WEEKLY WATER NEWS

5-9 December 2005

Water in the Earth System will return for Spring 2006 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 16 January 2005. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the break period.

Water in the News:

• (Wed.) An update -- Professor Bill Gray of Colorado State University and colleagues released their first forecast for the 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season. They predict that next season will also be active, with 17 named tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes), nine hurricanes, five intense hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity scale). However, they do not believe that the number of US landfalling hurricanes that marked 2004 and 2005 will be duplicated in 2006. [USA Today] Details of their forecast appear in the report issued by the Tropical Meteorology Project. [Colo. State Report]
• (Wed.) An icy view -- NASA has provided a satellite video tour of Earth's cryosphere. The perspective shows the interconnectedness of the ice with the Earth system. [NASA]
• (Wed.) This eye in space "sees" through clouds -- The European Space Agency has been demonstrating a technique called radar interferometry that permits radar units onboard its Envisat satellite to penetrate clouds and provide a variety of information, including relatively subtle ground motion. This technique can also be used to monitor ice sheets and their movements. [ESA]
• (Wed.) The Jordan River threatened by pollution -- Water diverted from the Jordan River in the Middle East by Israel, Syria and Jordan has turned the lower part of that revered river into little more than an open sewer. [US Water News Online]
• (Wed.) Wastewater could be valuable -- Experts from several Middle Eastern countries met recently in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to discuss ways of treating and reusing wastewater from sewage plants. [ENN]
• (Wed.) Microbes could generate hydrogen -- Scientists at the Institute for Genomic Research have discovered a microbe living in a hot spring on Kunashir, the southernmost volcanic island of Russia's Kuril Islands, that appears to consume carbon monoxide gas and, in the presence of water, produce hydrogen gas as a waste product. [EurekAlert!]
• (Wed.) Historical African drought documented -- Syracuse researchers have obtained lake sediment cores that show a prolonged drought in central Africa 70,000 years ago. The drought perhaps coincided with human migrations from that region across the globe. [BBC News]
• A late season hurricane prowls the Atlantic -- Hurricane Epsilon, the 14th hurricane in the record 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season, moved eastward across the tropical Atlantic on Sunday. This system, which reached hurricane status for a second time, is only the fifth hurricane to form during the month of December in over 150 years of records. [CNN]
• Hurricane debate continues -- As the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season has drawn to a close, several hurricane researchers are providing conflicting theories as to the unusual activity in the last two seasons. One group indicates that this activity is part of a long-term cyclic pattern, while the other group believes that the increased activity is the result of increased sea surface temperatures associated with human activity. [USA Today]
• Evacuees from New Orleans wary about return home -- Some of the evacuees forced from New Orleans remained skeptical even when their mayor urged them to return home at a town-meeting type event in Atlanta, GA this past Saturday. [CNN]
• The effect of Hurricane Isabel on Chesapeake Bay addressed -- A book, entitled "Hurricane Isabel in Perspective" has been published that is based upon the proceedings of a November 2004 conference that explored the effects of Hurricane Isabel on the Chesapeake Bay watershed as the hurricane moved across the region in September 2003. [Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland]
• Lead in Beantown -- The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority recently reported that over 4000 properties in Boston, MA that have aging lead water pipes are in neighborhoods that have high levels of childhood lead poisoning. [US Water News Online]
• Water supplies continue to be affected in China -- The 50-mile long slick of toxic benzene that was released by a chemical plant explosion last month in northeast China continues to flow downstream toward Russia, causing some of the water plants to shut down for several days. [ENN]
• Great Lakes water protection deal made -- The Council of Great Lakes Governors recently have reached a deal that would not only prevent outside interests from raiding Great Lakes water, but also encourage more efficient use of the water from the Lakes. [US Water News Online]
• Role of tropical ocean temperatures explored -- A scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara reported that a combination of reduced ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic along with deforestation and overgrazing in equatorial Africa appear to have an impact upon the African monsoon systems, along with potential for widespread drought in the region. [EurekAlert!]
• Model for coastal wetland protection unveiled -- Researchers have developed a model identified as SAV (Submersed Aquatic Vegetation) that is designed to predict how changes in water clarity or the slopes of shoreline could cause habitat changes in aquatic vegetation in an effort to aid in restoration of coastal wetlands. [EurekAlert!]
• 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.

Historical Events:

• 5 December 1949...A typhoon struck fishing fleet off Korea; several thousand men reported dead. (Infoplease.com)
• 5-9 December 1952...Fog and industrial pollution combined to form the worst smog experienced by London, England. Approximately 1000 tons of dirt particles were trapped in the air. Water droplets and sulfur dioxide combined to form sulfuric acid droplets. As many as 4000 deaths resulted, mainly the old and the ill. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 5-6 December 1968...High surf from an intense storm near Alaska swept rocks and seawater into pavilions at Onekahakaha Beach near Hilo, HI. Water reached 150 feet above high-tide mark at Napili Beach and swept into the swimming pool and ground floor of a hotel there. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 5-6 December 1968...A Genoa low (pressure system) brought heavy rain and snow to northern Italy. Venice received 4.21 inches of rain on the night of the 5^th-6^th, well above the December average rainfall of 2.40 inches. St. Mark's Square was flooded to a depth of 57 inches. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 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 $5 million 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)
• 9 December 2003…A subtropical storm became Tropical Storm Peter approximately 700 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands. With Tropical Storm Odette having formed in the Caribbean on the 4th, the development of Peter marked the first time since 1887 that two tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Basin in December. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 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)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.