13-17 June 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.

• First tropical storm hits the US Gulf Coast -- The first named tropical cyclone of the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Arlene, made landfall along the Gulf Coast near Pensacola, FL on Saturday afternoon and quickly weakened. While maximum sustained winds were about 60 mph, the area was recovering from a direct hit last September from Hurricane Ivan. [USA Today]
• Death toll rises in China floods -- A flash flood swept through a primary school in China last Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least 91 children and adults. [CNN] This disaster follows the flooding in southern China at the start of June that claimed at least 255 lives as of last Tuesday. [USA Today]
• Help for red tide response effort provided -- Late last week NOAA officials announced that additional funds were awarded to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to help in its emergency response to the largest red tide episodes in coastal waters off New England in over 30 years. [NOAA News]
• Olympic swimmer warns of dangers of rip currents -- Ian Crocker, a medallist for the US Olympic swim team, assisted NOAA in the kick off of Rip Current Awareness Week by making public service announcements. [NOAA News]
• National Offshore aquaculture legislation proposed -- As part of his US Ocean Action Plan, President Bush sent a proposal to the US Congress that would grant the NOAA Fisheries Service the authority to permit marine aquaculture facilities to be developed and maintained in the open ocean within 200 miles of the US coastline. [NOAA News]
• Monsoon rains return to India -- Officials in India have announced that the recent rains across the southern sections of the country have signaled the onset of the southwest monsoon season, the part of the year when needed rains accompany a broad flow of humid air from the southwest. [USA Today]
• Lake levels affected by dry spell -- A hydrologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers recently warned that a recent dry spell across the northern Great Lakes, including northern Lower Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula, has slowed the forecasted recovery of the levels of Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron from near record low levels. [Soo Evening News]
• Tracking hurricanes with ozone -- After the analyzing the ozone levels in the air surrounding twelve separate hurricanes, meteorologists at Florida State University have concluded that ozone levels typically decrease when a hurricane intensifies. They also can locate the exact position of the hurricane eye and track its movement using ozone data obtained from the NASA Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer. [NASA Vision]
• Western fire danger eases -- Because of recent mountain snow and cool weather, Federal wildfire forecasters released their western wildfire outlook for the summer that downgrades earlier forecasts of above normal fire activity to near normal activity across the Pacific Northwest and Rockies. [USA Today]
• Vulnerable species endangered by Western drought -- Wildlife officials and concerned citizens are taking extraordinary efforts to help various endangered species of animals survive the current western drought. [MSNBC]
• Electricity produced by pollution-eating bacteria -- Microbiologists with the Medical University of South Carolina have found that bacteria found in freshwater ponds can be used to generate electricity that can operate small electronic devices. Since these bacteria feed on organic waste products, they can be used to breakdown and detoxify a variety of environmental pollutants such as PCBs and some chemical solvents. [EurekAlert!]
• Proof given that Doppler radar saves lives -- Using tornado data collected from 1986 and 1999, researchers at Austin College and the University of Oklahoma recently reported that the network of Doppler weather radar units deployed across the nation during the last decade have not only improved the tornado warnings significantly, but appear to have caused a reduction in the number of tornado casualties by nearly 50 percent. [EurekAlert!]
• Volcanic eruptions and acidic aerosols could cool planet -- Scientists at Britain's Open University ran a computer simulation of the effects that acidic aerosols from the 1783 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki had upon the climate of northern Europe. They found that these sulfuric acid aerosols were capable of producing rapid and long-term climatic change. [EurekAlert!]
• 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.

• 13 June 1977...A tropical cyclone crossed the Arabian Sea from near the Laccadive Islands off southwest India and slammed into the island of Masirah, sultanate of Oman. Winds reached at least 104 mph and the 24-hour rainfall total was 16.95 inches. About 99% of buildings were damaged. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 June 1996...Thunderstorms dropped 5 to 8 inches of rain on Leverett and Montague, MA in 4 hours. Thirty miles of roadway were ruined, with all but one road in Leverett destroyed. Flash flooding destroyed a 200-foot long bridge, which was replaced by a 50-foot deep canyon. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 June 1903...The "Heppner Disaster" occurred in Oregon. A cloudburst in the hills sent a flood down Willow Creek, and a twenty foot wall of water swept away a third of the town in minutes, killing 236 residents and causing $100 million damage. (David Ludlum)
• 14 June 1990...Four inches of rain in about 75 minutes on the saturated headwaters of Pipe and Wegee Creeks and the Cumberland Run in southeastern Ohio created a wall of water 10 to 30 ft high that devastated the community of Shadyside. Twenty-four people were killed. One person reported ankle-deep water running down the side of a hill when he was seeking higher ground. Some bodies were found in the Ohio River 30 miles downstream. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 June 1998...Flooding from 13.18 inches of rain falling in 24 hours at Atlantic, IA destroyed 21 homes. Saturated soil around Lake Panorama began sliding into the lake in the evening. Three homes "cracked" beyond repair as the earth sank 12 to 18 inches. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 15 June 1662...A fast was held at Salem, MA with prayers for rain, and the Lord gave a speedy answer. (David Ludlum)
• 15 June 1879...McKinney, ND received 7.7 inches of rain in 24 hours, a state record. This 24-hour state precipitation record has since been broken in June 1975 with an 8.10-inch reading. (The Weather Channel)
• 15 June 1957...East Saint Louis, IL was deluged with 16.54 inches of rain in 24 hours, a record for the state of Illinois. In July 1996, this record was broken when 16.91 inches fell. (The Weather Channel)
• 16 June 1965...Thunderstorms dumped torrential rains along the east slopes and on the plains east of Denver, CO. Up to 14 in. fell at both Palmer Lake and Larkspur and 12 in. at Castle Rock, resulting in a wall of water down the west and east branches of Plum Creek. Damage to roads and bridges in Larkspur, Castle Rock, and Sedalia was extensive. The flood then reached the South Platte River near Littleton and proceeded through Denver. Flood waters spread to 1/2 mile or more in width and destroyed homes, trailer courts, and businesses. the flood caused $230 million damage and eight deaths along the entire South Platte River basin. (Intellicast)
• 16-18 June 1972...The greatest three-day rainfall in Hong Kong since 1889 produced 25.68 inches and resulted in disastrous landslides and building collapses. More than 100 people died, while thousands were made homeless. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 16 June 1972...The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in North America (5,248 MW installed, expandable to 9,252 MW) was started at Churchill Falls, Labrador. (Wikipedia)
• 16 June 1984...Sixty-four cars parked near Westby, WI were swept 0.25 miles by a flash flood. Some people just "hung on" as they climbed on top of cars caught in trees. One person said "I had no idea anything like that ever happening around here." No deaths were reported. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 17 June 1965...Holly, CO was deluged with 11.08 inches of rain to establish a state 24-hour rainfall record. (The Weather Channel)
• 17 June 1987...Thunderstorms produced severe weather in the south central U.S. The Edwards Aquifer, which supplies water to San Antonio TX, reached a record level of 699.2 feet following a record 18.43 inches of rain in thirty days. Torrential rains between the mid May and mid June sent 8.8 million acre feet of water down the rivers of southern Texas, the largest volume in 100 years of records. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 17-18 June 2002...Deadly floods ravaged parts of southern Russia between the Caspian and Black Seas. Chechnya, Krasnodar and Stavropol were particularly hard hit, with more than 40,000 homes flooded and at least 200 bridges damaged or destroyed. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 18 June 1875...A severe coastal storm (or possible hurricane) struck the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. Eastport, ME reported wind gusts to 57 mph. (David Ludlum)
• 18 June 1991...Atlanta, GA set a new record for the amount of the rain in one hour as 3.47 inches fell between 6:52 and 7:52 PM EDT. (Intellicast)
• 19 June 1932...A hailstorm in Honan Province, China, killed two hundred and injured thousands of people. The hail fell for two hours and damaged four hundred villages. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
• 19 June 1938...A cloudburst near Custer Creek, MT (near Miles City) caused a train wreck killing forty-eight persons. An estimated four to seven inches of rain deluged the head of the creek that evening, and water flowing through the creek weakened the bridge. As a result, a locomotive and seven passenger cars of the Milwaukee Road's The Olympian plunged into the swollen creek. One car, a tourist sleeper, was completely submerged. (David Ludlum) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19 June 1969...Flash floods resulted as a rainstorm dropped 1.65 inches in 40 minutes over the mountainous terrain approximately 6 miles west-northwest of Castleford, ID. The flood cut a 40 foot deep gap at the Salmon Falls Creek road crossing. A two-foot high wall of water swept down another road. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19-26 June 1972...Hurricane Agnes (a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) moved onshore along the Florida Panhandle near Cape San Blas and Apalachicola with wind gusts to 80 mph, and then exited Maine on the 26^th. This hurricane moved northeast and joined with an upper level disturbance, producing from 10 to 20 inches of rain along its path along the Eastern Seaboard. In the Middle Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania, 24 hour rainfall amounts were generally 8 to 12 inches, with up to 19 inches in extreme southwestern Schuylkill County. At Wilkes-Barre, PA the dike was breached destroying much of the town. Agnes was responsible for 125 deaths, mainly due to flooding from North Carolina to New York State, and total damage was estimated at more than three billion dollars. The torrential rains from Hurricane Agnes resulted in one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history. Agnes caused more damage than all other tropical cyclones in the previous six years combined (which included Celia and Camille). (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• Month of June...According to a 1969 US Army technical report, the average dewpoint temperature at Ras Andahglie and Assab, Eritrea (Ethiopia) average slightly more than 84ºF. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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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.