Weekly Water News

DATASTREME WES WEEK ONE: 4-8 September 2006

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) Outflow channel systems detected on Mars -- Images obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, show one of the largest outflow channel systems on the Martian surface that may have formed by gigantic flood events and later shaped by glacial activity. [ESA]
(Thurs.) High altitude clouds detected over Mars -- Scientists analyzing data obtained from the SPICAM Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer onboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft have discovered a layer of clouds most likely composed of carbon dioxide at an altitude between 80 and 100 km above the Martian surface, making them the highest clouds above any planetary surface known to date. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Acid precipitation affecting a large area of China -- The official news agency recently noted that a parliamentary report indicates that acid precipitation has affected approximately one-third of China last year, thereby posing a threat to soil and food safety. The acidic precipitation has been caused by increased high levels of sulfur dioxide that have entered the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning factories and power plants. [ENN]
(Thurs.) Methane releases in Siberia -- Thawing lakes and permafrost in Siberia are releasing methane, a greenhouse gas, in quantities five times greater than previously estimated. [BBC News]
(Thurs.) Male Potomac bass carry eggs -- Male bass found in the Potomac River have been found to carry immature eggs in their bodies. The abnormalities are presumably linked to pollution of the river waters. The implication for the river's water use by humans is unknown. [Wash. Post]
(Thurs.) Southwestern China drought is an increasing problem -- Little significant precipitation along with a heat wave with record high temperatures across southwest China has resulted in significant economic losses over the region due to the worst drought in more than a century. [Yahoo! News-Reuters]
(Tues.) Drought has lowered water levels on the Mississippi River -- The drought that has persisted across the nation's midsection for several years has caused levels on the lower Mississippi River to fall to about eight to ten feet below normal levels, causing farmers and others dependent upon the river for barge transportation to become concerned as loads on barges will be reduced. [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) Mississippi River meanders documented from space -- A NASA satellite image of a portion of the lower Mississippi River can be used in conjunction with a 1944 map to document the major changes in the river channel since 1765. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) National wetlands policies debated -- The current issue of the National Wetlands Newsletter® offers analysis on the decision made by the US Supreme Court in the case of Rapanos v. United States that fails to identify a definitive rule as to what constitutes jurisdictional wetlands. [ENN]
(Tues.) Cool water found in Oregon "dead zone" -- A scientist at Oregon State University reports that upwelling of deep coastal water along the Oregon coast due to persistent winds from the north not only brings nutrient water to the surface that lowers the dissolved oxygen and produces a "dead zone" with little marine life, but it also results in colder than average water near the surface. An image made from sea-surface temperature data collected by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument onboard NASA’s Terra satellite in July shows below average temperatures in the region. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) A better water test has been developed -- Scientists in the Weizmann Institute's Organic Chemistry Department have developed a new and faster method for detection and measurement of trace amounts of unwanted water that could pose problems in fuel, lubricants and organic solvents. [EurekAlert!]
Eye on the tropics --
- In the North Atlantic Basin, Tropical Storm Ernesto made landfall late last Thursday night along the North Carolina coast. It continued to move northward across coastal North Carolina and Virginia, weakening to a tropical depression by midmorning on Friday. Heavy rain accompanying this tropical system and a midlatitude frontal boundary resulted in flooding across the Middle Atlantic States that forced evacuation of hundreds of people at the start of the Labor Day weekend. [USA Today] A visible image from NOAA's GOES-12 satellite shows Tropical Storm Ernesto last Thursday roughly 15 hours before making its final landfall on the North Carolina coast. [NOAA OSEI]
  During the late Sunday afternoon, the sixth tropical depression of the 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season formed in the central tropical Atlantic. Tropical Depression 6 was moving to the west-northwest.
- In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm John continued to move northwestward along Mexico's Baja California on Sunday afternoon. After reaching Category 4 hurricane status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale at the midpoint of last week, The system made landfall near Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula late Friday. This tropical resort experienced strong winds along with heavy rain that produced flooding and mudslides. Hurricane John was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday morning. [USA Today]
  Farther to the southwest in the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Kristy was erratically moving southwestward on Sunday as a minimal tropical storm. This storm had become a minimal category 1 hurricane near the end of last week as it moved to the west-northwest away from the Mexican coast, but then weakened to become a tropical depression late Saturday, before intensifying to become a tropical storm. A visible satellite image made by NOAA's GOES 11 satellite shows both Hurricanes John and Kristy late last week off the Mexican coast. [NOAA OSEI]
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Ioke -- was traveling northwestward toward the Japan as a Category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale at the beginning of the current week. (A typhoon is the western North Pacific's counterpart of a hurricane). Earlier, Ioke became a Category 5 "super typhoon" during the middle of last week as it moved westward across the tropical Pacific. In anticipation of the arrival of Typhoon Ioke, the U.S. military evacuated 200 people from Wake Island before the arrival of Typhoon Ioke. [CNN] The US Air Force had plans to send planes over Wake Island following passage of Super Typhoon Ioke to visually survey the damage on this island that was evacuated as the typhoon approached. [ENN] Ioke had formed in the central North Pacific basin over two weeks ago. Prior to crossing the International Dateline, Ioke was the first Category 5 to develop in the central Pacific basin since comprehensive records began in the early 1960s and it represents the most powerful hurricane to move across that basin since 1994. An image obtained from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows a well-developed circular spiral arm structure and a central eye characteristic of tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons). [NASA Earth Observatory]
Hurricane genesis regions studied -- Researchers with the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory have been spending this summer studying areas in Africa where easterly waves develop that often develop into Atlantic hurricanes as part of the Intensity Forecast Experiment. [NOAA News]
Studying hurricane breeding grounds in West Africa -- Meteorologists continue to collect weather data and analyze weather patterns over the coast of West Africa as part of a NASA-supported study called NAMMA (NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses) in an effort to gain a better understanding of weather systems that develop over West Africa and move across the Atlantic, often developing into hurricanes that affect the western Atlantic and Caribbean islands, as well as the North American continent. Aircraft have been used to collect data and three weather radar units have been deployed. [USA Today]
High altitude balloons also track hurricane formation -- Researchers from the US and France recently launched several "driftsondes", large balloons that rise to altitudes between 65,000 and 70,000 feet carrying dropsonde instrument packages at selected times to collect data over a large area of Africa and the Atlantic Ocean where many hurricanes form that often move westward to the reach North America. [EurekAlert!]
Images from Hurricane Katrina revisited one year later -- On the first anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana coast, NOAA launched a new website that will offer the public a portal to additional multimedia information concerning the development of one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the US, the destruction that the hurricane brought and the response that NOAA mounted following the hurricane's demise. [NOAA News] NASA also produced a retrospective of Hurricane Katrina, with several images from its fleet of orbiting satellites. [NASA] NASA maintains a Hurricane Resource Page that provides a variety of images of recent hurricanes and tropical storms obtained from data collected by NASA satellites.
Hurricane season forecast updated -- Researchers with William Gray's forecasting team at Colorado State University issued another update to their seasonal forecast of hurricanes in the North Atlantic basin, reducing the number of hurricanes from seven to five, which is slightly below the average number of 5.9 hurricanes that develop in the basin during a typical season. [USA Today] A detailed updated September forecast is available.
Lightning is a killer -- Lightning remains as one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the United States, following deaths from heat related events and flooding.
- A meteorology professor at the University of Oklahoma has developed a device that he hopes will provide advance warning that lightning is imminent. [USA Today]
- A 36-year old man was struck and killed by lightning last week as he exited his truck last week in South Carolina. [USA Today]
- A 17-year old soccer player was recently struck and killed by lightning and nine others players were injured during a tournament game in Copenhagen, Denmark although no clouds were in the immediate vicinity of the field. [USA Today]
Levees in New Orleans may not hold off a big storm this year -- The Commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers warned state and local officials that despite efforts to repair and rebuild the level system in New Orleans following damage from Hurricane Katrina, the levees may not necessarily hold back water from the city if a hurricane passes by the region this year. [US Water News Online] [Note that the news conference took place in late August, as Tropical Storm Ernesto was moving toward the US. EJH]
Damage costs due to hurricanes soar -- The director of research at The Earth Policy Institute recently noted that the cost associated with property damage by hurricanes has soared to record highs, resulting in the bankruptcy of insurance companies and the deprivation of insurance to property owners in high-risk regions. Rapid coastal development and an increased number of powerful hurricanes across the Southeastern and Gulf Coast States are two of the factors causing this increase in costs. [ENN]
Canal construction halted by court order -- The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered work to cease on a leaky section of the All-American Canal just north of the US-Mexican border that supplies Colorado River water to farms in California's Imperial Valley for irrigation. [US Water News Online]
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]
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.

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD --

Dr. Michael Passow, LIT Leader in Englewood, NJ, reported on the remnants of former Tropical Storm Ernesto as it passed the New York City metropolitan area at the start of the Labor Day weekend. This system brought high winds and heavy rain, resulting in considerable damage across the region, with more than 800,000 customers losing power for as much as a day. At his home, Dr. Passow had a neighbor's tree fall and down power lines in his yard. A combination of saturated soil and high winds contributed to the toppling of the tree. By Sunday, skies brightened and winds diminished.

A request: If you have some water-related experience that you would like to share with other DataStremeWES participants, please send them to the email address appearing at the bottom of this document for possible inclusion in a News file. Thank you. EJH

Concept of the Week: Touring the WES Homepage

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Water News.

Welcome to DataStreme Water in the Earth System (WES)! You are embarking on a unique teacher-enhancement experience that focuses on water and energy flow in the global water cycle from an Earth system perspective. Throughout this learning experience, you will be accessing the DataStreme WES website frequently to obtain and interpret a variety of environmental information, including the latest observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DataStreme WES website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Water News that includes Water in the News(a summary listing of current events related to water), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to water in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past hydrologic events such as major floods). When appropriate, Supplemental Information will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DataStreme WES website to access and download the second part of weekly Investigations A & B (plus supporting images) that begin in your DataStreme WES Investigations Manual. These materials should be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Tuesday and Thursday. Click the appropriate buttons to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DataStreme WES website provides links to the Earth System, Atmospheric, Oceanic (Inland Seas), and Terrestrial Information, and extras--glossaries of terms, maps, educational links, and WES information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the WES website.

Under Atmospheric Information, click on Water vapor (WV) Satellite. This is the latest satellite depiction of atmospheric water vapor at altitudes generally between 3000 and 7000 m (10,000 to 24,000 ft). Press your "back" button and then click on Latest WV Animation to view the movement of water vapor and clouds in the atmosphere. Although water vapor is an invisible gas, satellite technology makes it possible for us to "see" and follow the flow of water vapor in the atmosphere as part of the global water cycle. Bright white blotches are clouds; black indicates areas of very little or no water vapor and, at the other extreme, milky white signals a relatively high concentration of water vapor. Use the "back" button on your viewer to return to the DataStreme WES website.

The flow and transformations of energy are fundamental aspects of the global water cycle. Heat flows within the Earth system from where it is warmer to where it is colder. In this regard, it is useful to monitor temperatures remotely, by satellite. For a global view of the satellite-derived pattern of sea-surface temperatures, click on Sea Surface Temperatures under Oceanic (and Inland Seas) Information. Note that the color scale at the bottom is in degrees Celsius and temperatures are averaged over a 7-day period. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Return to the DataStreme WES website.

As part of the global water cycle, precipitation that reaches the ground vaporizes back into the atmosphere, runs off into rivers and streams, seeps into the ground, or is stored in lakes or glaciers. Under Terrestrial Information, click on River Flood Conditions for the recent status of river levels monitored at various gauging stations around the nation. Note that in the Map Legend, river stage heights are compared to flood stage values. Now return to the DataStreme WES website.

Extras include color photographs arranged by week (chapter) to supplement your study of the DataStreme WES textbook. For example, click on Chapter 1 and then click on the first thumbnail for an enlarged image with the caption, "Water in Three Phases."

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DataStreme WES website. You may want to "bookmark" this page on your computer. Return frequently to get into the flow of DataStreme WES!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest WV Animation indicates that clouds and water vapor generally move from [(west to east)(east to west)] across the nation.
In the tropical Pacific, the highest sea-surface temperatures occur in the [(western)(eastern)] portion of the ocean basin.

Historical Events

4 September 1939...A "Once-in-a-Hundred-Year" thunderstorm deluged Washington, DC with 4.4 inches of rain in two hours. September of that year was very dry across much of the nation, and Washington, DC received more rain in that two-hour period than most other places in the country that entire month. (David Ludlum)
4-6 September 1970...Moisture from Pacific Tropical Storm Norma led to heavy rain and severe flooding over a three-day span. Unprecedented rains caused rivers in central Arizona to rise five to ten feet per hour, sweeping cars and buildings as far as 30 to 40 miles downstream, leading to the greatest natural disaster of record for Arizona. Flooding claimed the lives of 23 persons, mainly campers, and caused millions of dollars damage. Water crested 36 feet above normal near Sunflower. Workman's Creek was deluged with 11.40 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State. An estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
4 September 1997...A 15-foot deep by 150-foot wide wall of water, mud, boulders and debris flowed down Mill Creek Canyon into Forest Falls, CA, where 2.5 inches of rain fell in 45 minutes. Roads, vehicles, houses and businesses were battered, with 3.5 million dollars in damage and two injuries. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
6 September 1667...A "Dreadful hurricane" hit Virginia with 12 inches of rain. It overturned houses, stripped the fields of crops and pushed tides 12 feet above normal. (Intellicast)
6 September 1992 (date approximate)...A downpour of rain near Bombay, India caused stampede of worshippers at a temple dedicated to Varuna, god of rain. Eleven people died. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 September 1970...A lightning bolt struck a group of football players at Gibbs High School in Saint Petersburg, FL, killing two persons and injuring 22 others. All the thirty-eight players and four coaches on the field were knocked off their feet by the lightning discharge. (The Weather Channel)
7-9 September 1992...Heavy rain swamped northern Pakistan, resulting in phenomenal flooding. On the 9th, 6.72 inches of rain fell in 20 hours at Islamabad. The rain and flooding led to the collapse of 2.8 million homes, with at least 1184 deaths and roughly 4 million made homeless. Rivers in Punjab widened to 20 miles. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
8 September 1900...The greatest weather disaster in U.S. records occurred when a hurricane struck Galveston, TX. Waves fifteen feet high washed over the island demolishing or carrying away buildings, and drowning more than 6000 persons. The hurricane destroyed more than 3600 houses, and total damage was more than $30 million. Winds to 120 mph, and a twenty-foot storm surge accompanied the hurricane. Following the storm, the surf was three hundred feet inland from the former water line. The hurricane claimed another 1200 lives outside of the Galveston area. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
Editor's note: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted a webpage commemorating the Galveston, TX hurricane of 1900. This page contains links to historic photos and excerpts of an eyewitness description of storm by Isaac Cline, the chief forecaster of the Galveston U.S. Weather Bureau Office.
9 September 1921...A dying tropical depression unloaded 38.20 inches of rain upon the town of Thrall in southeastern Texas killing 224 persons. The 36.40 inches that fell in 18 hours represents a record for the United States. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
10 September 1900...Elk Point, SD received 8.00 inches of rain that set a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state. (NCDC)
10 September 1919...A hurricane struck the Florida Keys drowning more than 500 persons. (David Ludlum)
10-11 September 1963...A 24-hour rainfall record for the northern hemisphere was set at Paishih, Taiwan, as 49.13 inches of rain fell as the result of Typhoon Gloria. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
10 September 1965...Hurricane Betsy slammed Louisiana with wind gusting to 130 mph at Houma, resulting in 58 deaths and over 17,500 injured. The storm surge and flooding from torrential rains made Betsy the first billion-dollar hurricane with losses exceeding $1.4 billion.
10 September 1976...Kathleen was the first tropical cyclone to hit southern California since 1939. A wall of water cut a 700-foot wide gap some 40-foot deep at the Myer Creek Bridge on I-8. The 4 to 6-foot wall of water also destroyed 70% of the homes in Ocotillo. Five people were killed and more than 160 million dollars in damage were sustained. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)