WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

DataStreme ECS WEEK FOUR: 24-28 September 2012

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Fall coloration -- By mid-September, deciduous trees begin to turn color across the nation, starting first across the higher elevations of New England and the Rocky Mountains, followed quickly across sections of the upper Midwest. During autumn, the peak in fall color progresses southward and toward lower elevations. Some locales hold events in an effort to welcome tourists who come as "leaf peepers." The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains a telephone hotline number and U.S. Forest Service Fall Color Hotline Web page containing fall foliage status updates for National Forests across the continental United States. Additional information is also available through the tourism bureaus of the various states; links to some of these state sites are available from this Forest Service web page.
In a recent interview, a New England photographer and travel guide who is also a foliage expert pointed out that the fall coloration across New England appears to be at least one week earlier than usual. A mild drought across the region, coupled with an early spring, may explain the early onset of fall colors. [Los Angeles Times]
[Editor's Note: An interesting explanation of fall coloration can be found in The Chemistry of Autumn Colors from "Science is Fun in the Lab of Shakhashiri" from a popular chemistry educator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. EJH]
Monitoring degree-day units -- If you would like to monitor how this upcoming winter will affect the amount of energy that you will need for heating your home, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth. You will see how heating degree-day units are computed, as well as the corresponding cooling-degree day units. This supplemental also provides links to tabulations of the cumulative heating and cooling degree-day units that are available on a monthly basis for selected cities across the country.
National Climatic Data Center releases accomplishments report for 2011 -- NOAA's National Climatic Data Center recently released its "2011 Annual Accomplishments Report" describing the accomplishments made in 2012 by this Center that archives weather and climate data for not only the nation but for many other countries. Two major accomplishments include the release of the new 1981-2010 climate normals for the nation and the creation of a new version of the Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly dataset. [NCDC News]
Environmental literacy grants to support K-12 science education and stewardship projects -- NOAA officials recently announced that $4.5 million in grants from the NOAA Office of Education's Environmental Literacy Grants Program have been awarded to support six unique projects designed to enhance the nation's science education activities in classrooms, aquariums, museums and other institutions. [NOAA News]
Free admission into the National Parks -- This coming Saturday, 29 September 2012, has been designated by the National Park Service as a fee free day in honor of National Public Lands Day. This fee waiver will cover entrance and commercial tour fees in many of the national parks and monuments administered by the Park Service. [National Park Service Fee Free Days] The theme of this year's National Public Lands Day is "Helping Hands for America's Lands."

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Summer's Arctic sea ice extent reaches a record minimum -- Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center report that as of mid September (or more precisely, on 18 September 2012), the extent of Arctic sea ice appears to have reached a minimum for the 2012 summer season. According to the researchers, last week's areal extent of the Arctic sea ice represents the smallest since routine satellite surveillance commenced in 1979. [University of Colorado] Data and graphs are available. [National Snow and Ice Data Center] Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have also produced a variety of graphics including an animation of how winds from a powerful storm have affected the Arctic Ice during this past August. [NASA's Earth Science News Team]
August drought report -- The NOAA National Climate Data Center has posted its August 2012 drought report online. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index, approximately 39 percent of the coterminous United States experienced severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of August, while two percent of the area had severely to extremely wet conditions.
Review of August and boreal summer 2012 global temperatures -- Preliminary data analyzed by scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) indicated that the global combined land and ocean average surface temperature for August 2012 was approximately 1.1 Fahrenheit degree above the 20th-century average for the month, which meant that last month's global average temperature was the fourth highest August monthly temperature since global temperature records began in 1880. When considered separately, the monthly temperature of the land surface for this recently concluded month was the second highest August temperature on record, while the ocean temperature for the month was the fifth highest. The researchers also noted that the global land and ocean average temperature for the three-months of June, July and August (meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere) was the third highest for that three-month period since 1880. However, the land temperature for the three months was the all-time highest for any boreal summer in the last 133 years. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
Satellites show underground effects of US drought -- Experimental maps produced at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center from data collected by NASA's GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, along with other satellite and ground-based measurements portray the national distribution of relative soil moisture near the surface (2-cm depth), in the root zone (one-meter depth) and in the aquifers well below ground. The three maps show the underground water supplies at the start of last week as compared with the long-term average (1948-2009) for mid-September. Many area of the nation were reporting much below average ground water. Contributions were made by researchers at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

New European environmental satellite seen as key for international weather and climate prediction efforts -- Early last week, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) launched its second polar-orbiting satellite, Metop-B. This satellite should complement data provided by NOAA's polar-orbiting satellites to numerical prediction models used to forecast weather and climate in the US and Europe. [NOAA News]
Comparing the "Ozone Hole" before and after the Montreal Protocol -- This past week marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer by 24 nations. In commemoration of this anniversary, NASA scientists produced an set of animated images made on what is now known as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (16 September) in the years of 1979, 1987, 2006 and 2011 using images from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on NOAA's Nimbus-7 satellite and from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite. These images show the formation and dissipation of the so called "ozone hole," or a region of diminished ozone concentration in the upper stratosphere over the Southern Hemisphere. [NASA Earth Observatory] Pawan Bhartia, one of the NASA scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center who studied the ozone hole in the 1980s from ozone data collected by satellites was recently interviewed about his work that helped to the 1987 Montreal Protocol. [NASA Earth Science News Team ]
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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [ 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]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Three-month seasonal climate outlook for the nation issued -- Last week, forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across United States for the three months of October through December 2012. This span, which covers the rest of the calendar year, includes the last two months of meteorological autumn in the Northern Hemisphere (October and November) and the first month of boreal winter (December). The temperature outlook indicates that most of the nation would experience a better than even change for experiencing higher than normal temperatures for these three months. The region extending from the Northeast across the Midwest and into the Plains appeared to have the highest chance of above-normal temperatures. Elsewhere, the outlook for the West Coast and the southern tier of states from the Carolinas westward along the Gulf Coast to west Texas does not appear to have a strong signal, resulting in an outlook that calls for equal chances of above or below average fall temperatures.
The precipitation outlook for Fall and early winter 2012 indicates that the Pacific Northwest would have a better than even chance of below average precipitation for these three-months. The forecasters anticipate that the Southeast and the Gulf Coast States would have a good chance of above average fall/early winter rainfall. Elsewhere across a large section of the nation, the outlook called for equal chances of above or below average precipitation. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center] A summary 3-month outlook text discussion for non-technical users is available, along with a glossary of terms.
The forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also issued their US Seasonal Drought Outlook that would run from late September through December 2012, covering meteorological autumn and early winter. These forecasters foresee that the current drought conditions across most of the western half of the nation should persist or expand. However, improvement in the current drought conditions was anticipated across the Middle Atlantic States and the eastern Great Lakes, while limited improvements could occur across those sections of the Midwest, the Southeast and the southern Plains that are currently experiencing drought. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center] Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.
Testing climate model predictions -- Atmospheric scientists at the University of Arizona are undertaking research designed to understand why climate prediction models appear to be good at predicting global-scale climate patterns over times approaching one century but are less reliable for sub-continental scales and for time frames shorter than three decades. The researchers are attempting to develop and improve Earth-system models that would help predict climate trends more accurately on shorter time and space scales. [University of Arizona News]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

New national Plant Zone Map may be obsolete -- A researcher at the City College of New York published a study in which he showed that the map showing the Plant Hardiness Zones across the United States that was released by the US Department of Agriculture this last January is now out of date as the climate continues to change and winters become milder. He developed a new method to map cold-weather zones across the nation that accounts for rapidly rising temperatures. [City College of New York]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Climate and Architecture

Humans have been constructing houses and other buildings for thousands of years not only to protect themselves from the weather and other environmental factors, but also to create a comfortable indoor environment that would exhibit energy efficiency, especially in harsh climates. For centuries, natural or primitive housing reflected an adaptation to the climate of the locale and the availability of local building materials.

In order to maintain a tolerable level of comfort within a building, attention must be paid to thermal effects, ventilation, illumination and atmospheric humidity.

The indoor thermal state ultimately depends upon the building's energy budget involving incoming and outgoing radiation, latent and sensible heat loss and by interior heat sources or sinks. The indoor thermal level is mainly associated with the external energy load on the building. The external energy load on the building depends upon the latitude of the building, season of the year and time of day.

In tropical latitudes and during midday hours in summer, the sun's path across the local sky increases the solar radiation incident upon the roof and walls of the building. In polar latitudes, or during the winter or the amount of available sunlight is significantly lower, with the loss of infrared radiation causing a net cooling from the building. Changes in the color of the roof and the outer walls can affect the amount of incoming sunlight absorbed. Building orientation and the effective use of overhangs can also affect the amount of sunlight absorbed. Furthermore, the amount of insulation, often related to the thickness of the walls, reduces the conduction of heat into or out of the building. Thick adobe walls have been used effectively in the Southwest to moderate indoor temperature. These walls reduce the heat flow into the building during the daytime and in summer and out from the building at night or during winter.

The size and placement of windows also affects the energy balance. Large windows on the side of the building facing the sun's path tend to permit large amounts of sunlight to penetrate into the building. However, large windows on the side facing away from the sun can cause for heat loss due to conduction, as many types of windowpanes are not energy efficient.

Effective landscaping can reduce energy demands upon a dwelling: Deciduous trees planted on the south and west sides of the home provide cooling shade during the summer, keeping sunlight from entering the windows. These trees will lose their foliage in fall and allow the sun to shine through in winter, and warm south facing rooms. Evergreen trees or dense shrubbery on the north side can serve as a windbreak, which reduce the cold northerly winds from striking the house in winter.

Energy losses from buildings during the upcoming winter in northern latitudes can be seen readily by how quickly snow melts from roofs and by how big the icicles form. Heat losses from buildings occur with larger negative energy budgets, which are reflected also in higher heating bills during the winter season. However, the heating bills also depend upon the severity of the winter season that can be ascertained from the number of accumulated heating degree-day units. Check this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for how you can monitor the number of heating degree-day units to date in your state for this coming heating season.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Place your responses on the Chapter Progress Response Form provided in the Study Guide.

The thicker the outdoor walls, the [(greater),(less)] the heat flow into or out of a building.
Planting [(evergreen),(deciduous)] vegetation on the south side of a home in New England will help reduce winter heating and summer cooling bills.

Historical Events:

24 September 1888...The earliest frost of record hit the southern states covering South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida (Intellicast)
24 September 1926...The temperature at Riverside Ranger Station in Yellowstone Park dipped to nine degrees below zero, the lowest reading of record in the U.S. during September. (This record was broken by a 15 degree below zero reading at Big Piney, WY in September 1983.) Severe freezes were widespread over the northwestern U.S. causing great crop destruction. In Washington State, Spokane County experienced their earliest snow of record. Harney Branch Experiment Station in Oregon reported a temperature of 2 degrees above zero to establish a state record for the month of September. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
24-26 September 1950...A smoke pall from western Canada forest fires covered much of the eastern U.S. Daylight was reduced to nighttime darkness in parts of the Northeast. The color of the sun varied from pink to purple, blue, or lavender. Yellow to gray-tan was common. (24th-30th) On the 26th, residents of the northeastern U.S. observed a blue sun and a blue moon from the smoke. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
25 September 1939...A West Coast hurricane moved onshore south of Los Angeles bringing unprecedented rains along the southern coast of California. Nearly five and a half inches of rain drenched Los Angeles during a 24-hr period. The hurricane caused $2 million in damage, mostly to structures along the coast and to crops, and claimed 45 lives at sea. "El Cordonazo" produced 5.66 in. of rain at Los Angeles and 11.6 in. of rain at Mount Wilson, both records for the month of September. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
26 September 1963...San Diego, CA reached an all-time record high of 111 degrees. Los Angeles hit 109 degrees. (David Ludlum)
27 September 1816...A black frost over most of New England kills unripened corn in the north resulting in a year of famine. (David Ludlum)
27-28 September 1953...The strongest wind gust ever recorded during a hurricane was 175 mph at Chetumal, Mexico. (The Weather Doctor)
28 September 1893...Albuquerque, NM was soaked with 2.25 inches of rain, enough to establish a 24-hour record for that city. (The Weather Channel)
28 September 1986...Torrential rains and floods were responsible for South Africa's worst natural disaster in Natal. As much as 35 in. of rain fell between the 25^th and 29^th to the northeast of Empangen, resulting in 317 deaths and 163 people missing. Topsoil from some farms was completely washed away leaving only bedrock. (Accord Weather Calendar)
30 September 1992...Fairbanks, AK averaged a frigid 31.7 degrees for the month, 13.2 degrees below normal and a record. Beginning on the 9^th, a record low was set for every day of the month. The temperature plunged to 3 degrees on the 30^th, the lowest ever for September. Snowfall for the month totaled 24.4 inches, more than three times the previous record. The snows never melted. Plant foliage still green, was frozen into place and week long power outages occurred as whole trees bent over onto power lines in the heavy wet snow. (Intellicast)

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