9-13 May 2005

DataStreme Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2005 with new Water News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2005. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Benefits from new satellite foreseen -- NOAA officials recently issued a press release that detailed some of the features that a new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite would provide following its scheduled launch in June, including improvement to the global Earth observation program and the nation's search and rescue operations. [NOAA News]
• FEMA plans for 2005 hurricane season -- Based upon lessons learned from last year when four hurricanes hit Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been making several changes in its preparations for the upcoming hurricane season. [USA Today]
• Water woes continue across the West:
• Drought causes fruit farms to wither in Northwest -- The drought conditions that have persisted across the Northwest for the last four to five years have meant that apple growers in Washington State have sought alternative water supplies, develop better water conservation strategies or change crops. [USA Today]
• Montana snowpack remains meager -- The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports that despite April storms that brought near-normal precipitation to many areas of Montana, snowpack in the mountains in the northwest sections of the state near Glacier National Park were at record low levels. [USA Today]
• Flooding a concern in Utah -- The rash of winter storms that moved across the Southwest during the winter and spring produced flooding across southern Utah. More storms over last weekend along with spring snowmelt could cause flooding. Federal legislation for flood relief for Utah was passed by the US House of Representatives last week. [USA Today]
• Martian "divining rod" deployed -- Mission scientists reported that the first of three radar booms onboard the European Mars Express spacecraft designed to search for water below the Martian surface has been deployed successfully. [New Scientist]
• Northern California glaciers bucking trend -- A geologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara recently reported that contrary to the trend for diminishing glaciers at most known locations worldwide, two glaciers in the Trinity Alps and on those on Mount Shasta in northern California appear to show very little shrinkage. Increased precipitation appears to be sustaining these glaciers. [University of California, Santa Barbara]
• 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.

• 9 May 1980...A blinding squall, followed by dense fog, reduced visibility to near zero at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida. The Liberian freighter SS Summit Venture hit the bridge piling, causing a 1200-foot section of the bridge to fall 150 feet into the bay. Several vehicles, including a bus drove off the edge of the span, resulting in 35 deaths. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (Wikipedia).
• 9 May 1990...A tropical cyclone hit the southeast coast of India, killing 1000 people, even though 400,000 people evacuated because of early warning of the storm. More than 100 miles of coast were devastated as winds reached 125 mph and a storm surge measured at 22 feet flooded inland as far as 22 miles. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 10 May 1977...An unprecedented spring snowstorm, hit southern New England and southeastern New York. This storm, which began on the 9^th, was an elevation storm. Twenty inches of snow fell at Norfolk, CT (elevation 1337 feet) while downtown Hartford received only 1.2 inches. The highest total occurred at Slide Mountain, NY (elevation 2600 feet) with 26 inches falling. Extensive damage to trees and power lines occurred with 500,000 people without power following the storm. This was the first May snow in 107 years of records at Boston, MA although only 1/2 inch fell there. However, in the nearby suburb of Bedford, 9.5 inches fell. Of particular interest is the fact that Concord, NH received all rain from the storm, demonstrating latitude farther north played no role in this snowstorm. (Intellicast)
• 10-11 May 1991...Floodwaters from Soldier Creek and White River washed out many roads and bridges, including 20 miles of railroad track and 42 railroad bridges in the Nebraska Panhandle. In Oral, SD, houses were carried several hundred feet by floodwaters. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11 May 1833...The ship Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic while bound from England to Quebec, resulting in the loss of 215 lives. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11-12 May 1965...The first of two cyclones that struck East Pakistan (now called Bangladesh) during the year made landfall. This system, along with the one on 1–2 June killed about 47,000 people.
• 12 May 1916...Plumb Point, Jamaica reported 17.80 inches of rain in 15 minutes, which set a world record. (The Weather Doctor)
• 12 May 1972...In Texas, a cloudburst dumped sixteen inches of rain north of New Braunfels sending a thirty foot wall of water down Blueders Creek into the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers washing away people, houses and automobiles. The flood claimed 18 lives and caused more than twenty million dollars damage. (The Weather Channel)
• 12 May 1989...Showers and thunderstorms associated with a low-pressure system stalled over New York State drenched Portland, ME with 4.50 inches of rain in 24 hours. Rains of 5 to 7 inches soaked the state of Maine over a four-day period causing 1.3 million dollars damage. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 13 May 1930...A man was killed when caught in an open field during a hailstorm 36 miles northwest of Lubbock, TX, the first, and perhaps the only, authentic death by hail in U.S. weather records. (David Ludlum)
• 13-14 May 1989...Heavy rain and snow fell along Colorado's Front Range and the north central mountains, with 20 inches of snow recorded at Echo Lake. A 30-ton boulder, loosened by the wet weather, tumbled onto Interstate 70 east of the Eisenhower Tunnel. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 15-24 May 1951...Hurricane Able did a "loop-the-loop" north of the Bahamas and reached Category 3 strength off Cape Hatteras, NC. (The Weather Doctor)
• 15 May 1972...The worst ice jam flooding of memory for long-time residents took place along the Kuskokwim River and Yukon River in Alaska, marking the first time since 1890 that the two rivers "flowed as one". The towns of Oscarville and Napaskiak were completely inundated. (15th-31st) (The Weather Channel)

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URL: WES/news.html

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