WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

17-21 August 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 --- Tropical weather became more active during the past week:
  • In the North Atlantic, Tropical Storm Ana, the first named tropical cyclone (low pressure systems of tropical storm or hurricane intensity) of the 2009 hurricane season formed last week over the central tropical waters of the Atlantic, finally intensifying to a tropical storm. This system was traveling west toward the Antilles by late Sunday. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and a discussion of the early life of the tropical depression that became Tropical Storm Ana.
    Farther to the east, the second tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Bill, developed early in the weekend and was taking a westward track across the Atlantic waters.
    The third system, Tropical Storm Claudette, developed over the waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Sunday morning. This tropical storm was expected to make landfall along the Florida Panhandle late Sunday night.
  • In the eastern North Pacific basin, what eventually became the fourth hurricane of the 2009 season for that basin formed at midweek well to the west of the southwestern Mexican coast. As the hurricane traveled to the west-northwest, it intensified briefly into a major category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. By late Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Guillermo crossed the boundary from the eastern North Pacific into the central North Pacific Basin, with a projected path that would take the system to the north of the Hawaiian Islands. For more information and satellite images on Guillermo, see the NASA Hurricane Page.
  • An image obtained from the instruments on NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite shows the precipitation that fell over Taiwan during a seven-day span earlier this month as Typhoon Morakot traveled westward across this island nation, producing precipitation totals that were over 30 inches. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Record high sea surface temperatures in July 2009 -- Using preliminary data for the recently concluded month of July 2009, scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center have determined that across the globe, the ocean surface temperature for July 2009 was the highest July temperature since 1880, when a sufficiently dense observing network began. With the global land surface temperature being the ninth highest on record, the July 2009 combined average global land and ocean surface temperature was the fifth highest since 1880. An El Niño event was unfolding across the globe in July, helping explain the record high sea surface temperatures. [NOAA News]
• Coral reefs in a Gulf national marine sanctuary rated healthy -- A NOAA report, entitled "A Biogeographic Characterization of Fish Communities and Associated Benthic Habitats within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary," claims that the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf waters off the Texas and Louisiana coast has one of the healthiest coral reef ecosystems in the tropical Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. [NOAA News]
• Detailed mapping of Oregon's seafloor begins -- During the next two years, a group of scientists and surveyors from NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey and Oregon State University using the latest technologies will create detailed maps of the seafloor along the western coast of Oregon. Their efforts will help coastal managers and scientists document and protect marine habitat as well as coastal communities. [NOAA News]
• Second phase of "Hydropalooza" project commences in Alaskan waters -- The second year of the NOAA-led " Hydropalooza" field project commenced in Kachemak Bay, an arm of south central Alaska's Cook Inlet, in which detailed seafloor and coastline maps of the area will be generated by scientists onboard several NOAA vessels. [NOAA News] Editor's note: The tidal range from low to high tide in Kachemak Bay is 28 feet. the fourth largest in North America. EJH
• Illegal fishing stopped in a California marine sanctuary -- As a consequence of the coordinated enforcement effort between the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, California State Department of Fish and Game, and US Coast Guard, the owners and operators of a commercial fishing vessel have been fined $10,000 as part of a civil penalty settlement for illegally fishing in a marine protected area off California's Santa Barbara coastline in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. [NOAA News]
• NOAA Funding announced to support ocean observing -- NOAA's Integrated Ocean Service recently announced in:
  [Alaska], [Caribbean], [Middle Atlantic], [Northeast], [Great Lakes], [Southeast], [Gulf Coast], [Northern California], [Pacific Northwest], [Hawaii and the Pacific Islands], also [Alliance for coastal technologies].
• Shark survey conducted off East Coast of US -- During the months of April and May 2009, NOAA scientists from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducted their ninth coastal shark survey in the Atlantic coastal waters of the nation's East Coast, extending from Florida to Delaware, in a continuing effort to monitor shark populations and their role in marine ecosystems. [NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center]
• More short-lived tropical weather systems detected by better observations and analyses -- A study conducted by scientists from NOAA's National Hurricane Center and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory concludes that the apparent increases in the annual numbers of tropical cyclones such as tropical storms and hurricanes during the late 19th and early 20th centuries appears to the result of better detection of short-lived tropical systems due to improvements in observations and analysis techniques. [NOAA News]
• Not washing hands after playing in beach sand can make one sick -- Research conducted for a US Geological Survey report indicates that a good scrubbing with hand washing after digging in beach sand can significantly reduce one's risk of ingesting bacteria that can cause sickness. This report goes along with a recent University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill/ US Environmental Protection Agency study of seven beaches along the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts. [USGS]
• Watching big breakers on radar -- Scientists at Germany's Geesthacht GKSS Research Centre have developed a Doppler radar system that can study the behavior of sea waves, which should help understand the interactions between the offshore wind power generators and wind generated swell and breakers. [Geesthacht GKSS Research Centre]
• Ocean acidification increases off Alaska -- A chemical oceanographer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has found that Alaska's ocean waters have become increasingly acidic over the last several years, which could ultimately damage the state's salmon and king crab fisheries. [EurekAlert!]
• Study made of algae blooms in southwest Indian Ocean-- Researchers with the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre, Southampton recently reported on their observations and analysis of the massive phytoplankton blooms in the ocean waters surrounding Madagascar and its effect on the biogeochemistry of the southwest Indian Ocean, including the nitrogen fixation process. [EurekAlert!]
• A warmer ocean contributes to "global warming" -- Scientists in the United Kingdom at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton the University of Birmingham, Royal Holloway London and in Germany at IFM-Geomar report that the warming of the West Spitsbergen Current during the last 30 years has triggered the release of methane from methane hydrate deposits stored in the submarine deposits found in West Spitsbergen continental margin of the Arctic basin. [EurekAlert!]
• Large Antarctic glacier thinning accelerates -- Researchers from the United Kingdom's University of Leeds and the University College London report that the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica has been thinning at an alarming rate during the last few years, with ice loss four times faster than several decades ago, as detected by continuous satellite measurements of the glacier over the past 15 years. [EurekAlert!]
• "Dance of water" revealed -- Researchers at the US Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and their colleagues at universities in Sweden and Japan who have been studying the molecular structure of water, have found two types of molecular structures that help in the development of explanations for the somewhat anomalous nature of water that have profound effects on helping make planet Earth habitable. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory]
• An 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:

• 17 August 1915...A hurricane hit Galveston, TX with wind gusts to 120 mph and a twelve-foot storm surge which inundated the city. The storm claimed 275 lives, including forty-two on Galveston Island, with most deaths due to drowning. Of 250 homes built outside the seawall (which was constructed after the catastrophic hurricane of 1900), just ten percent were left standing. (The Weather Channel)
• 17 August 1969...Camille, a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) and the second worst hurricane in U.S. history, smashed into the Mississippi coast, making landfall at Pass Christian, MS with sustained winds of 190 mph and gusts well over 200 mph. The hurricane produced winds to 200 mph, and a storm surge of 24.6 feet. Winds gusted to 172 mph at Main Pass Block, LA, and to 190 mph near Bay Saint Louis, MS. The hurricane claimed 256 lives, and caused 1.3 billion dollars damage. Several ocean going ships were carried over seven miles inland by the hurricane. Complete destruction occurred in some coastal areas near the eye of the hurricane. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 18 August 1904...The Belle Isle Aquarium opened in Detroit, MI. This facility is the oldest, continuously running aquarium in America. Several other institutions opened earlier but since have closed or moved to multiple different buildings. Belle Isle Aquarium is still in its original building and site as the one in which it opened. (Today in Science History)
• 18 August 1983...Hurricane Alicia (a category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) ravaged southeastern Texas. The hurricane caused more than three billion dollars property damage, making it one of the costliest hurricanes in the history of the U.S. Just thirteen persons were killed, but 1800 others were injured. The hurricane packed winds to 130 mph as it crossed Galveston Island, created a storm surge of 12 feet and spawned twenty-two tornadoes in less than 24 hours as it made landfall. (The Weather Channel) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1559...First recorded U.S. hurricane drove five Spanish ships ashore in Pensacola Harbor along the Florida coast. (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1788...A small but powerful hurricane inflicted great havoc upon forests along a narrow track from Delaware Bay northeastward across New Jersey along the coast to Maine. A similar storm track today would cause extreme disaster in the now populated area. (David Ludlum)
• 19-20 August 1969...'Never say die' Camille, an exceptionally strong hurricane that had weakened to a tropical depression as it drifted slowly across the mid-Atlantic states, let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides that killed 151 persons and caused 140 million dollars damage. Massies Hill in Nelson County, Virginia received an estimated 27 inches of rain in 24 hours. This amount is an unofficial record for the state, while the official 24-hour maximum precipitation record is 14.28 inches at Williamsburg on 16 September 1999. It was said to rain so hard that birds drowned while perched on tree branches. The James and York River basins in Virginia were especially hard hit. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19 August 1991...Hurricane Bob slammed into New England with 90 mph sustained winds and gusts of 125 mph (at Block Island, RI) and 105 mph (at Newport, RI). It made landfall first at Newport, RI and then final US landfall as a tropical storm at Rockland, ME. A storm surge of 15 feet occurred in Upper Buzzards Bay. Portland, ME had a 24-hour record rainfall of 7.83 inches. Total damage exceeded $1.5 billion dollars and 17 people were killed. This was the worst Hurricane in the Northeast since Donna in 1960. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 20 August 1886...The town of Indianola, TX was completely destroyed by a hurricane, and never rebuilt. (David Ludlum)
• 21 August 1997...High winds and torrential rains from one of the worst typhoons to batter China in a decade caused the death of at least 140 at Zhejiang and Jiangsu. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 August 1770...James Cook's expedition landed on the east coast of Australia. (Wikipedia)
• 22 August 1787...Inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates of the Continental Congress. Its top speed was 3 mph. These tests were completed years before Fulton built his steamboat. (Today in Science History)
• 22 August 1780...HMS Resolution, Captain James Cook's ship, returned to England; Cook had been killed on Hawaii during the voyage. (Wikipedia)
• 22 August 1962...The 506-ft long NS Savannah, the world's first civilian nuclear-powered ship, completed its maiden voyage from Yorktown, VA to Savannah, GA; the ship was named for the SS Savannah, the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic in 1819. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 22 August 1994...Hurricane John while about 390 miles south of Hilo, HI was found to have winds at 170 mph and pressure down to 920 mb, making it the strongest hurricane ever in the Central Pacific. It was the third category 5 storm in this area in a month, unprecedented since records began. (Intellicast)
  The USCG icebreaker Polar Sea and the CCCS Louis S. Ste Laurent became the first "North American surface ships" to reach the North Pole. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 23 August 1540...The French explorer Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec in his voyage to Canada. (Wikipedia)
• 23 August 1889...The first wireless message from a ship to the shore "Sherman is sighted", was received in the US. The US Lightship No. 70, San Francisco, announced the arrival of the U.S. Army troopship Sherman to the crowd assembled at the Cliff House. Reporters from the San Francisco Call relayed this information to a city awaiting the return of its hometown regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. The lightship, miles out at sea in deep fog, relayed this message via wireless telegraphy (later known as radio) through the fog to the Cliff House. This was the first 19th-century working use of wireless telegraphy outside of England. The method was still primitive, using sparks to emit intermittent radio waves and code messages. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 23 August 1933...The Chesapeake-Potomac hurricane made landfall over Nag's Head, NC and moved over Norfolk, VA, Chesapeake Bay and Washington, DC. Winds gusted to 88 mph at Norfolk, VA. A tide seven feet above normal flooded businesses in Norfolk, and damage in Maryland was estimated at $17 million. Sixty percent of Atlantic City, NJ was flooded as was 10 square miles of southwest Philadelphia, PA. Forty seven people were killed and damage was estimated at $47 million (in depression-era dollars) (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 23-24 August 1992...Hurricane Andrew on its way to Florida with winds of 150 mph, struck northern Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. The storm surge reached 23 feet. Total damage on the islands topped $250 million. At about 5 AM on the 24^th, Andrew made landfall near Homestead, FL with a central pressure of 922 mb (27.22 in.). Fowey Rocks coastal marine buoy recorded maximum sustained winds of 141 mph and a peak gust of 169 mph and the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables had sustained winds of 115 mph with a peak gust of 164 mph. A record storm surge of 16.7 feet occurred in Biscayne Bay. Homestead AFB was practically wiped out. More than 120,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving 250,000 homeless. Forty one died and property damage exceeded $25 billion, making Andrew by far the most costly hurricane in U.S. history. Andrew was the third most intense hurricane to strike the mainland behind Camille (1969) and the Labor Day Hurricane (1935) (Intellicast)
• 23-24 August 1998...Almost 18 inches of rain deluged Del Rio, TX between 8 AM on the 23^rd and 6 AM on the 24^th because of stalled remnants of Tropical Storm Charley. Violent flash flooding from San Felipe Creek left residential lots swept bare of homes, with asphalt streets gone. Nine people were killed and 150 injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

Return to DataStreme Ocean website

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.