WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

DataStreme ECS WEEK ONE: 31 August - 4 September 2015

ITEMS OF INTEREST

A change in seasons -- This Monday, 31 August 2015, marks the end of Northern Hemisphere's meteorological summer, the three-month span of June, July and August that meteorologists frequently use for record keeping processes. Meteorological autumn (September, October and November) for the Northern Hemisphere starts the following day, 1 September 2015.
Additional information will be presented in the next several weeks concerning meteorological seasons and the astronomical seasons, such as the familiar autumn season that begins on the autumnal equinox in three weeks on Wednesday, 23 September 2015.
High-quality maps of September temperature and precipitation normals across US available -- The PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University's website has prepared high-resolution maps depicting the normal maximum, minimum and precipitation totals for September and other months across the 48 coterminous United States for the current 1981-2010 climate normals interval. These maps, with a 800-meter resolution, were produced using the PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) climate mapping system.
September weather calendar for a city near you -- The Midwestern Regional Climate Center maintains an interactive website that permits the public to produce a ready to print weather calendar for any given month of the year, such as September, at any of approximately 270 weather stations around the nation. (These stations are NOAA's ThreadEx stations.) The entries for each day of the month includes: Normal maximum temperature, normal minimum temperature, normal daily heating and cooling degree days, normal daily precipitation, record maximum temperature, record minimum temperature, and record daily precipitation; the current normals for 1981-2010.
Accessing and interpreting climate data -- If you would like to obtain a variety of climate data for your home town or state that are available from the National Weather Service, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth. This Supplemental not only identifies some of the sites to find the data, but also provides you with a brief explanation of the terminology used to identify the climate data.
September is National Preparedness Month -- The upcoming month of September has been declared National Preparedness Month (NPM), which is aims to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all types of emergencies, including natural disasters. NPM is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which has provided a toolkit of marketing materials to help promote the month, is the lead on this campaign that was originally launched in 2004. The theme for 2015 NPM is "Don't Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today." During Week 1 (1-5 September), the weekly hazard-focused theme is "Flood." [FEMA's Ready.gov] NOAA's National Weather Service is working with FEMA to communicate the importance of emergency preparedness as a key component of its Weather-Ready Nation campaign. [NOAA Weather Ready Nation]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Lakes Michigan and Huron reach highest levels in 17 years -- According to observations made by US and Canadian federal agencies in the region during the last week, the levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron reached 176.73 meters (579.82 ft) above mean sea level, which represents the highest levels that these two Great Lakes have been at since July 1998. This summer's peak lake level was 2.13 feet higher than the average peak of the low level summers of 2012 and 2013. [NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI News]
Climate Reference Network sites selected for Alaska -- Experts from NOAA offices, the US National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies have developed a list of 29 target locations across the state of Alaska for the installation of US Climate Reference Network (USCRN) stations. The USCRN is a systematic and sustained network of climate monitoring stations at over 100 sites across the coterminous US, Alaska, and Hawaii that make measurements intended to monitor trends in the nation's climate and supporting climate-impact research. These stations, which are managed and maintained by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), are being placed at remote locations that should experience little anticipated change in land cover. USCRN stations have high-quality instruments that measure air temperature, precipitation, wind speed and soil conditions. [NOAA NCEI News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

A decade of progress in hurricane observation and research since Hurricane Katrina -- This past weekend marked the 10th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina along the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, the costliest natural disaster in the United States ever and the deadliest since 1928 with the loss of more than 1800 lives along the coast and in the New Orleans metropolitan area. Additionally, the calendar year of 2015 had the most active season in recorded history, with 27 named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms), 14 hurricanes and three category five hurricanes (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale). NOAA's fleet of polar orbiting and geosynchronous satellites are being updated to provide environmental data of increased resolution that would be used to produce improved weather models and forecasts. Archives of satellite animations for the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and Hurricane Katrina are available from NOAA's Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS). [NOAA NESDIS News] [NOAA NESDIS News]

CLIMATE FORCING

Vegetation seen to limit urban heat island effects -- Using data collected by several satellites, climate scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and their colleagues from the University of Maryland and the University of Georgia have found that the presence or scarcity of vegetation is an essential factor in urban heating, with those areas covered by impervious surfaces in urban areas having an average summer temperature 1.9 Celsius degrees higher than surrounding rural areas, while the temperature difference was 1.5 Celsius degrees higher in winter. They also quantified how plants within urban areas, such as in parks and in wooded neighborhoods can regulate the urban heating effect. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Risk of very large wildfires across nation could increase by six times by 2050 -- Researchers from the University of Idaho, the US Forest Service and the Canadian Forest Service have analyzed the average results of 17 climate model simulations to examine how the potential for very large fires is expected to change in the future based upon a projected higher-emissions scenario involving continued increases in carbon dioxide emissions. They found that some areas across the northern Rockies in the West and the northern Great Lakes could experience a six-fold increase in the number of "very large fire weeks" by mid-century (2041-2070) compared to the recent past (1971-2000). Fire weeks are considered to be those weeks in which conditions are favorable to the occurrence of very large fires. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Research designed to estimate climate change costs and improved severe weather prediction -- Scientists from NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and an economist from the University of Arizona have proposed a new method designed to predict how regional warming patterns will affect the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of nations around the world. The researchers project that future warming could raise the average rate of economic growth in richer countries, reduce it in poorer countries and increase the variability of many countries' growth rates as warming increases climate variability. Scientists from NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory have found that rising levels of greenhouse gases may contribute to more extreme El Niño events, climate phenomena that can trigger more severe weather events. A scientist from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory suggests that the El Niño originally anticipated to develop in 2014 was delayed to 2015 because of long-term changes in background oceanic and atmospheric conditions, including warming trends in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific due to greenhouse gas emissions. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Future challenges in managing water explored by drought researchers -- A team of climatologists and hydrologists with NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and the University of California recently wrote that the current extreme drought in California must represent a lesson for managing water resources in the future world that is projected to have higher temperatures and be more densely populated. This team calls for a greater recognition of the role that humans play in drought and in driving higher demands on water, such as urbanization, greenhouse gas emissions, food and energy production, and water policies and management practices. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
Reducing climate change effects on fisheries and living marine resources is the aim of NOAA's new Climate Science Strategy -- NOAA Fisheries has developed a Climate Science Strategy that identifies seven objectives or "key steps" designed to increase production, delivery, and use of climate-related information to support the management of fish stocks, fisheries, and protected species. The steps focus on how a changing climate affects living marine resources, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them, and how to respond to those changes. [NOAA News]
Climate data used to ensure maintenance of oil supply route along Louisiana Gulf Coast. -- Nearly six decades of NOAA total gauge records along Louisiana's Gulf Coast along with satellite data were used by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) and other agencies in determining the feasibility for rehabilitating Louisiana's Highway 1 (LA-1), the only main highway leading to Port Fourchon, the hub that services 90 percent of all deepwater oil drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico. Rising seas, sinking land along with several major hurricanes in 2005 and 2008 were considerations needed to be addressed. Based upon an economic impact study, LA-1 was made to be more resilient to storms and sea level rise by rebuilding a nine-mile section of highway on top of 17-foot pillars, which represents a level above the height zone of a 100-year storm surge. Another section of LA-1 will be elevated in the future. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Earth's Climate System Website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Climate News.

Welcome to DataStreme Earth's Climate System (ECS)! The Earth's Climate System RealTime Climate Portal is an integral component of the DataStreme ECS (Earth's Climate System) course. The website is intended to deliver a wealth of climate information that is both pertinent to the course as well as being a reference site for you as you study Earth's climate system. The webpage is arranged in several sections. On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Climate News that includes Climate in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to climate), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to climate in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events important in the understanding of climatology). When appropriate, Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the RealTime Climate Portal to access and download the "Current Climate Studies" that complement your Climate Studies Investigations Manual. These materials should also be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Monday. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter, Investigations and Current Climate Studies Response forms.

Beyond these course Learning Files, sections include Climate Information, Climate Variability, Climate Change, Societal Interactions and Climate Policy, and Extras. As the titles suggest, there are multiple uses for climate data and their interpretation. Here we explore some examples of the information provided in the various sections of the RealTime Climate Portal.

The Climate Information section includes access to weather data, the raw material of climate synthesis, from the United States and the world under the heading "Observations and Data." Under this heading, click on "U.S. and World Weather Data." This National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) page first directs you to "United States Weather" and provides channels to current weather data as well as radar graphics, weather maps, and aviation and marine weather. It then leads you to International Weather Conditions.

The second major subdivision of the RealTime Climate Portal encompasses Climate Variability. Climatic variability refers to the fluctuations and oscillations that may occur within the climate system at temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events. Select the link, "NOAA El Niño Page". The page that appears provides access to a wealth of background and information on El Niño and La Niña, including the animation showing sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tropical Pacific during recent months. To the left of the animation, click on "What's happening today?" The page of current tropical Pacific conditions that appears shows a small map to the right. Click on that map and again anywhere on the subsequent set of map panels to get an enlarged view of the latest conditions of SST and anomalies.

The third major section of the RealTime Climate Portal is termed Climate Change. Here we provide links to information and analyses that primarily focus on anthropogenic (human-made) change processes and results in the climate system. That prominently includes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's ("IPCC") latest classic report on atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions and their effects. Also linked are modeling results ("Models") based on those studies.

The last major section of the RealTime Climate Portal is titled Societal Interactions and Climate Policy. This block contains information on the impacts of projected change on human societies around the world, beyond that listed in the IPCC report, and the international actions and debates regarding those issues. Select and click on "National Climate Assessment (NCA3) Highlights" in this section. This webpage introduces you to the latest comprehensive and authoritative report on climate change and its impacts in the United States, now and in the future. You will be directed to this report several times in this course.

Completing the RealTime Climate Portal is the Extras section of additional handy information for the course and individual study such as dictionaries of terms, maps and materials. Choose and examine the Climate Literacy link. This document has recently been developed and released by NOAA to provide an overview of general concepts and information the general public and especially students should be aware of regarding the climate and the climate debate.

Concept of the Week: Questions

The first Climate Information link, "NOAA's Climate.gov", shows the Global Climate Dashboard where several graphs display Earth's temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide level, spring snow cover, etc. with a time slider than can be set to display from [(1800)(1880)(1940)] to the latest data in 2015.
Under the Societal Interactions and Climate Policy section, click the "Global Resilience Toolkit" link. The Toolkit has been designed to aid in working through climate change issues by communities. The first step in using this toolkit is to [(Investigate options)(Identify the Problem)].

Historical Events

31 August 1885...A record 71-day dry period began at Calgary, Alberta. (The Weather Doctor)
31 August 1889...Los Angeles, CA set two local rainfall records as 0.61 inches fell, the maximum 24-hour and monthly records for August. (Intellicast)
31 August 1915...The temperature at Bartlesville, OK dipped to 38 degrees to establish a state record for the month of August. (The Weather Channel)
31 August 1971...The low of 84 degrees and high of 108 degrees at Death Valley, CA were the lowest of the month. The average daily high was 115.7 degrees that August, and the average daily low was 93.4 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
31 August 1987...Frost was reported in South Dakota. Aberdeen, SD established a record for the month of August with a morning low of 32 degrees, and Britton, SD dipped to 31 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
1 September 1914...The town of Bloomingdale, MI was deluged with 9.78 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record for the Wolverine State. (31^st-1^st) (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
1 September 1955...The temperature at Los Angeles, CA soared to an all-time high of 110 degrees during an eight-day string of 100-degree weather. (David Ludlum)
2 September 1935...Perhaps the most intense hurricane ever to hit the U.S. struck the Florida Keys with sustained winds of over 155 mph with gusts exceeding 200 mph. The "Labor Day Hurricane" produced a fifteen-foot tide and waves thirty feet high. More than 400 persons perished in the storm on that Labor Day, including many World War I veterans building a bridge from the Keys to the mainland. The barometric pressure at Matecumbe Bay, FL hit a record low for the U.S. of 26.35 inches of mercury (or 892.3 millibars). (David Ludlum)
2 September 1950...The temperature at Mecca, CA soared to 126 degrees to establish the U.S. record high temperature for the month of September. The low that morning was 89 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
2 September 1961...Denver, CO received 4.2 inches of snow, the earliest measurable snow on record for this city. (Intellicast)
3 September 1953...The temperature at Erie, PA reached 99 degrees, and Stroudsburg, PA established a state record for September with a reading of 106 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
3 September 1961...Denver, CO received 4.2 inches of snow, their earliest snow of record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
3 September 1970...During the early evening hours, in the midst of a severe hailstorm at Coffeyville, KS, a stone 17.5 inches in circumference and 1.67 pounds in weight was recovered. At the time, it was the largest measured hailstone in U.S. weather records. Average stone size from the storm was five inches in diameter, with another stone reportedly eight inches in diameter. (David Ludlum) A larger, though lighter stone has since fallen in Nebraska, 22 June 2003 (The Weather Doctor)
5 September 1925...The temperature at Centerville, AL soared to 112 degrees to establish a state record. Every reporting station in Alabama was 100 degrees or above that afternoon. (The Weather Channel)
5 September 1950...Hurricane Easy produced the greatest 24-hour rainfall in U.S. weather records up to that time. The hurricane deluged Yankeetown, on the upper west coast of Florida, with 38.70 inches of rain. While this US record has since been replaced by 43 inches of rain at Alvin, TX on 25-26 July 1979, it remains the 24-hour precipitation record for the Sunshine State. (David Ludlum) (NCDC)
5 September 1958...The heaviest hailstone recorded in Britain had a weight of 0.31 pounds (141 grams) and fell at Horsham (Sussex), Great Britain. (The Weather Doctor)
5 September 1970...Heavy rain from the remnants of a tropical system from the eastern Pacific spread across the Southwest as 11.40 inches fell in 24 hours at Workman Creek, AZ to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State, while an estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (NCDC)
6 September 1840...The first official weather observation in Canada was taken at King's College, University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario by members of the British Royal Artillery. (The Weather Doctor)
6 September 1929...Iowa recorded its earliest snow on record as a few flakes noted in Alton at 9 AM. (The Weather Doctor)
6-7 September 1909...Topeka, KS was drenched with 8.08 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for that location. (The Weather Channel)

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