WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

4-8 January 2010

DataStreme Earth's Climate Systems will return for Spring 2010 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 January 2010. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Climate News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Becoming "space smart" in 2010 -- The NASA/JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Education Office has provided some educational tips of students, educators and families, along with free science and math resource materials for students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade. [NASA JPL]
Thinking snow -- A 2-page pamphlet entitled "All about Snow" that was prepared by National Environmental Education Foundation provides some interesting information on snow. [Earth Gauge Fact Sheet] (Note: This pamphlet is a pdf file. See link below for Acrobat.)

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Rainfall decreasing at India's wettest locations -- Meteorologists with the weather office in Cherrapunji, India report that the average annual rainfall at Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, arguably two of the world's wettest locations, has decreased by approximately 20 percent in the last five years, continuing a downward trend started nearly one decade ago. Ironically, this region experiences water shortages during the dry winter monsoon season. The meteorologists blame large scale climatic change to the reduction in annual precipitation totals. [BBC News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Data set standardization for national ocean observing system -- NOAA, along with other federal agencies and eleven independent regional associations of ocean observing partners, recently completed a year-long project to ensure consistent standards and Web services for various data sets are available via the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®), a system designed to enhance the nation’s collection, delivery, and use of ocean information, such as water level, salinity, temperature and wind and wave data. [NOAA News]
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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [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]

CLIMATE FORCING

Volcano watch from space -- Satellite images obtained last week show volcanoes around the world producing volcanic ash and condensate:
- An image made from data collected by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the NASA Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite shows a thin volcanic plume rising from the Mayon Volcano, a stratovolcano on the Philippine island of Luzon. [NASA Earth Observatory]
- Two MODIS images obtained from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites show the volcanic plume from the recent eruptions from the Soufrière Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat [NASA Earth Observatory]
Dust seen over eastern China -- An image obtained recently from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows wind blown dust in the skies over eastern China and the neighboring Bo Hai and Yellow Seas. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Wildfires seen from space -- A recent image obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the smoke emanating from the numerous wildfires that were burning across West Africa. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE

Antioxidant levels in soybeans increase with extreme weather conditions -- Scientists with the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service scientists have found that extreme drought and above-average temperature conditions appear to significantly increase the levels of tocopherol, a family of antioxidants, in soybean seeds. The soybean seeds are used extensively in vegetable oil in the US. [USDA Agricultural Research Service]
South Pacific algae bloom seen from space -- An image made from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows large swirls in the near surface waters of the South Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and the Chatham Islands caused by a large bloom of phytoplankton. [NASA Earth Observatory]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

A warmer Arctic with more ice-free conditions is likely -- Researchers at the US Geological Survey warn that the recent increases in summer sea-surface temperatures across the Arctic Ocean could signal a warmer climate across the Arctic with seasonally ice-free conditions becoming more common. They base their forecasts upon comparison of the climate changes during the last century with their climate reconstruction during a warm period during the mid-Pliocene (3.3 to 3 million years ago). [USGS Newsroom]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

A return to nature could cut flood risks -- A group of scientists participating in The Nature Conservancy's Global Freshwater Team recently reported that permitting flood plains to reconnect with rivers would help reduce the risk of flooding in many areas across the United States. The researchers also noted that the flood risks would likely increase in the future because of climate change and shifts in land use. [BBC News]
Winter recreation and climate considerations -- A fact sheet has been prepared by the National Environmental Education Foundation detailing the how changes in regional climate has affected snowfall and winter recreation across the New England and Western states. [Earth Gauge Climate Fact Sheet]
Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

4 January 1888...Sacramento, CA received 3.5 inches of snow, an all-time record for that location. The heaviest snow in recent history was two inches on 5 February 1976. (4th-5th) (The Weather Channel)
5 January 1904...Bitterly cold air gripped the northeastern U.S. Morning lows of 42 degrees below zero at Smethport, PA and 34 degrees below zero at River Vale, NJ established state records for both the Keystone and Garden States. (The Weather Channel)
5 January 1913...The temperature at the east portal to Strawberry Tunnel reached 50 degrees below zero to tie the Utah state record low established at Woodruff on 6 February 1899. (David Ludlum) This record was later smashed in February 1985 when the temperature at Peter's Sink fell to 69 degrees below zero. (NCDC)
5 January 1974...The temperature at Vanda Station on the Scott Coast, Antarctica reached 59 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica. (The Weather Doctor)
5 January 1999...The temperature fell to 36 degrees below zero at Congerville in central Illinois to set a new record low temperature for the state. (NCDC)
7 January 1913...Tucson, AZ set its all time record low temperature with a frigid zero degrees. (Intellicast)
7 January 1971...The temperature at Hawley Lake, located southeast of McNary, AZ, plunged to 40 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature for the Grand Canyon State. (The Weather Channel)
7 January 1989...Fargo, ND was in the middle of a 3-day snowstorm over which time 24.4 inches of snow fell on the city -- the greatest single storm total ever for the location. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
7 January 1992...A rare January thunderstorm rumbled over Sioux Falls, SD. This was the first January thunderstorm recorded in the city since 1939. Meanwhile, thunderstorms produced six tornadoes (one F2 and five F1) near Grand Island, NE -- the first tornadoes ever recorded in Nebraska during January. (Intellicast)
7 January 1996...The "blizzard of '96" clobbered a huge area from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast with record snows. A new snowfall record for New Jersey was set when 35 inches were measured at White House. (Intellicast)
7-8 January 1966...Torrential rain fell at Foc Foc on the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, with 45 inches falling in 12 hours and 72 inches falling in 24 hours, both world precipitation records.
8 January 1859...This is the only day New York City's temperature stayed below zero the entire day. (Intellicast)
8 January 1923...The all-time January record high temperature reading was reached at Los Angeles when the mercury climbed to 90 degrees. (Intellicast)
8 January 1937...The record low temperature for the state of Nevada was set at San Jacinto when the temperature dropped to 50 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
9 January 1875...The temperature at Cheyenne, WY dipped to an all-time record low reading of 38 degrees below zero. (The Weather Channel)
9 January 1899...The temperature at Norway House, Manitoba: 1899 plummeted to 63 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), marking the coldest day ever recorded in Manitoba. (The Weather Doctor)
9 January 1954...The temperature reading taken during the British North Greenland Expedition at near Northice, Greenland was 87 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Greenland. (The Weather Doctor)
9 January 1992...An unbelievable 14 consecutive days of cloudy skies finally ended at Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Every single weather observation during this time period showed overcast conditions -- 350 consecutive hours of cloudy skies! There was not even a "mostly cloudy" -- all observations were completely cloudy. During this cloudy period, it was very mild. The average temperature from 26 December to 8 January was 19 degrees above normal. (Intellicast)
10 January 1800...Savannah, GA received a foot and a half of snow, and ten inches blanketed Charleston, SC. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. (David Ludlum)
10 January 1949...Snow was reported at San Diego, CA for the first and only time since 1882. Snow was noted even on some of the beaches in parts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)

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