WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

19-23 May 2014

DataStreme Earth Climate System will return for Fall 2014 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2014. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Zenithal Sun -- The end of this upcoming week marks one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents on the Big Island at the start of this week (on 19 May) at Hilo; those on Oahu (Honolulu metropolitan area) will experience the noon sun at the zenith in approximately one more week (25-27 May). The sun will again be over the Big Island during the last week of July. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
National Heat Awareness Day -- The National Weather Service has declared this coming Friday, 23 May 2014, as Heat Awareness Day across the nation. For more information consult the National Weather Service's webpage entitled "Heat: A major killer." Attention is directed to the cases where deaths of small children have been left unattended in closed vehicles.
Climatology of Indy 500 Race Day-- Next Sunday, 25 May 2014, is the scheduled running of the 98th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. The Indianapolis Forecast Office of the National Weather Service has a list of the pertinent weather and climate statistics for race day, including the average high and low temperatures, rainfall and wind for the 1911-2013 period and a listing of the top 20 temperature, precipitation and wind extremes for the races.
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2014 Campaign is underway -- The fifth of a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2014 will begin on 19 May and run through 28 May. 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 (Orion or Leo in the northern hemisphere, and Orion and Crux in the southern hemisphere) with seven star charts of progressively fainter stars. [GLOBE at Night]
North American Safe Boating Week -- This week of 18-24 May has been declared 2013 National Safe Boating Week, to help kick off the 2013 North American Safe Boating Campaign. Check the Safe Boating Week site maintained by the Safe Boating Council.
National Hurricane Awareness Week -- NOAA has declared the week of 25 -31 May 2014 to be Hurricane Awareness Week across the nation.

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

National weather and climate reviewed for April 2014 -- Scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that their analysis of preliminary April 2013 data indicates the monthly average temperature for the 48 coterminous states was 0.7 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century (1901-2000) average, which made this past month the 46th warmest April since 1895 when comprehensive climate records became available nationwide. One dozen states across the nation had above average April statewide temperatures, extending from the West Coast, across the Southwest and southern Plains to sections of the Ohio Valley and Southeast. Conversely, three states in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest (North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin) had below average statewide April average temperatures.
Monthly precipitation across the lower 48 states for April 2014 was approximately 0.31 inches above the 20th-century monthly average, which made this month the 30th wettest April on record. States across the Midwest and Southeast reported above to much above average statewide precipitation for the month. In the Upper Midwest, Wisconsin experienced its third wettest April in 120 years, while Minnesota had its eighth wettest. In the Southeast, Alabama had its fifth wettest April, Georgia its seventh wettest and Florida its ninth wettest. On the other hand, states across the southern Plains and the Southwest had below to much below average statewide precipitation totals for April. Oklahoma experienced its 12th driest April since 1895.
According to the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the snow cover extent across the contiguous US for the month of April 2014 was below the 1981-2010 average, representing the 23rd smallest April snow cover extent in the 48-year period of record. However, above-average snow cover was reported across sections of the central Rockies, the Upper Midwest, and northern New England.
[NOAA NCDC State of the Climate]
April national drought report -- The National Climate Data Center has posted its April 2014 drought report online. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index, approximately 18 percent of the coterminous United States experienced severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of April, while eight percent of the area had severely to extremely wet conditions.
New version of online Storm Events Database unveiled -- NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) recently announced the release of version 3.0 of its online "Storm Events Database" that contains archived National Weather Service storm data and unusual weather phenomenon reports. With more than 1.2 million records, the Storm Events Database contains data and information for the United States, its territories and possessions beginning in 1950 and continuing to the present. These data include the occurrence of storms and other significant weather phenomena having sufficient intensity to cause loss of life, injuries, significant property damage or disruption to commerce. Rare and unusual weather phenomena that generate media attention are also included in the Database. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Poleward migration of regions where tropical cyclones reach maximum intensity is seen -- A researcher from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center and colleagues at the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that the average latitude where tropical cyclones achieve maximum intensity has been shifting poleward in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres since 1980. The average poleward migration of these latitudes is at a rate of approximately 35 miles (or one-half a degree of latitude) per decade, however the rate varies by region with the greatest migration occurring in the Pacific basin and in the South Indian Ocean. Apparently, the peak intensity of hurricanes in the North Atlantic does not appear to have migrated in the last 30 years. The study also notes that some regions closer to the Equator may experience less risk of tropical cyclones, while coastal regions located at in midlatitudes may experience greater risk.[NOAA News]
Satellite-based precipitation dataset developed to support early drought detection globally -- The Climate Hazards Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara in partnership with the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science have developed a dataset consisting of precipitation data that can be used for environmental monitoring and drought early warning. The high-resolution precipitation data from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS), combines rainfall data observed from satellite platforms with more than three decades of rainfall data collected at ground stations worldwide. [The University of California, Santa Barbara Current]
Payload for new "wind watcher" satellite is readied for launch -- During the last week, the International Space Station (ISS)-RapidScat scatterometer instrument arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after being built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. After final tests, this instrument will be launched by late summer and will measure near-surface ocean winds from the outside of the International Space Station. Data collected over a scheduled two-year mission should support weather and marine forecasting as well as for climate studies. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
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]

CLIMATE FORCING

Forest emissions can influence first stage of cloud formation -- An international team of scientists participating in the CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has found that emissions of oxidized organic compounds from forests can produce particles through a nucleation process that represents the first step in cloud formation. Their research is leading to an improved understanding between clouds and climate, thereby improving the accuracy of climate models. [Carnegie Mellon University News]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Monitoring potential development of an El Niño event from space -- Scientists who have been monitoring data collected from ocean observing satellites are finding that conditions across the equatorial Pacific Ocean appear similar to those in May 1997 as the most potent El Niño event of the 20th century was beginning to unfold. Images of sea surface height anomalies (or differences in the height of sea-level from normal) made from data collected by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in May 1997 can be compared with a corresponding image made in May 2014 by the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
The NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory has produced an animation of the monthly sea surface temperature patterns across the tropical Pacific Ocean between 1997 and 2000 that includes the 1997-98 El Niño event that was followed by a La Niña event. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
New Seasonal Climate Outlooks for this summer issued -- Near the end of last week, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released their new national Three-Month (Seasonal) Climate Outlooks for the upcoming summer season. These three months, running from June through August 2013, are identified as meteorological summer for the Northern Hemisphere. Specific details of their outlooks include:
- Temperature and precipitation outlooks -- According to their temperature outlook, most of the 48 coterminous United States should experience a high chance of above average temperatures for these three upcoming months, with the greatest probability of such an occurrence across the southern and central Rockies along with the adjacent high Plains. Most of the Northeast would also have a better than average chance of a warmer than average summer. The only sections of the 48 coterminous states not expected to have above average summer temperatures would be along the West Coast and along the northern tier of states from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes States. These regions were anticipated to have nearly equal chances of warmer or cooler than normal conditions. No areas of the country were expected to have below average summer temperatures.
  Their precipitation outlook calls for better than even chances of dry conditions for summer 2013 across several large area of the West, primarily centered upon the interior Northwest in Idaho and adjacent states, as well as across the high Plains to the east of the central and southern Rockies. On the other hand, the outlook would suggest a good chance of a wet summer along the central Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley. The rest of the coterminous states should have equal chances of below and above average summer precipitation.
  Outlooks for June are also available. A summary of the prognostic discussion of the outlook for non-technical users is available from CPC. These forecasts were based in part that the current ENSO-neutral conditions (ENSO = El Niño/Southern Oscillation) should continue through the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, where neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions should prevail.
- Seasonal Drought Outlook released -- The forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also released their US Seasonal Drought Outlook last week that would run from mid-May through August 2013. Their outlook would call for development or persistence of drought conditions across most of the western third of the nation, extending from the California and Oregon coasts eastward across the Intermountain West and the Rockies to the southern and central high Plains. Only areas of the Northwest along the Canadian border would not experience significant drought conditions. On the other hand, the forecasters foresaw improvement of the drought conditions across the eastern half of the nation, which would include sections of New England, the Florida Peninsula and the eastern sections of the Plains, including the upper Midwest. They also envisioned some slight improvement across sections of the central Plains. Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.
West Antarctic glaciers decline does not appear reversible -- Two studies by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at the University of Washington conclude that a section of the West Antarctic ice sheet had reached a point of inevitable collapse, which would result in a global sea level by at least three feet. One of the studies was based upon glacial retreat data collected by NASA satellites and airborne observations, while the other involved simulations run on a computer model to compare observations of recent melting with projected melt scenarios. Both studies conclude that the Amundsen Sea segment of the ice sheet has begun an irreversible decline that would result in its loss, possibly within the next several hundred years.[NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE MODELING

New "National Climate Change Viewer" focuses upon changes in nation's watersheds driven by climate change -- The US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell recently unveiled the "National Climate Change Viewer," a climate-visualization website tool from her agency's US Geological Survey. This new tool, which was developed in collaboration with Oregon State University, will provide the public and resource managers the opportunity to view climate-driven impacts on watersheds and map projected changes at the local, regional, state and watershed levels. [US Dept. of Interior Press Release]

COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is shrinking in size -- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have found that images obtained from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope since 1995 show that the size of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter continues to shrink in size, reaching its smallest size ever measured. This well-known Great Red Spot on Jupiter, which has a diameter larger than Earth, appears to be a giant storm system in the Jovian atmosphere. The scientists are watching very small eddies feeding into the storm, which alter the internal dynamics and energy of the Great Red Spot and cause the accelerated change in the Giant Red Spot's diameter. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
Spacecraft to assess role of solar wind on Martian atmosphere loss -- The Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA) is an instrument onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission launched by NASA last November that is designed to study ions from the solar wind that reach the Martian atmosphere and to explain the gradual loss of the Red Planet's atmosphere over the last billion years. In addition to SWIA, the MAVEN spacecraft will also have the Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition instrument (STATIC), which will measure the planet's ions, and the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA), which will measure the electrons in the solar wind and how they affect particle escape. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

19 May 1780...The infamous "dark day" in New England tradition occurred as noon was nearly as dark as night. Chickens went to roost, and many persons were fearful of divine wrath. Forest fires to the west of New England caused the phenomena. (David Ludlum)
19 May 1955...Lake Maloya, NM received 11.28 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record. (The Weather Channel)
19 May 1962...An all-time May record was set when the temperature climbed to 99 degrees at Central Park in New York City. (Intellicast)
20 May 1996...Bridgeport, CT soared to 97 degrees for its highest temperature on record in May. (Intellicast)
21 May 1895...The temperature at Norwalk, OH dipped to 19 degrees to set a state record for the month of May. (The Weather Channel)
21 May 1896...The mercury soared to 124 degrees at Salton, CA to establish an U.S. record for May. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
21 May 1980...The temperature at Williston, ND reached 102 degrees to set a record for May, and the next day the mercury hit 106 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
22 May 1876...Denver, CO was drenched with 6.53 inches of rain in 24 hours, an all-time record for that location. (The Weather Channel)
22 May 1911...The temperature at Lewiston, ME soared to 101 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in New England during the month of May. (David Ludlum)
22 May 1922...The United Kingdom recorded its hottest May day on record when the thermometer hit 91 degrees at Camden Square, London, England. (The Weather Doctor)
22 May 1980...The temperature at Winnipeg, Manitoba rose to 98.6 degrees, setting a record high for May. (The Weather Doctor)
23 May 1953...The temperature at Hollis, OK soared from a morning low of 70 degrees to an afternoon high of 110 degrees, to establish a state record for the month of May. (The Weather Channel)

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