WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DATASTREME WES WEEK THREE: 5-9 February 2007

Water in the News

(Thurs.) Continued monitoring African rain and lake levels -- Satellite sensors on board NASA's Terra and Jason satellites provided scientists across the world with data that allowed them to assess the impact of the torrential rain that fell across the Horn of Africa during the last three months and produced devastating floods and a rise in the level of lakes, such as Lake Victoria. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Thurs.) Offshore wind resource is located -- An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Delaware and Stanford University report that their wind power study has shown that winds off the Middle Atlantic coast could provide a resource that would be sufficient to not only supply the current needs of nine coastal states and the nation's capital, but also support a 50 percent increase in future energy demand. [University of Delaware]
(Thurs.) The seaside air could be cloned -- Scientists at the University of East Anglia have discovered that a single gene from microbial bacteria obtained from the North Norfolk coast appears to be responsible for the emission of dimethyl sulfide, a gas that is responsible for the characteristic smell of seaside air. [EurekAlert!]
(Thurs.) Peat moorlands could store greenhouse gases -- A Dutch researcher claims that while wet peat moorlands, such as those that he studied in western Siberia, are a source of methane, a greenhouse gas, they represent a sustainable storage site for carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas. [Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research]
(Thurs.) Tracking earth's water by satellite -- A team of scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have employed the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Aura satellite to track the origin and movement of water vapor in Earth's atmosphere, thereby providing an additional view of the role of the hydrologic cycle in affecting planetary climate. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) New February outlook considers weakening El Niño -- Scientists with the Climate Prediction Center recently announced that have revised their February outlook due to a weakening of the anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes identified as an El Niño event, as detected by a return of water temperatures over the equatorial Pacific Ocean toward readings that were close to the long-term averages. While chances are highly likely that much of West could experience above average February temperatures, sections of the Middle Atlantic States appear to have a better than even chance of below average temperatures for February. The Southeast has a good chance of near normal temperatures, while the rest of the country is thought to have equal chances for either below or above average temperatures. The researchers feel that many areas across the southern sections of the nation have a good chance of experiencing above average February precipitation, while sections of the Pacific Northwest and a large section of the Midwest, including the mid and upper Mississippi Valley, along with the western Great Lakes could have a dry February. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) UN releases 2006 disaster report -- The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction recently reported that 21,796 disaster-related deaths occurred world-wide in 2006, which continued a downward trend in annual fatalities that had been interrupted by a spike of 92,000 fatalities in 2005, due primarily to the Indian Ocean tsunami and Pakistan earthquake. However, the report notes that more floods and heat waves occurred in 2006, which were responsible for a significant number of fatalities. [USA Today]
(Tues.) Colorado snow pack could help end drought -- Despite complaints about the recent heavy snows that have hit Colorado's Front Range, water utility managers see the snow pack as helping to replenish the water supply for such communities as Colorado Springs that experienced drought last year. [Fox 21 News] Scientists with the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service report that the snowpack at Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park is the highest in nearly ten years. [Longmont FYI]
(Tues.) Dry winter could signal water problems ahead -- Water managers across California have been expressing concern that the lack of significant precipitation during the balance of this year's rainy season could result in water supply problems in the near future. [Capital Press] [Lodi News-Sentinel]
(Tues.) Multicolored snow reported in Siberia -- Snow with colors that included yellow, green and orange, fell across large areas in three separate provinces of Siberia last week. A Russian emergency official indicated that the multiple snow colors were caused by airborne dust from nearby Kazakhstan and that the snow was not toxic. [ENN]
(Tues.) Risky levees are identified -- The US Army Corps of Engineers recently provided a list of 122 levees across the nation that they considered likely to fail during a major flood because of poor maintenance. While many of these levees are in rural areas, some of the identified levees are close to cities. [USA Today]
Thousands made homeless by Indonesian floods -- Four days of torrential rain late last week has produced flooding that killed at least nine people and forced 200,000 people to flee their homes in Jakarta, Indonesia. [CNN]
Skiers rescued from an avalanche in Utah -- Two skiers who were buried by an avalanche in the mountainous backcountry of Utah near Salt Lake City were rescued on Saturday. [USA Today]
Denver's airport was not prepared for Christmas blizzard -- A preliminary report issued last week claims that the Denver International Airport was not sufficiently prepared for the blizzard that closed the airport during the busy travel week before Christmas 2006. [USA Today]
Long-awaited climate report released -- Last Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the first part of its report detailing the findings by a large group of climate scientists that describes the latest on human-caused global warming and future worsening climate conditions. [CNN]
- This authoritative report is based on six years of new observations and analyses. The "Summary for Policy Makers" is available as a 21 page pdf file. [IPCC Executive Summary] The earlier report by this panel was IPCC 2001 Summary: "The Definitive Scientific Basis for Global Warming".
- The American Meteorological Society issued an Information Statement on Climate Change that summarizes many topics covered in the IPCC report, in a shorter text and without figures. [American Meteorological Society]
- Researchers from NOAA, along with technology from this agency, have made significant contributions to the report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last Friday. [NOAA News]
- The effect of clouds upon Earth's climate remains a problem for experts who prepared the IPCC report. [USA Today] An atmospheric scientist with Langley Research Center has used images collected from satellite-borne instruments, such as MODIS on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, to determine that the Arctic has become cloudier since 2000, while no such trends in are apparent in Antarctica. [NASA Earth Observatory]
- An international team of climate scientists from six institutions around the world, using global temperature and sea level records collected over the last 17 years, cautioned against suggestions that the IPCC has previously overestimated the rate of climate change, especially with respect to the sea level changes, as they report that the observed sea level has been rising faster than models would suggest. [CSIRO]
- The executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) cautions that human activity is responsible for more changes to the planetary environment than those associated with climate. These include the exploited world fisheries and the extent of the domesticated land surface. [International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme]
Unusual "hole punch" clouds detected -- Some unusual cloud formations, including clouds that had clear areas that resembled punched holes were visible to ground based observers in southern Louisiana early last week as well as to the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite. A combination of factors, including air traffic patterns and atmospheric stability, was likely responsible for the unusual cloud phenomenon. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Monitoring water storage anomalies in the Mississippi River Basin using satellites -- Scientists have been using high precision gravity data collected by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites to determine the seasonal changes in water storage over large regions, such as the four major sub-basins of the Mississippi River basin over the Midwest and adjacent Plains. [NASA Earth Observatory]
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: Great Lakes Water Levels

In late 2000, Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie experienced their lowest water levels in 35 years with serious implications for lake-based activities. Over the past few years, however, changes in weather conditions in the Great Lakes watershed appear to have somewhat reversed the decline in water levels, but overall they still remain below long-term averages.

From 1997 to 2001, Lakes Michigan and Huron dropped by 104 cm (40.8 in.) and Lake Erie dropped by 96 cm (37.6 in.), encompassing the greatest three-year drop in lake levels since continuous records began in 1860. This dramatic decline in lake level was due to a combination of weather conditions in the Great Lakes watershed. Rainfall, snowfall, and air temperature during winter and spring govern water levels of the Great Lakes in spring and summer. Spring melting of the winter snow pack in the watershed is an important contributing factor as is air temperature that ultimately governs evaporation rates. During 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000, lower than normal precipitation and higher than normal temperatures reduced the winter snow pack, decreased discharge on rivers flowing into the lakes, and accelerated lake evaporation. Although input of water into the Great Lakes was above the long-term average in Fall 2001, lake levels remained well below average because of less than the usual snow melt in the Spring of 2001 and less than normal winter ice-cover in 2001-02. (More open water translates into greater winter evaporation.)

Great Lakes water levels showed signs of recovery during 2002, but in early 2003, all the lakes were lower than the long-term average for that time of year. A cool wet summer in the eastern Lakes region, but dry summer weather across the west meant that lake levels for the upper lakes continued to remain below average, while the lower lakes had levels that returned to near average. The cool summer of 2004 was very similar to 2003, with below average precipitation across the western Lakes and above average rainfall over the eastern Lakes. By mid September 2004, Lakes Erie and Ontario had water levels that were above the long-term monthly average. However, following the dry spring and summer of 2005, lake levels of the upper (or western) Lakes fell below long-term averages and remained below average into 2006. Continued drought and unseasonably warm weather across sections of the Upper Midwest during the summer of 2006 caused the level of Lake Superior to fall to approximately 30 cm (1 3 in) below the long-term average by early February 2007. The levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron were about 38 cm (15 in) below the long-term average at the start of February. (The Straits of Mackinac that link Lakes Michigan and Huron are so wide and deep that the levels of these two lakes are essentially the same.) On the other hand, the lower lakes had received sufficient precipitation to help bring levels to above long-term averages by the late winter 2006-2007. Levels on Lakes Erie and Ontario were slightly above the above long-term averages, with the level of Erie being 28 cm (11 in) above the long-term average and on Ontario 49 cm (19 in) above.

Low lake levels adversely impact commercial navigation, marinas, recreational boaters, and electric power facilities. Shallower than usual water requires expensive and environmentally damaging dredging to keep shipping channels navigable and ports open. Even with more dredging, some channels cannot accommodate the draft of heavily laden freighters. Reduced carrying capacity impedes transport of grain, coal, ore, and other raw materials to processing facilities and markets. In 2000, Lake Carriers transported 5% to 8% less cargo, sending prices higher. If storm winds cause near-shore water levels to fall, marinas, docks, and boat ramps may be temporarily inaccessible. The Great Lakes supply most of the potable water for lakeshore communities and cooling water for coal-fired and nuclear electric power plants located along their shores. A drop in water level may require costly repositioning of intake pipes. On the positive side, lower lake levels translate into broader beaches and wetland habitats and less shoreline erosion.

For more information on past, current, and anticipated Great Lakes water levels, go to http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now/wlevels/, a web site maintained by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). Records of Great Lakes water levels constitute one of the longest high quality hydrometeorological data sets in North America, dating back to about 1860. Lake level measurements are collected and archived by NOAA's National Ocean Service.

Concept of the Week: Questions

With rising temperatures, the rate of evaporation of water [(increases)(decreases)].
A trend toward snowier and colder winters and springs is likely to cause levels of the Great Lakes to [(rise)(fall)].

Historical Events

5 February 1887...San Francisco, CA experienced its greatest snowstorm of record. Nearly four (3.7) inches were reported in downtown San Francisco, and the western hills of the city received seven inches. Excited crowds went on a snowball-throwing rampage. (David Ludlum)
5 February 1987...Thunderstorms in the Southern Plains Region caused flooding in parts of south central Texas. Del Rio, TX was soaked with two inches of rain in two hours prior to sunrise. (The National Weather Summary)
5 February 1997...High winds pushed mountains of ice against the northern shore of Lake Erie crushing several houses and cottages in Colchester, Ontario. This phenomenon is known as ice shove. (The Weather Doctor)
6 February 1856...A lee shore snowburst at Oswego, NY on Lake Ontario dropped an estimated 6 feet of snow. (Intellicast)
6-8 February 1885...A severe blizzard buried parts of Nova Scotia under 16 inches of snow. Train traffic was disrupted as only trains with snowplows attached were able to push through. (The Weather Doctor)
6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was seen by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
6 February 1985...The French mineral water company, Perrier, debuted its first new product in 123 years. The new items were water with a twist of lemon, lime, or orange.
6 February 1987...Brownsville, TX was deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours, and flooding in some parts of the city was worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
7 February 1920...A great four-day snow and sleet storm came to an end over New England and southeastern New York. Accumulations of 15 to 20 inches of ice, sleet, and snow were common, stalling traffic for weeks. (Intellicast)
7 February 1978...The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The fourteen-foot tide at Portland, ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham, MA. A hurricane-size surf caused 75 deaths and $500 million damage. (David Ludlum)
8 February 1905...A cyclone hit Tahiti and adjacent islands killing some 10,000 people.
8 February 1987...A powerful storm produced blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes Region. Winds gusted to 86 mph at Janesville, WI and Cleveland, OH received 12 inches of snow. North winds of 50 to 70 mph raised the water level of southern Lake Michigan two feet, and produced waves 12 to 18 feet high, causing $7 million damage along the Chicago area shoreline. It was the most damage caused by shoreline flooding and erosion in the history of the city of Chicago. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
8 January 2001...The log-carrying ship, Leo Forest, lost much of its cargo as over 2300 logs went overboard approximately 400 miles north of Adak, AK. The ship lost power in waves that were greater than 35 feet and the loss of the logs caused the ship to list 10 degrees to port (left) with the bow three feet down. Fortunately, the ship made safe passage to Dutch Harbor for repairs. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
9 February 1994...A long-duration overrunning snowstorm combined with ocean effect snow resulted in big snowfall accumulations across east-coastal Massachusetts. Boston checked in with a two-day total of 18.7 inches for its greatest single storm snowfall since the great blizzard of 1978. 27.7 inches were recorded at Manchester-by-the-Sea and 24 inches fell at South Weymouth. Farther to the southwest, a foot of snow blanketed Newark, NJ. (Intellicast)
10 February 1940...USCGC Bibb and Duane made first transmissions as weather stations. (USCG Historian's Office)
11-22 February 1986...A series of storms dropped heavy snow on northern and central California; Bucks Lake had a storm total of 49.6 inches. The resultant flooding and mudslides killed 13, injured 67, and caused the evacuation of 50,000 people. Property damage was an estimated $400 million. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
11 February 1999…Tahtsa Lake, BC reported 57 inches of snow, which set a new 24-hour snowfall record for Canada, eclipsing the old record of 46.5 inches of snow that fell at Lakelse, BC on 17 January 1974. This former record replaced a 44.0 inch summertime snowfall on 29 June 1963 at Livingston Ranger Station, AB. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)