WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

DataStreme ECS WEEK TWO: 5-9 September 2016

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Presidents from the US and China ratify climate agreements -- This past weekend, US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping submitted their nations' plans to reduce carbon emissions to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in Hangzhou, China, the host city of this year's Group of 20 meetings. By submitting their nations' plans, they were officially ratifying an agreement forged last year in Paris meant to curb climate change. [CNN News]
A fact sheet on the US-China Cooperation on Climate Change is also available [The White House Press Office]
September is National Preparedness Month -- Last Thursday, President Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring this month of September as 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. [The White House Press Office]
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 2016 NPM is "Don't Wait. Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today," with an emphasis on preparedness for youth, older adults, and people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.
During Week 2 (4-10 September), the weekly hazard-focused theme is "Preparing Family & Friends." [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]
Five NOAA programs available to K-12 teachers that bring Earth science #BacktoSchool -- NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is offering five programs to K-12 teachers across the nation that can be explored online and on social media with the goal of bringing NOAA science into the classroom. The five programs involve: a redesigned NOAA Education Portal website; the #Teach4Climate social media initiative for climate change education; the #Back2School with Owlie Skywarn on social media that features weather and safety information for students, schools and communities; the "Trash Talk" video from NOAA's Marine Debris Program that is designed to tackle marine debris during this school year in an effort to keep the nation's coasts clean; and the NOAA's "Digital Coast" website that encourages the use of digital data and #BacktoSchool" coastal training resources in the classroom. [NOAA News]
Approaching the peak in the Atlantic hurricane season -- The historic or statistical annual peak in the Atlantic hurricane season will occur near the end of this week (8-12 September), as determined as the date during the entire season with most frequent number of named tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes), based upon over 100 years of record. This date corresponds closely with the time of peak sea-surface temperatures across those sections of the North Atlantic considered hurricane-breeding areas. [NWS National Hurricane Center]
One for the record books -- If you would like more background information concerning how various temperature and precipitation extremes are identified as record events from a station's climate record, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth.
Four minority serving institutions receive grants to train next generation of scientists -- Early last week NOAA's Office of Education announced that $11.9 million in grants were being awarded to four of the nation's minority serving institutions in order to educate and graduate students who pursue degree programs with applied research in NOAA mission-related scientific fields. These institutions that received awards were Florida A&M University, Howard University, City College of New York and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. They represent lead institutions that will be partnered with 24 other institutions to establish four cooperative science centers where students will be trained in earth system sciences and remote sensing technology, coastal and marine ecosystems, living marine resources and atmospheric sciences and meteorology. [NOAA News]
A "double eclipse" is witnessed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory -- The annular solar eclipse that was observed by residents of Africa on 1 September 2016 when the new moon passed in front of the Sun was also detected by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Since the SDO spacecraft is in geosynchronous orbit around Earth at an altitude of approximately 22,400 miles, the sensor onboard the spacecraft also witnessed an eclipse of the Sun by Earth in addition to the eclipse made by the moon. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Feature]

CLIMATE FORCING

Role of how ocean drives weather and climate extremes is explored -- Research scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are studying how changes in the world's oceans cause sea surface temperatures to vary and how these temperature anomalies drive changes in atmospheric circulation to create extreme weather and climate events even on land. The researchers are analyzing more than 40 years of ocean data and the output from numerical models in order to identify the change in ocean currents and ocean-atmosphere heat transfer mechanisms. [Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News]
Water needs to be considered in climate effects associated with mega-volcanic eruptions -- Researchers from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and Columbia University have found that the chemistry of the volcanic plume from a mega-volcanic eruption needs to be treated more closely in climate model simulations in order to better capture the impact upon the climate caused by these eruptions. In particular, the researchers claim that in addition to sulfur dioxide, the water emitted from the volcanoes needs to be considered in more detail. They based their conclusions upon simulations run on the GISS ModelE climate model in which addition of water yielded better simulations of the cooling effects associated with major volcanic eruptions. [NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies News]
Winters with extremes in weather could become more frequent across the nation-- A team of researchers from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Northwestern University, UCLA and Stanford University recently published a study in which they found that the occurrence and severity of "warm-West/cold-East" winter events, which the researchers call the "North American winter temperature dipole," have increased significantly between 1980 and 2015. Based upon 35 years of temperature data, the winters of 2013/14 and 2014/15 were found to exhibit the greatest temperature differences between the US West and US East. Furthermore, the researchers found the West to be dry with record-low soil moisture and mountain snowpack, while the East experienced blizzards and bitter cold spells. Apparently this observed temperature pattern has been caused not only by a more rapid increase in winter temperature across the West, but an increasing frequency of a "ridge-trough" pattern across North America featuring high atmospheric pressure in the West and low atmospheric pressure in the East. Consequently, a greater numbers of winter days with extreme temperatures in large areas of the West and East are being found concurrently. [ Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Canadian national seasonal outlook issued -- Forecasters with Environment Canada issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across Canada for September, October and November 2016, which represents meteorological autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. The temperature outlook indicates that most of Canada should experience above normal (1981-2010) temperatures. Only a few scattered areas across central and northeastern Canada could have normal to below normal fall temperatures.
The Canadian precipitation outlook for autumn 2016 indicates that above average precipitation could be expected across a broad area of southern Canada, stretching from British Columbia eastward to Newfoundland and Labrador. On the other hand, sections of northern Canada extending from the Yukon and Northwest Territories eastward to the Davis Strait and Labrador Sea could have normal to below normal precipitation for these upcoming three months. Scattered areas of southern Canada along the US border were expected to have near normal precipitation.
[Note for comparisons and continuity with the three-month seasonal outlooks of temperature and precipitation generated for the continental United States and Alaska by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, one would need to use Environment Canada's probabilistic forecasts for temperature and precipitation.]
Earlier warm spring seasons across Northeast and Great Lakes could be a nightmare for agricultural interests -- An atmospheric scientist at Cornell University warns that very warm early spring seasons could become more frequent across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions of the nation before the end of the century, which would tend to create havoc for agriculture. The early spring of 2012 was cited as an example of the nightmare, with record warm weather that brought plants out of dormancy before a lengthy freeze damaged or killed many of the blooms and tender vegetation. His analysis of climate model data indicates that the frequency of early-onset springs would increase to nearly one in every three years by the end of the 21st century. [Cornell University News]

CLIMATE IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE

Vegetation plays important role in stream flow and climate change -- Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara report that shifts in vegetation type across California's Sierra Nevada Range appears to have a more significant impact upon stream flows in these mountains than even the effects of global warming. However, the changes in vegetation type associated with severe droughts, wildfires and tree die-off are motivated by a warming climate. [University of California Santa Barbara News]
Marine monument in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands threatened by ocean warming, sea-level rise and ocean acidification -- A new NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series report warns that the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands faces a looming threat of global climate change associated with sea-level rise, ocean acidification, ocean warming will affect the monument's land and marine ecosystems, as well as its cultural resources. [NOAA News]

CLIMATE AND HUMAN HEALTH

Climate change vulnerability in urban America is assessed -- An environmental and occupational health faculty member at George Washington University cautions that most city planners across the nation have yet to fully assess their cities' vulnerability to climate change and to then to prepare for climate-related risks and the consequences associated with air pollution, flooding, heat waves and rising rates of diseases caused by a variety of insects. She claims that her research suggests that national experts need to make changes in their approach in order to ensure that their assessments are useful to urban planners and other city managers responsible for safeguarding their populations' health and safety and access to energy and natural resources such as drinking water. [George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: End of the Growing Season

As we move through autumn, we often contemplate the end of the growing season as daylight shortens and temperatures begin to fall across many areas of the nation. The length of the growing season depends upon the plant species, as well as the climate of the locale, meaning that several ways can be used to define the growing season.

Many crops, especially vegetables and fruits, are sensitive to relatively low air temperatures. In spring, when many crops are emerging and in various stages of development they are more vulnerable to air temperatures near 32 degrees Fahrenheit. But by fall, many of these plants have become hardy. Generally speaking, a killing frost would occur when the temperature around the plant would fall to a point that would kill all but the hardiest vegetation. Sometimes, other terminology is used. When air temperatures fall between 29 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit, a so-called "light freeze" occurs. While tender plants such as tomatoes, peppers, corn and cucumbers would be killed when temperatures fall to around 29 degrees, these conditions would have little destructive effect on other hardier vegetation. A "moderate freeze" typically occurs between 25 and 28 degrees, which would have a widely destructive effect upon most vegetation. For temperatures of 24 degrees or lower, a condition called a "severe freeze", heavy damage would occur with most plants that are not dormant. Apples are damaged when the temperature drops below 20 degrees. Under these conditions, the soil would have frozen solid to a depth dependent upon the duration of the freeze, as well as the soil type and soil moisture.

In most mid latitude climates, the growing season is often used synonymously with the frost-free season, loosely defined as the length of time between the last killing frost in spring and the first killing frost in the autumn. The National Centers for Environmental Information has produced climatological tables that identify those median dates (a 50 percent occurrence) during spring and fall when the temperature at a station falls to 36, 32, 28, 24 or 20 degrees Fahrenheit for the last time in spring or the first time in autumn. While the exact time span that a plant survives would vary by plant type, the growing season for climatological purposes is often related to the interval when the daily minimum temperature remains above 32 degrees. The Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC) is maintaining the MRCC Frost/Freeze Guidance Project as part of the Vegetation Impact Program (VIP) with website displaying a variety of freeze maps across the 48 contiguous United States. These maps show the 28-degree and 32-degree Freeze Climatologies as well as the current freeze statistics. Check the map showing the median date of occurrence of the first 32-degree Fahrenheit temperature across the 48 coterminous United States. (The median date means that half of the occurrences of a 32-degree reading over the 30-year normal occur prior to this date, while the other half occur after this date.)

Across the continental U.S. the typical lengths of the frost free regions range from about 120 days along the Canadian border to about 220 days in Oklahoma and north Texas and over 320 days in southern sections of Florida and California. Mountainous areas provide a complex pattern, with some higher elevations having lengths that are less than 100 days. By accessing the NOWData (NOAA Online Weather Data) feature on the Climate page of your local National Weather Service, you can find the "first/last dates" for various climate reporting stations around your area.

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

Many vegetable crops would succumb when autumn air temperatures fall to [(36),(33),(28)] degrees.
The frost-free season in states bordering Canada would probably be less than [(60),(90),(120)] days.

Historical Events

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, the rain at Yankeetown 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)
7 September 1955...An 8-day run of 100-degree heat in Los Angeles, CA finally came to an end after causing 946 fatalities. (National Weather Service files)
8 September 1900...The greatest weather disaster in U.S. records occurred when an estimated Category 4 hurricane struck Galveston, TX. Waves fifteen feet high washed over the island demolishing or carrying away buildings, and drowning more than 6000 persons. The hurricane destroyed more than 3600 houses, and total damage was more than $30 million. Winds to 120 mph, and a twenty-foot storm surge accompanied the hurricane. Following the storm, the surf was three hundred feet inland from the former water line. The hurricane claimed another 1200 lives outside of the Galveston area. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
8 September 1987...The afternoon high of 97 degrees at Miami, FL was a record for the month of September. (The National Weather Summary)
9 September 1775...The Newfoundland hurricane, also known as the Independence Hurricane, killed more than 4000 mariners, mostly off the coast of Newfoundland. It has been speculated that this storm was a turning point in the American Revolution because most lives lost were British sailors. (National Weather Service files)
9 September 1921...A dying tropical depression unloaded 38.20 inches of rain upon the town of Thrall in southeastern Texas killing 224 persons. The 36.40 inches that fell in 18 hours represents a record for the United States. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
9 September 1971...Hurricane Ginger formed, and remained a hurricane until the 5th of October. The 27-day life span was the longest of record for any hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean. (The Weather Channel)
9 September 1994...Hurricane John become an extratropical storm in the central north Pacific Ocean, ending a 29-day life as a hurricane, the longest lived hurricane on record. (The Weather Doctor)
9 September 2000...The Antarctic ozone hole extended to more than 11.4 million square miles over Antarctica, the single-day largest area of depletion ever measured. (The Weather Doctor)
10 September 1900...Elk Point, SD received 8.00 inches of rain that set a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state. (NCDC)
10 September 1919...One of the most intense hurricanes to hit the U.S. swept through Key West, FL. Over 700 people died along the storm's track from the Lesser Antilles to Corpus Christi, TX. (National Weather Service files)
10-11 September 1963...A 24-hour rainfall record for the Northern Hemisphere was set at Paishih, Taiwan as 49.13 inches of rain fell as the result of Typhoon Gloria. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
11-12 September 1949...Early snowstorm dumped 7.5 inches on Helena, MT on the 11th, the earliest measurable snow for the city to date, then an additional 22 inches followed the next day. (The Weather Doctor)
11-12 September 1976...Japan's 24-hour rainfall record was set as 44.80 inches of rain fell at Hiso in Tokuhima Prefecture as a result of Typhoon Fran, which also was responsible for 167 deaths in Japan. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
11 September 1990...The high temperature at Phoenix, AZ reached 112, the highest ever for the date and for so late in the season. (Intellicast)
11 September 1992...With sustained winds of 145 mph and gusts to 175 mph, category 4 Hurricane Iniki pulverized Kauai. The central pressure central pressure was 27.91 inches of mercury. At the time, this hurricane was the worst storm in recorded history in Hawaii and one of the 10 worst in US history; it caused between $2 billion and $3 billion in damage. (National Weather Service files)

Return to RealTime Climate Portal