27 June-1 July 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.

• Welcome to the weather and ocean educators attending the 2005 Project Atmosphere-DataStreme Workshop that is being held at the University of Miami, FL from 27 June to 1 July 2005.
• Lightning information -- This past week was designated Lightning Awareness Week across the nation. Several lightning-related news items were released:
• Researchers at the Storm Prediction Center have developed a lightning prediction system along with an eight-year lightning climatology intended to help forecasters accurately predict the location of potentially deadly cloud-to-ground lightning flashes. [NOAA News]
• Scientists at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center are also obtaining a climatology of the global distribution and intensity of lightning strikes using optical sensors onboard orbiting satellites. [NASA]
• Monitoring a historic estuary -- Scientists have been using the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve located on the Hudson River upstream from the New York City metropolitan area to monitor the impact of nearly a quarter century of restoration has had upon this tidal estuary that has experienced more than two centuries of human impingement. [NOAA Magazine]
• Sea algae studied for ancient climate clues -- A professor at Yale University along with colleagues have been using ancient algae collected from deep sea drill cores to produce a detailed history of atmospheric carbon dioxide between 45 and 25 million years ago. [EurekAlert!]
• Photosynthesis appears possible in deep ocean -- Researchers at the Arizona State University believe that photosynthesis takes place in the deep Pacific Ocean after they discovered green sulfur bacteria near hydrothermal vents more than 7800 feet below the ocean surface. [EurekAlert!]
• More mangrove forests may have saved lives -- An international team of scientists from Belgium, Sri Lanka, Kenya and India suggests that more and better maintained mangrove greenbelts may have helped protect coastal areas from the effects of the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean last December. [EurekAlert!]
• Death toll continues to mount from floods in China -- Early last week, the Chinese Premier reported 46 more deaths from flooding in southern China as torrential rains continued, bringing the death toll across the country to over 400 since May. [USA Today]
• Assessing the water resources of Amazonia -- An international team of scientists from several disciplines have been obtaining data and developing numerical models to assess the future impacts made by deforestation and other human-induced changes upon the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the Amazon basin in South America. [Woods Hole Research Center]
• Seal coats for parking lots could be a pollution source -- A study by Austin, TX and the US Geological Survey report that runoff from parking lots sealed with a coating contained high levels of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are associated with adverse health effects in humans, animals and plants. [EurekAlert!]
• Research to focus on an alpine lake -- Researchers from Nevada and California are to meet this fall to develop strategies for coring in the Tahoe basin in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the geological origins of Lake Tahoe and those processes that maintain its famous blue color. [EurekAlert!]
• Not necessarily "Arsenic and Old Lace" -- The results of a study led by a medical professor at the University of Arizona appear to indicate that arsenic in drinking water is metabolized differently by individuals, depending upon one's genetic make-up. [EurekAlert!]
• Bar-coding atmospheric constituents -- A physics professor at Ohio State University has developed a spectroscopic technique that will be able to separate out the various constituent species such as water and focus on other species. [Ohio State University]
• 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.

• 27-29 June 1954...Excessive rains from remnants of Hurricane Alice led to the Rio Grande River's worst flood. Up to 27.1 inches of rain fell at Pandale, TX. As many as 55 people died from the flooding. The river crest at Laredo, TX broke the previous highest record by 12.6 feet. The roadway on the US Highway 90 bridge over the Pecos River was covered by 30 feet of water on the 27^th. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (David Ludlum)
• 27 June 1957...Hurricane Audrey smashed ashore at Cameron, LA drowning 381 persons in the storm tide, and causing 150 million dollars damage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Audrey left only a brick courthouse and a cement-block icehouse standing at Cameron, and when the waters settled in the town of Crede, only four buildings remained. The powerful winds of Audrey tossed a fishing trawler weighing 78 tons onto an offshore drilling platform. Winds along the coast gusted to 105 mph, and oilrigs off the Louisiana coast reported wind gusts to 180 mph. A storm surge greater than twelve feet inundated the Louisiana coast as much as 25 miles inland. It was the deadliest June hurricane of record for the U.S. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 27-29 June 1997...Although thousands of miles away, a strong low pressure system southeast of New Zealand produced surf up to seven feet, with occasional sets to ten feet, along Hawaii's south-facing coasts. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28 June 1983...A waterspout was sighted over Hazin Bay on the Yukon-Kuskokwim coast of Alaska. Satellites detected thunderstorms in the area. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28 June 1992...A slow moving tropical depression produced excessive rains across southwest Florida. Four-day totals ending on the 28^th, ranged up to 25 inches in the Venice area, with a general 8 to 14 inches over Sarasota and Manatee counties. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. (Intellicast)
• 28 June 1960...The maximum 24-hour precipitation record for the Bluegrass State was established at Dunmor, KY when 10.40 inches fell. (NCDC)
• 29 June 1966...Seventy people were given medical attention at the Summerfest celebration at Milwaukee, WI as temperatures reached 95 degrees and dewpoints in the mid-70s produced heat indices to 110 degrees. Water misters probably prevented more heat-related injuries. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 29 June 1975...Litchville, ND recorded 8.10 inches of rain for a state 24-hour precipitation record. (NCDC)
• 30 June 1886...The second destructive hurricane in nine days hit the Apalachicola-Tallahassee area of Florida. (David Ludlum)
• 30 June 1972...The entire state of Pennsylvania was declared a disaster area as a result of the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes, which claimed 48 lives, and caused 2.1 billion dollars damage. (The Weather Channel)
• 30 June 1988...Thunderstorms in eastern Kansas drenched Worden with 12.21 inches of rain, and a wall of water two to four feet deep swept through Lone Star, KS flooding every home in the town. The flood cut a five-mile wide path from west of Lone Star east to US Highway 59. Up to ten inches of rain was reported southeast of Callaway, NE. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 30 June 1989...The remains of tropical storm Allison dropped copious amounts of rain on Louisiana. Winnfield, LA reported 22.52 inches of rain in three days, and more than thirty inches for the month, a record for June. Shreveport received a record 17.11 inches in June, with a total for the first six months of the year of 45.55 inches. Thunderstorms also helped produce record rainfall totals for the month of June of 13.12 inches at Birmingham, AL, 14.66 inches at Oklahoma City, OK, 17.41 inches at Tallahassee, FL, 9.97 inches at Lynchburg, VA, and more than 10.25 inches at Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh had also experienced a record wet month of May. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)
• 1 July 1792...A tremendous storm (a tornado or hurricane) hit Philadelphia and New York City. Many young people were drowned while out boating on that Sunday. (David Ludlum)
• 1 July 1915...Pawtucket, RI received a deluge with 5.1 inches of rain in 24 hours. (Intellicast)
• 1 July 1987...Lake Charles, LA was drenched with a month's worth of rain during the early morning. More than five inches of rain soaked the city, including 2.68 inches in one hour. (The National Weather Summary)
• 2-6 July 1994... Heavy rains from the remains of Tropical Storm Alberto produced major flooding across northern and central Georgia. Three-day rains exceeded 15 inches at Atlanta. An impressive 21.10 inches of rain fell at Americus, GA on the 6^th to establish a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Peach State. Numerous road closures and bridge washouts. Thirty people were killed and 50,000 were forced from their homes, as 800,000 acres were flooded. Total damage exceeded $750 million.. (NCDC) (Intellicast)
• 3 July 1992...At 11 PM EDT, several waves to heights of 18 feet crashed ashore at Daytona Beach, FL. Sailboats were tossed onto cars, 200 vehicles damaged and 75 minor injuries reported. While the exact cause was unknown, morning storms were moving parallel to the coast approximately 430 miles to the east. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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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.