14-18 February 2011

ITEMS OF INTEREST

• NOAA administrator makes remarks on scientific integrity --
  Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator delivered an address early last week on scientific integrity and the NOAA Code of Scientific Conduct to a meeting of the Union of Concerned Scientists. [NOAA News]
• Historic US Coast Survey map that helped Lincoln's Civil War strategy is highlighted --
As part of the observance of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, NOAA's Central Library has added another map to its special collection of Civil War maps and charts called "Charting a More Perfect Union" that is available for public display. This map, entitled "Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the southern states and the United States," was created in September 1861 by the US Coast Survey, NOAA's predecessor, and may have been used by President Abraham Lincoln to coordinate military operations with his emancipation policies. [NOAA News]
• Field campaign starts to study West Coast winter storms and "atmospheric rivers" --
NOAA and NASA scientists are participating in the Winter Storms and Pacific Atmospheric Rivers (WISPAR) field campaign that began last Friday to improve understanding of how atmospheric rivers form and behave, especially in the transport of large amounts of water vapor across the North Pacific and into western North America. They have been using one of NASA's instrumented Global Hawk aircraft to collect data and to evaluate the study operational use of unmanned aircraft for investigating these rivers of humid air. [NOAA News] [NASA JPL]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

• Potential all-time record low temperature in Oklahoma --
  Last Thursday (10 February 2011) was arguably the coldest day in Oklahoma history. The temperature on that morning fell to 31 degrees below zero at the Oklahoma Mesonet station (one of 120 state-operated automated weather stations) at Nowata north of Tulsa, while the National Weather Service site at Bartlesville recorded a reading of 28 degrees below zero. These readings were lower than the previous all time state low temperature record of 27 degrees below zero set in February 1905 and tied in January 1930 and 1947). An official announcement concerning a new state low temperature record for the Sooner State is pending verification procedures set by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. [Oklahoma Climatological Survey] [NCDC List of All-Time Extremes for Oklahoma]
• Review of national weather and climate for January 2011 --
Using preliminary data collected from the national network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center have determined that the recently completed month of January 2011 was the coolest January since 1994, as nationwide temperatures were nearly one Fahrenheit degree below 20th century averages. With the exception of northern New England, most of the nation east of the Rockies experienced below to much below average temperatures. Temperatures were above average across the Intermountain West and the West Coast. The scientists also found that last month was the ninth driest January on record, despite several large winter storms. Many areas of the nation, extending from California eastward to Middle Atlantic States experienced much below average precipitation, with southern sections of Arizona and New Mexico along with Upstate New York experiencing their driest January since records began in 1895. On the other hand, the northern Rockies and the northern Plains were wetter than average, with northern Montana experiencing its wettest January on record. [NOAA News]
• Record low January Arctic sea ice extent seen from space --
An image obtained from data collected by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the extent of sea ice across the Arctic Ocean during January. According to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, the Arctic sea ice was at its lowest extent ever recorded for January since 1979 when satellite records began. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

• Snowflake type can influence snow measurements --
  Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who have been investigating the accuracy of snow gauges have found that the accuracy of the snowfall measurements made by these gauges are influenced by systematic measurement errors that are dependent upon snow gauge geometry and weather conditions that include size and type of the snowflakes and the wind speed. [UCAR/NCAR]
• New Great Lakes basin water availability assessment made --
The US Geological Survey recently released a new basin-wide water availability assessment for the Great Lakes Basin that indicated that while water is regionally abundant across the basin, local water shortages may occur. [USGS Newsroom]
• Weaker trade winds seen across tropical Atlantic --
Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have found that the prevailing trade winds across the tropical Atlantic basin have weakened, based upon their analysis of wind-wave height data collected by ship crews in an effort to correct what they claimed was 60 years of biased raw wind data over the oceans caused by a change in the placement of ship anemometers. The weakening of the near surface trade winds have changed the temperature and rainfall patterns over the tropical ocean basins. [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
• 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 FORCING

• Analyzing seafloor biomass patterns --
  Researchers from the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre and Texas A&M University have created maps of the global seafloor invertebrate biomass from data collected from the Census of Marine Life. They have used these maps to study the role that deep-sea ecosystems have upon the global carbon cycle. [National Oceanography Centre]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

• Decline in polar bear litter sizes may be linked to loss of sea ice --
  Using data that was collected beginning in the 1990s, University of Alberta researchers claim to have linked the reproductive ecology of polar bears in Hudson Bay with declining litter sizes and loss of sea ice. [University of Alberta Express News]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

• Corals show weather extremes are on the increase Down Under --
  Using growth patterns in near shore corals to reconstruct rainfall patterns, researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science have found that an upward trend in extreme rainfall events appears to have occurred over the last 300 years across Queensland, Australia. [Science Daily]
• Shrinking UK ice sheets during Ice Age are mapped --
Researchers at the United Kingdom's University or Sheffield have produced a set of maps that show how the ice sheet that covered the British Isles shrank during the last Ice Age, beginning 27,000 years ago and running through 16,000 years ago. These researchers hope that these maps can help understand how the shrinking of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets would affect the speed of sea level rise. [University of Sheffield]

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.

1. The thicker the outdoor walls, the [(greater),(less)] the heat flow into or out of a building.
2. 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:

• 15 February 1936...The temperature at Parshall, ND plunged to 60 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. On the 6^th of July that same year, the temperature at Steele, ND hit 121 degrees, also a state record high temperature. (David Ludlum)
• 16 February 1903...The temperature at Pokegama Dam, MN plunged to 59 degrees below zero to establish a state record. (David Ludlum) This record has since been broken with a 60 degree below reading in 1996. (NCDC)
• 16 February 1929...Britain's greatest snowfall of 70.9 inches fell in just 15 hours at Dartmoor, Great Britain. (The Weather Doctor)
• 16 February 1943...Record cold prevailed in the northeastern U.S. The morning low of 32 degrees below zero at Falls Village, CT established a state record, yet the afternoon high that day was 20 degrees above zero. In January 1961, this Connecticut record low was tied. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 16 February 1966...Heavy rain fell in Whenuapai, New Zealand, with 4.2 inches of rain falling in one hour, a new record for that time in New Zealand. (The Weather Doctor)
• 16 February 1989...A surge of arctic air produced all-time record high barometric pressure readings of 31.08 inches at Duluth, MN, 30.97 inches at Chicago, IL and 30.94 inches at South Bend, IN. Readings of 31.00 inches at Milwaukee, WI and 30.98 inches at Rockford, IL tied their all-time records. (The National Weather Summary)
• 16 February 1996...A coastal storm produced heavy snow along the East Coast to push seasonal snowfall totals to new records at several locations. The following cities set new all-time seasonal snowfall records: Lynchburg, VA (8.1 inches new, 51.3 inches seasonal total); Washington/Dulles, VA (7.5, 53.4) ; Washington/National, DC (6.8, 40.8); Baltimore, MD (9.8, 54.9); Philadelphia, PA (7.5, 55.9); Hartford/Bradley, CT (10.3, 90.2) and Providence, RI (7.0, 78.0). (Intellicast)
• 17 February 1748...The temperature at Charleston, SC fell to 10 degrees, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Colonial South. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17 February 1926...A deadly avalanche, Utah's worst, demolished 14 miner's cottages and a three-story boarding house in Binham Canyon. Thirty-six are killed and 13 injured. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17 February 1936...The temperature at McIntosh, SD plunged to 58 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. (David Ludlum)
• 17 February 1974...Lakelse Lake, British Columbia received 46.5 inches of snow over 24 hours, Canada's greatest 24-hour snowfall on record that stood for nearly one quarter of a century until 57 inches fell in 24 hours at Tahtsa Lake, British Columbia on 11 February 1999. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17-18 February 2003...The President's Day snowstorm set a new Boston, MA record for the greatest snowstorm total snowfall: a total of 27.5 inches. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18 February 1899...While much of the central and eastern U.S. was recovering from the most severe cold wave of modern history, the temperature at San Francisco, CA soared to 80 degrees to establish a record for month of February. (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1959...Some of the higher elevations of California were in the midst of a five-day storm that produced 189 inches of snow, a single storm record for North America. (13^th-19^th) (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1966...The temperature at Winnipeg, Manitoba dropped to 49 degrees below zero, the city's lowest recorded temperature. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18 February 1979...The record low temperature for the state of New York was set at Old Forge when the temperature plummeted to 52 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
• 18 February 1996...Cuba's coldest morning on record occurred when the temperature at Bainoa, Cuba dropped to 33 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
• 19 February 1998...The temperature at Mardie, Western Australia reached 122.9 degrees, the second highest temperature ever recorded in Australia. (The Weather Doctor)
• 20 February 1974...The mean wind speed at Bonilla Island, British Columbia was 89 mph, the highest sustained speed on record in British Columbia. (The Weather Doctor)
• 20 February 1995...The temperature at the Civic Center in Los Angeles, CA hit 95 degrees for the highest temperature ever recorded for the month of February. (Intellicast)

Return to DataStreme ECS website

Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.