hurricane Lane.
In the North Atlantic basin:
- A subtropical depression formed on Wednesday morning approximately 1015 miles to the west of the Azores. Traveling toward the north, this system became Subtropical Storm Ernesto early Wednesday afternoon (local time) as it was nearly 700 miles to the southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. By early Thursday evening, this subtropical storm was reclassified as a tropical storm, even though it was heading for cooler waters of the North Atlantic. Tropical Storm Ernesto traveled toward the northeast on Friday. As of early Saturday morning, Ernesto became a post-tropical cyclone or remnant low early Sunday morning as it was approximately 1020 miles to the north-northeast of the Azores. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for more information on Ernesto.

Sections of south Florida experienced harmful algal blooms this summer -- A meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center posted an "Event Tracker" blog on the ClimateWatch Magazine describing the numerous blooms of toxin-producing algae that exploded in both fresh and salt water ecosystems across many sections of southern Florida during July and August 2018. Blue-green algae exploded across freshwater water bodies, such as Lake Okeechobee, while large bloom of Karenia brevis algae created a "red tide" at various locations along the Gulf Coast of southwestern Florida. He noted that these harmful algal blooms resulted in dead wildlife and negative impacts on the people and communities that rely on those ecosystems. The blue-green algae was the result of hot summer weather and abundant rainfall causing large concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen derived from fertilizer to runoff into the lakes. The incidence of "red tide" is due in part to warmer Gulf waters and to other factors including coastal upwelling. He mentions that harmful algal blooms may be increasing with a changing climate, citing a recent study reporting that the number of days of a cyanobacteria bloom across the U.S. would likely increase from a current average of seven days per year to 16-23 days by 2050 and 18-39 days by 2090. [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

20 August 1886...The town of Indianola, TX was completely destroyed by a hurricane, and never rebuilt. It was the fifth hurricane of the 1886 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the most intense hurricanes ever to hit the United States. (David Ludlum) (National Weather Service files)
22 August 1770...James Cook's expedition landed on the east coast of Australia. (Wikipedia)
22 August 1787...Inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates of the Continental Congress. Its top speed was 3 mph. These tests were completed years before Fulton built his steamboat. (Today in Science History)
22 August 1780...HMS Resolution, Captain James Cook's ship, returned to England; Cook had been killed on Hawaii during the voyage. (Wikipedia)
22 August 1962...The 506-ft long NS Savannah, the world's first civilian nuclear-powered ship, completed its maiden voyage from Yorktown, VA to Savannah, GA; the ship was named for the SS Savannah, the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic in 1819. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
22 August 1893: Four hurricanes are observed in the Atlantic Ocean at the same time, a record at that time. Over a century would pass before four hurricanes would again rage together over the Atlantic in 1998. (National Weather Service files)
22 August 1994...The USCG icebreaker Polar Sea and the CCCS Louis S. Ste Laurent became the first "North American surface ships" to reach the North Pole. (USCG Historian's Office)
23 August 1540...The French explorer Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec in his voyage to Canada. (Wikipedia)
23 August 1893...New York City was hit by a Category 2 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) that brought a 30-foot storm surge to the southern shore of Long Island. (National Weather Service files)
23 August 1899...The first wireless message from a ship to the shore "Sherman is sighted", was received in the US. The US Lightship No. 70, San Francisco, announced the arrival of the U.S. Army troopship Sherman to the crowd assembled at the Cliff House. Reporters from the San Francisco Call relayed this information to a city awaiting the return of its hometown regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. The lightship, miles out at sea in deep fog, relayed this message via wireless telegraphy (later known as radio) through the fog to the Cliff House. This was the first 19th-century working use of wireless telegraphy outside of England. The method was still primitive, using sparks to emit intermittent radio waves and code messages. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
23 August 1933...The Chesapeake-Potomac hurricane made landfall over Nag's Head, NC and moved over Norfolk, VA, Chesapeake Bay and Washington, DC. Winds gusted to 88 mph at Norfolk, VA. A tide seven feet above normal flooded businesses in Norfolk, and damage in Maryland was estimated at $17 million. Sixty percent of Atlantic City, NJ was flooded as was 10 square miles of southwest Philadelphia, PA. Forty seven people were killed and damage was estimated at $47 million (in depression-era dollars) (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
23-24 August 1992...Hurricane Andrew on its way to Florida with winds of 150 mph, struck northern Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. The storm surge reached 23 feet. Total damage on the islands topped $250 million. At about 5 AM on the 24th, Andrew made landfall near Homestead, FL with a central pressure of 922 mb (27.22 in. of mercury). Fowey Rocks coastal marine buoy recorded maximum sustained winds of 141 mph and a peak gust of 169 mph and the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables had sustained winds of 115 mph with a peak gust of 164 mph. A record storm surge of 16.7 feet occurred in Biscayne Bay. Homestead AFB was practically wiped out. More than 120,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving 250,000 homeless. Forty-one people died and property damage exceeded $25 billion, making Andrew by far the most costly hurricane in U.S. history until Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Andrew was the third most intense hurricane to strike the mainland behind Camille (1969) and the Labor Day Hurricane (1935) (Intellicast)
23-24 August 1998...Almost 18 inches of rain deluged Del Rio, TX between 8 AM on the 23rd and 6 AM on the 24th because of stalled remnants of Tropical Storm Charley. Violent flash flooding from San Felipe Creek left residential lots swept bare of homes, with asphalt streets gone. Nine people were killed and 150 injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
23 August 2005...Hurricane Katrina formed from Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas. Katrina would become the costliest ($81.2 billion) and one of the most deadly hurricanes (1,836 lives) in U.S. history. (National Weather Service files)
24-29 August 1785...Hurricane ravaged the Eastern Caribbean Sea from St. Croix, Virgin Islands to Cuba during the last week of August. Over 142 people were reported dead from the storm's impact. (The Weather Doctor)
24 August 1912...The US Congress gave effect to the convention between United States, Great Britain, Japan and Russia prohibiting taking of fur seals and sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea by authorizing the President "to cause a guard or patrol to be maintained in the waters frequented by the seal herd or herds of seal otter." (USCG Historian's Office)
24 August 1988...A tropical depression drenched the Cabo Rojo area of southwestern Puerto Rico with up to ten inches of rain. San Juan received 5.35 inches of rain. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
24 August 1992...Hurricane Andrew slammed into south Florida, devastating the community of Homestead with 181-mph winds. With a central pressure at landfall of 922 millibars (27.22 inches of mercury), which at the time was the third lowest ever recorded in a hurricane at landfall in the United States. Camille (1969) and the Labor Day Hurricane (1935) were more intense. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina became the third most intense land falling hurricane with a 920-millibar pressure reading (or 27.17 in Hg) when it reached the Louisiana Gulf Coast. (The Weather Doctor)
25 August 1885...A severe hurricane struck South Carolina causing $1.3 million damage at Charleston. (David Ludlum)
25 August 1927...The August Gale, a hurricane, raged across the East Coast, crossing the Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland during the early morning hours. Hundreds of small boats in Newfoundland ports are among the storm's victims. (The Weather Doctor)
25 August-7 September 1979...Hurricane David crossed the island of Dominica on the 29th, with winds to 145 mph. Roseau, the capital, was devastated. Fifty-six people were killed on Dominica and 60,000 of the island's 80,000 residents were made homeless. About three-quarters of the coconut and banana crop were destroyed. The central pressure in David fell to 924 mb (27.28 in.) on the 30th as it moved south of Puerto Rico. At that time, highest sustained winds reached 173 mph. On the 31st, winds of 150 mph from Hurricane David brought over $1 billion in damage to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, killing over 1200. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
26 August 1883... Krakatau (or Krakatoa) Volcano exploded in the East Indies. The explosion was heard more than 2500 miles away, and every barograph around the world recorded the passage of the air wave, up to seven times. Giant waves, 125 feet high and traveling 300 mph, devastated everything in their path, hurling ashore coral blocks weighing up to 900 tons, and killing more than 36,000 persons. Volcanic ash was carried around the globe in thirteen days producing blue and green suns in the tropics, and then vivid red sunsets in higher latitudes. The temperature of the Earth was lowered one degree for the next two years, finally recovering to normal by 1888. (David Ludlum)
26 August 1949...A hurricane made landfall at Delray Beach, FL. Winds reached 153 mph at the Jupiter Lighthouse before the anemometer failed. The hurricane caused $45 million damage to crops, and caught the Georgia and South Carolina coast resulting in another $2 million in damage. (David Ludlum)
26 August 1992...Hurricane Andrew made its second landfall along the Louisiana coast near Burns Point, as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Morgan City recorded wind gusts of 108 mph. Hammond was deluged with nearly a foot of rain. Total additional damage was estimated at $1.8 billion. Andrew, which had made its initial US landfall in South Florida on the 24th, was the most costly natural disaster in US history, with total damage reaching up to $30 billion. Additionally, record hurricane evacuation of 2.4 million people took place in Florida and Louisiana. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)