DATASTREME WES SPRING BREAK WEEK: 7-11 March 2005

• Flocking to the coast -- NOAA recently reported that more than half of US citizens live either on or near a coast, including the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. Concern has been voiced that the influx of residents along with tourists could complicate or make impossible evacuation in a advance of a natural disaster such as a tsunami or storm surge from a tropical or extratropical storm system. One possible remedy could involve vertical evacuation. [USA Today]
• Assessing the economics of coast and ocean resources -- The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) was been unveiled as a new national initiative aimed at assessing the economic value of the resources associated with the coasts and neighboring waters of the oceans in the local economy. [NOAA Magazine]
• Continuation of the Northwest drought foreseen-- The recently concluded February was one of the driest Februarys in more than one hundred years across Washington State. Unfortunately, forecasters do not see any significant relief from this severe drought conditions in the foreseeable future. [USA Today]
• Life returns to hurricane-ravaged islands -- Following the hurricanes that devastated many areas of Florida last August and September, migratory waterfowl and human "snowbirds" are returning to Sanibel and Captiva Islands along Florida's Gulf Coast near Ft. Myers. [USA Today]
• New approaches to manure handling could help watersheds-- An agricultural research project involving researchers from the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Cooperative Extension and Tarleton State University is attempting to reduce the amount of phosphorous that enters the local watersheds in central Texas near Waco. [EurekAlert!]
• Artificial wetlands help clean water and control flooding -- Scientists involved in a water management project at Purdue University have reported that the building of wetlands in planned communities appears to reduce chemicals in the water and store water, thereby reducing flooding. [Purdue News]
• 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.

Concept of the Week: Bottled Water

During the 1990s, bottled water soared in popularity among Americans. Today, they spend more than $7 billion a year on bottled water. Although 120 to 7500 times more costly per gallon than tap water, the demand for bottled water (especially in individualized containers) continues to climb for several reasons including convenience, health concerns, and dissatisfaction with the quality and taste of municipal tap water. Furthermore, clever ad campaigns have been very successful at persuading consumers of the advantages of drinking bottled water.

Although enamored by bottled water, the U.S. consumer is confronted by a variety of different brands (more than 900), and a potentially confusing terminology on labels mostly having to do with the source of the water. According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), bottled water is defined as drinking water that is sugar-free, calorie-free, and contains no sweeteners or chemical additives other than small amounts of flavors or extracts. Bottled water may also have trace amounts of sodium. Beverages containing 1% or more by weight of flavors or extracts are classified as soft drinks. Soda water, seltzer water, and tonic water are considered soft drinks not bottled water because they may contain sugar and are not calorie-free.

About 75% of all bottled water comes from the subsurface. Bottled water from a well that taps a confined aquifer under hydrologic pressure is artesian water or artesian well water. Mineral water is groundwater that contains at least 250 parts per million (ppm) of dissolved solids from natural sources (i.e., dissolved bedrock, and sediment). Sparkling water contains dissolved carbon dioxide undiminished in concentration from its natural source. Spring water is groundwater that flows naturally to the surface of the Earth where an aquifer intercepts the ground. Well water is bottled water withdrawn from a hole drilled or bored into an aquifer. Collectively, all bottled water from subsurface sources is called natural water.

The quality of bottled water from the subsurface benefits from natural filtration as groundwater slowly seeps through permeable Earth materials. Nonetheless, in many cases bottlers employ additional purification steps such as applying ozone and/or ultraviolet light as disinfecting agents. Bottled water producers who use municipal sources (about 25% of the supply) typically (but not in all cases) reprocess the water for improved quality and taste through distillation, reverse osmosis, deionization, filtration, and/or ozonation. Labels on their products may include the terms purified water or distilled water. These same labels may include the statement "from a community water system," or "from a municipal source" meaning tap water.

While efforts at quality control of bottled water are designed to protect public health, a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published in March 1999 raised some questions about whether enough is being done. The NRDC tested the quality of 1000 bottles of 103 brands of bottled water and found that not all the tested water was of high quality and some samples contained contaminants (http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp). Although the industry has strict standards and both federal and state governments regulate bottled water quality, the NRDC argues that existing regulations are not adequate. The NRDC recommends that the Food and Drug Administration set strict limits for contaminants in bottled water and that bottled water standards be at least as strict as those applicable to municipal (tap) water supplies.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. By convention, bottled water is drinking water that is both sugar-free and calorie-free. [(True)(False)]
2. The source of most water in bottled water is [(subsurface)(surface)] reservoirs.

• 7 March 1932...A severe coastal storm set barometric pressure records from Virginia to New England. Block Island, RI reported a barometric pressure reading of 955.0 millibars (28.20 inches of mercury). (David Ludlum)
• 7 March 1999...Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada's snowiest major city set a new record for a one-day snowfall of 45.7 inches, but prior to that date the winter's total had been a meager (for the city) 46 inches of snow. (The Weather Doctor)
• 8 March 1998...As much as 15 inches of rain fell across Coffee County in Alabama. Runoff breached an earthen levee on Beaver Dam Creek, sending a 6-ft wall of water into Elba. Four people were killed when vehicles were swept downstream. As many as 400 homes and businesses were damaged and 52 roads were either washed out or flooded. Total damage was $105 million. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 9 March 1956...A whopping 367 inches of snow was measured on the ground at the Rainier Paradise Ranger Station in Washington. The snow depth was a state record and the second highest total of record for the continental U.S. (The Weather Channel)
• 9 March 1987...Gale force winds ushered arctic air into the north central U.S. Some places were 50 degrees colder than the previous day. Northeast winds, gusting to 60 mph, produced 8 to 15 ft waves on Lake Michigan causing more than $1 million in damage along the southeastern shoreline of Wisconsin. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 9-13 March 1891...The Great Blizzard struck southern England and Wales with storm winds on the seas. As many as 220 people were reported dead; 65 ships foundered in the English Channel; 6000 sheep perished. Countless trees were uprooted and trains buried in snow. Up to a foot of snow and snowdrifts of 11.5 feet high were recorded at Dulwich, London, Torquay, Sidmouth, and Dartmouth. (The Weather Doctor)
• 9 March 2001...The rain-swollen Tisza River reached its highest level in 100 years peaking at 7.50 m (25 feet) in the village of Zahony, Hungary. Twenty villages were evacuated and more than 30,000 individuals fled their homes due to the flooding. (The Weather Doctor)
• 10 March 1869...Dust from African simooms (siroccos) resulted in a reddish-colored snow to fall in central France. People thought its color came from blood. A similarly colored snow fell on 13 February 1870, while a red colored rain fell on Isle-sur-Serein on 30 October 1926. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 11 March 1864...The Great Sheffield Flood, the largest human-caused disaster ever to befall England, killed over 250 people in Sheffield. (Wikipedia)
• 11 March 2002...The National Ice Center reported that satellite images indicated that an iceberg with an area larger than the state of Delaware had calved from the Thwaites Ice Tongue, a region of snow and glacial ice extending from the Antarctic mainland into the South Amundsen Sea (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 12 March 1888...A blizzard paralyzed southeastern New York State and western New England. The storm produced 58 inches of snow at Saratoga NY, and 50 inches at Middletown CT. Record low temperatures followed the blizzard. The combination of cold and snow claimed 400 lives. New York City received 20.9 inches of snow and Albany NY reported 46.7 inches. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 12 March 1928...The large concrete St. Francis Dam in the San Francisquito Canyon of southern California near Los Angeles failed, killing more than 400 people. (Wikipedia)
• 12 March 1954...A blizzard raged from eastern Wyoming into the Black Hills of western South Dakota, while a severe ice storm was in progress from northeastern Nebraska to central Iowa. The ice storm isolated 153 towns in Iowa. Dust from the Great Plains caused brown snow, and hail and muddy rain over parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. (11th-13th) (The Weather Channel)
• 12 March 1967...A tremendous four-day storm raged across California. Winds of 90 mph closed mountain passes, heavy rains flooded the lowlands, and in sixty hours Squaw Valley, CA was buried under 96 inches (eight feet) of snow. (David Ludlum)
• 12 March 1988...A violent hailstorm struck Katmandu, Nepal during a soccer game at the national stadium. About 80 fans seeking shelter were trampled to death because of the stadium doors were locked. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 13 March 1907...A storm produced a record 5.22 inches of rain in 24 hours at Cincinnati, OH. (12^th-13^th) (The Weather Channel)
• 13 March 1977...Baltimore MD received an inch of rain in eight minutes. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
• 13-15 March 1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches of rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15^th-16^th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 13 March 1993...The "Great Blizzard of '93" clobbered the eastern US and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded. Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile, AL and up to 5 inches reported in the Florida Panhandle, the greatest single snowfall in the state's history. Thirteen inches blanketed Birmingham, AL to set not only a new 24 hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month. Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches. Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24-hour record snowfall. Farther to the north, Pittsburgh, PA measured 25 inches, Albany, NY checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, NY was buried under 43 inches. The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, MA was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain. A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at that location since hurricane Edna in 1954. Numerous cities in the south and mid Atlantic states recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay. Some 208 people were killed by the storm and total damage was estimated at $6 billion-- the costliest extratropical storm in history. (Intellicast)

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