6-10 December 2004

Water in the Earth System will return for Spring 2005 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 17 January 2005. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the break period.

• Hurricane news:
• Another deadly typhoon batters the Philippines -- Typhoon Nanmadol traveled across Luzon and the northern Philippine Islands late last week, bringing more death and destruction to a nation that has experienced two other deadly tropical cyclones during recent weeks. [USA Today] By Sunday, more than 1100 Filipinos were reported as either dead and missing as a result of the these storms. [USA Today]
• An active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season -- NOAA hurricane specialists recently issued a press release that provides a collage of images taken from this just-concluded Atlantic hurricane season, which was more active than usual, with 15 named tropical cyclones (to include tropical storms and hurricanes), of which 9 became hurricanes and 6 became major hurricanes. [NOAA News]
• Hurricane forecast for 2005 -- Professor Bill Gray of Colorado State University released his first forecast for the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season last Friday. He predicts a slightly above-average season with 11 named tropical cyclones (both tropical storms and hurricanes), six of which should be hurricanes. He also forecasts that three of the hurricanes could be intense, reaching at least Category 3 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity scale. Long-term averages for the basin include 10 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 intense hurricanes. He anticipates an above average probability that a major hurricane would make landfall along the U.S. coastline. However, he does not believe that the number of US landfalling hurricanes that marked 2004 will be duplicated in 2005.

• A milestone in float deployment -- NOAA and its partners recently reached the halfway point in the deployment of 3000 Argo floats when the 1500th temperature/salinity-profiling float was put into operation. These floats are intended as a key element of the Global Climate Observing System/Global Ocean Observing System. [NOAA News] [Scripps Institution of Oceanography]
• Effort launched to improve estuaries -- NOAA and the University of New Hampshire have announced the inauguration of a research and development center called "The Center for Stormwater Technology Evaluation and Verification" that will demonstrate and field test various storm water treatment technologies in order to reduce the effects of non point source pollution in estuaries associated with runoff from storm water. This center will be a part of the university's Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology. [NOAA News]
• Sea level changes could provide clue to climate change -- A scientist at the University of Illinois-Chicago recently reported that core samples along Louisiana's Mississippi Delta indicate an abrupt rise in sea level at about 8200 years ago, which corresponds to a time of major climatic change across the northern hemisphere. [EurekAlert!]
• Changes in elevation of continents tracked -- A curator at the Field Museum in Chicago has developed a new method for determining changes in the elevation of continents during the last 65 million years. The ability to track these changes in the continents are important for understanding how the planetary climate has evolved. [EurekAlert!]
• Glacial movement studied -- A team of scientists monitoring Jakobshavn Isbrae, a glacier on Greenland, by satellite and aircraft has recently reported that the glacier has doubled its speed toward the ocean during the last seven years. This discovery is important for understanding the processes involved with ice sheet thinning and sea level rise. [EurekAlert!]
• Rain can be big in Texas -- According to preliminary data received at the Southern Regional Climate Center, the recently concluded month of November may have been the wettest in Texas since extensive climate records began in 1895. In addition, the year 2004 may also become the wettest in the Lone Star State. [NOAA News]
• More precipitation is needed for the Sierras -- Despite some recent storms that have produced heavy rains and early season snow across the mountains of California and Nevada, the precipitation has not been uniform nor has it been able to alleviate all the water shortages accrued during several years of drought. [USA Today]

• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes-- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• 6 December 1866...The first water supply tunnel for a U.S. city was completed for Chicago, IL. The Chicago Lake Tunnel extended 10,587 feet under Lake Michigan to a 5-foot inlet crib. The pumping station with the standpipe tower still stands at the intersection of Michigan Blvd and Chicago Ave., having escaped destruction in the 1871 Chicago fire. (Today in Science)
• 6-8 December 1935...Severe flooding hit parts of the Houston, TX area. Eight persons were killed as one hundred city blocks were inundated. Satsuma reported 16.49 inches of rain. The Buffalo and White Oak Bayous crested on the 9th. (The Weather Channel)
• 6 December 1997...Between 4 to 8 inches fell in California's Orange County, the biggest rains in at least 70 years; Mission Viejo reported 10 inches. Areas such as the Rhine Channel in Newport Beach were so clogged with debris that they looked like landfills. Damage was estimated at $17.7 million. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 7-8 December 1703...A monstrous storm raked southern England and adjacent waters with winds in excess of 100 mph. Approximately 8000 deaths were the result of this storm, mostly at sea. Many naval and supply ships were anchored in harbors or in the English Channel. The Eddystone Lighthouse disappeared. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 7 December 1740...In early December two weeks of mild and rainy weather culminated in the worst flood in fifty years in the Lower Connecticut River Valley. The Merrimack River swelled to its highest level, and in Maine the raging waters swept away mills, carried off bridges, and ruined highways. (David Ludlum)
• 7 December 1987...Heavy rain fell across eastern Puerto Rico, with 19.41 inches reported at Las Piedras. Flooding caused five million dollars damage. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 8 December 2002...Super-typhoon Pongsona hit Guam with sustained winds of 144 mph and gusts to 173 mph, along with a storm surge to 20 feet. The 40-mile wide diameter eye was over Anderson AFB for 2 hours. One indirect death and 193 injuries were attributed to the typhoon. Some bridge pavement was "scrapped off" by wind and wave action. Damage was estimated at $700 million. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 9 December 1786...A second great snowstorm in just five days brought another 15 inches of snow to Morristown, NJ, on top of the eight inches that fell on the 7^th and 8^th, and the 18 inches which fell on the 4th and 5th. The total snowfall for the week was thus 41 inches. New Haven, CT received 17 inches of new snow in the storm. Up to four feet of snow covered the ground in eastern Massachusetts following the storms. (9th-10th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 9 December 1917...A severe winter storm struck the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes Region. It produced 25 inches of snow and wind gusts to 78 mph at Buffalo, NY. The storm produced 26 inches of snow at Vevay, IN, with drifts fourteen feet high. By the 16th of the month, people could walk across the frozen Ohio River from Vevay into Kentucky. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 9 December 1987...The fifth storm in nine days kept the northwestern U.S. wet and windy. Winds along the coast of Washington gusted to 75 mph at Oceans Shores and at Hoquiam, and the northern and central coastal mountains of Oregon were drenched with three inches of rain in ten hours, flooding some rivers. Snowfall totals in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State ranged up to 36 inches in the Methow Valley. High winds in Oregon blew a tree onto a moving automobile killing three persons and injuring two others at Mill City. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 9 December 1988...A winter storm blanketed the Southern and Central Appalachians with up to ten inches of snow. Arctic air invaded the north central U.S. bringing subzero cold to Minnesota and North Dakota. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 10 December 1699...A severe ice storm hit Boston MA causing much damage to orchards. (The Weather Channel)
• 10 December 1988...Squalls produced heavy snow in the Lower Great Lakes Region. Totals in northeastern Ohio ranged up to 14 inches at Harpersfield, and totals in western New York State ranged up to 14 inches at Sodus. In the snowbelt of Upper Michigan, the Ontonagon area reported two feet of snow in two days. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 10 December 1989...Heavy snow fell across the northern and central mountains of Colorado, with 24 inches reported at Steamboat Springs. Six to twelve inches of snow fell in the Denver and Boulder area delaying plane flights and snarling traffic. Heavy snow also spread across the Central Plains into the Mississippi Valley. Winner SD received 11 inches of snow, and more than ten inches of snow was reported north of Sioux City IA. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 12 December 1882...Portland OR was drenched with 7.66 inches of rain, a record 24-hour total for that location. (12th-13th) (The Weather Channel)
• 12 December 1960...The first of three Middle Atlantic snowstorms produced a foot of snow at Baltimore MD. A pre-winter blizzard struck the northeastern U.S. producing wind gusts as high as 51 mph, along with 16 inches of snow at Nantucket MA, and 20 inches at Newark NJ. (David Ludlum)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.