WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

25-29 May 2009

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2009 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 31 August 2009. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics -- Although sea surface temperatures have been increasing across the ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere, tropical cyclone activity has been relatively non-existent this past week. (Tropical cyclones are low-pressure systems over tropical waters.) On Sunday, a tropical storm with maximum sustained surface winds of 40 mph had developed over the waters of the Bay of Bengal off the eastern coast of India. This system is the second tropical cyclone of the 2009 season in the Northern Indian Ocean.
• Hurricane Preparedness Week -- With the beginning of the official 2009 hurricane season for the North Atlantic Basin beginning on 1 June, next week (24-30 May) has been declared National Hurricane Awareness Week. The National Hurricane Center maintains a hurricane preparedness website that provides information and educational material for the various hurricane hazards to include storm surge, high winds, tornadoes and flooding. (A Spanish version of this website is also available.)
• Hurricane outlooks issued -- Scientists with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center have released their outlooks for the upcoming hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, the eastern Pacific and central Pacific Basins last week:
  • For the North Atlantic basin, the outlook indicates equal chances (50 percent) of near normal hurricane activity, while the probabilities of above and below normal seasons were set at 25 percent chance each. Specifically, the outlook calls for a 70 percent chance of nine to 14 named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms), including four to seven hurricanes, with one to three major hurricanes (Category 3 hurricanes or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale). The forecasts point to the uncertainty in their hurricane forecasts as being due to uncertainty in the global weather patterns. Competing factors also include a recent trend toward more active Atlantic hurricane seasons during the last decade, enhanced West African rainfall and reduced wind shear warmer Atlantic waters, along with the possibility of the development of an El Niño event. [NOAA News] For comparison, Phil Klotzbach and Bill Gray at Colorado State University released an updated forecast of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season in early April calling for a season with slightly above average activity with 12 named tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes), of which six could reach hurricane status.
  • For the Eastern North Pacific basin (east of 140 degrees West longitude), the outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center suggests a normal to below-normal hurricane season. This outlook would call for a 70 percent chance of 13 to 18 named tropical cyclones, with six to ten hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes; which compares with the long-term average of 16 named cyclones, nine hurricanes and as many as five major hurricanes. The forecasters indicate that the slightly lower than average season may be influenced by the atmospheric conditions that have decreased hurricane activity over the basin during the last decade and the possible development of an El Niño event. [NOAA News]
  • For the Central North Pacific basin (between 180 degrees and 140 degrees West longitude), Forecasters at NOAA's Central Pacific Hurricane Center in collaboration with their colleagues at the Climate Prediction Center expect that the upcoming season has an 80 percent chance of being a near- to below-normal season. On average, four to five tropical cyclones (including tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes) travel across the basin. The lower than average anticipated numbers could be related to the uncertainty in the current predictions of El Niño conditions. [NOAA News]
• Review of April 2009 global temperatures -- After their analysis of preliminary data, scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center recently reported that the combined average global land and ocean surface temperatures for April 2009 were the fifth highest since sufficiently dense worldwide records began in 1880. Southern oceans, along with sections of Europe and northern Asia were unseasonably warm.
  In addition, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that the extent of the Arctic sea ice was the tenth smallest since satellite surveillance began in 1979, while sea ice cover on the Southern Oceans was approximately 13 percent greater than the 1979-2000 average. [NOAA News]
• Several fish stocks have been rebuilt -- NOAA’s Fisheries Service recently provided the US Congress with the "2008 Status of U.S. Fisheries," reporting that four fish stocks in the Atlantic have been rebuilt sufficiently to allow for continued sustainable fishing. These stocks were Atlantic bluefish, Gulf of Mexico king mackerel and two stocks of monkfish. Several other stocks were placed on the list of those that are being fished at unsustainable levels. [NOAA News]
• Public comment sought on protection of threatened sturgeon -- NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on a proposed rule prohibiting acts that would kill or harm a threatened group of North American green sturgeon that spawn in California's Sacramento River. [NOAA News]
• Changes in fisheries catches affected by warmer oceans -- NOAA scientists have made key contributions to a new United Nations Environment Programme report entitled "The UNEP Large Marine Ecosystem Report: a Perspective on Changing Conditions in LMEs of the World’s Regional Seas" in which 61 of the world’s 64 large marine ecosystems (LMEs) located in the coastal waters adjacent to continents have experienced a significant increase in sea surface temperatures during the last 25 years, contributing to changes in the fisheries catches. [NOAA News]
• Maritime heritage of African-Americans is explored -- Over this past weekend, NOAA archaeologists helped train members of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers in underwater archaeology at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This training has been part of a new education initiative designed to explore the maritime heritage of African-Americans and engage the community in marine resource conservation. [NOAA News]
• Sounds of endangered whales comes from an unlikely region of the North Atlantic -- Using hydrophones deployed in North Atlantic waters off the southern tip of Greenland, a team of scientists from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NOAA’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory and Oregon State University were able to hear the distinctive calls of the endangered North Atlantic right whales. This discovery is significant, as the sounds came from a region where the resident whale population was thought to have been hunted to extinction during the early 20th century. This region is along potential shipping lanes of the Northwest Passage that could see increased activity because of more open water in the future. [NOAA News]
• An in depth report made on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands' ecosystems -- NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science has prepared a report entitled, "A Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands" that examines in detail the marine life and habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, especially in the region protected by the Papahnaumokukea Marine National Monument. [NOAA News]
• Heat-tolerant coral reefs found that may resist warmer ocean waters -- Stanford University scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting to warmer ocean waters and may survive anticipated global warming. [Stanford University]
• Students selected for Hollings Scholarships -- The Director of NOAA’s Office of Education recently announced the names of the 122 college undergraduates who will receive scholarships as part of the Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program. These scholarships, named for former Senator Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, are provided to encourage undergraduates to pursue studies in those sciences found in NOAA, including the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. [NOAA News]
• All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 25 May 1985...The Meghna River delta in Bangladesh was hit with a tropical cyclone with winds of over 100 mph that created a 15-to 20-foot high storm surge that flooded a 400-square-mile area, mainly islands located in the mouth of the river. More than 11,000 people and 500,000 head of cattle died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless because of this cyclone.
• 26 May 1967...A slow moving nor'easter battered New England with high winds, heavy rain, and record late season snow on this day and into the 26th. Winds 70 to 90 mph in gusts occurred along the coast. Over 7 inches of rain fell at Nantucket, MA with 6.57 inches falling in 24 hours to set a new 24-hour rainfall record. Severe damage occurred along the coast from very high tides. The 24.9 inches of snow that fell at Mount Washington, NH set a new May snowfall record. Other locations in New Hampshire received 10 inches of snow near Keene and 6 inches at Dublin. (Intellicast)
• 28 May 1963...A cyclone killed about 22,000 people along the coast of East Pakistan.
• 28 May 1987...A robot probe found the wreckage of the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, NC. (Wikipedia)
• 29 May 1827...The first nautical school was opened in Nantucket, MA, under the name Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin's Lancasterian School.
• 29 May 1914...Shallow river fog along the St. Lawrence River approximately 185 miles from Quebec City, Quebec contributed to the collision of the CP Liner Empress of Ireland and a Norwegian coal ship, The Storstad. Although the two ships had spotted each other several minutes before the collision, altered courses and confused signals contributed to the crash. In one of the worst ship disasters in history, the liner sank in 25 minutes drowning 1024 passengers of the 1477 people on board. Only seven lifeboats escaped the rapidly sinking vessel. (The Weather Doctor) (The History Channel)
• 29 May 1950...A Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, RCMPV St. Roch, became the first ship to circumnavigate North America, when it arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Wikipedia)
• 30 May 1767...The first stone of the tower for the Charleston Lighthouse on Morris Island, SC was laid on this date. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 30-31 May 1997...As many as 140 people had to be rescued from rip currents off Dayton Beach Shores, FL. One man died in a rip current while trying to save his wife. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 May 1911...The hull of the ill-fated Titanic was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship." (Information Please)
• 31 May 1997...The Confederation Bridge, also dubbed the "Fixed Link," was officially opened, linking Canada's Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick. This 8-mile long bridge that crosses the Northumberland Strait is the longest bridge in the world that spans waters that freeze. (Wikipedia)

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Prepared by AMS DS-Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2009, The American Meteorological Society.