WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

12-16 March 2012

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Time change does not affect climate records -- Daylight Saving Time went into effect this past Sunday morning for essentially the entire nation -- the exceptions include Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and about 18 counties in Indiana. These changes have been mandated by the U.S. Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which extended Daylight Saving Time across the nation, with the start on the second Sunday in March (11 March 2012) and end on the first Sunday in November (4 November 2012). Most of Canada also observes changes to Daylight Saving Time at the same time [National Research Council Canada]. In other words, following the old adage of "spring ahead, fall behind", you will need to turn your clocks ahead by one hour to conform with the local time observance.
What does this time change mean to you (other than later sunsets)? Contrary to a popular belief that has surfaced at times, the change from Standard to Daylight Saving Time does not add an extra hour of daylight to the day nor does it affect climate record keeping. The daily high and low temperatures, along with the 24-hour precipitation taken by essentially all stations across the nation are based upon local Standard time, not Daylight time. Therefore, the daily entries in the Preliminary Local Climate Data (CF6) for any of the more than 200 cities around the nation will remain on Standard time throughout the year.
While many people want additional daylight after work, some health experts say that the change to Daylight Saving Time is hard on human health, as it affects the natural sleep cycle and circadian rhythms. Increases in sleep disorders, traffic accidents and heart attacks have been seen during the first several days after the time change. [USA Today]
Flood Safety Awareness -- Many locations around the nation annually experience spring floods that cause large monetary losses and occasionally the loss of life. Therefore, NOAA's National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have designated this coming week of 12-16 March 2012 as Flood Safety Awareness Week. Check the website http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov/ for information concerning flooding caused by excessive rain events, rapid snowmelt, ice jams and debris flow, along with useful flood safety and mitigation measures. At least one half of the 50 states are also observing this week with special activities. [NOAA News]
Linking weather and climate -- Find out how atmospheric scientists have extended weather forecasting efforts used to predict the weather over the next few days into monthly and seasonal (3-month) climate outlooks in this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Review of national weather and climate for February 2012 and the 2011-12 winter --
Based upon preliminary data, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that the national average temperatures for the coterminous United States during February 2012 and the recently-concluded meteorological winter season (December 2011 through February 2012) were well above the 20th century averages. Nationally, the February temperature was approximately 3.6 Fahrenheit degrees above the 1901-2000 average, making this past month the 17th warmest since a comprehensive national climate network began in 1895. States surrounding the Great Lakes, across the Middle Atlantic region and New England had much above average temperatures. Massachusetts reported its highest February average temperature in the 118-years of record. With the exception of the nine states along the West Coast, the Great Basin and the Rocky Mountains, the other 39 coterminous states experienced above to much above average temperatures for meteorological winter. Several of the states around the Great Lakes reported their second warmest winter since the 1895-96 winter. Only New Mexico had a statewide winter temperature that was below the 20th-century average.
Nationwide, February precipitation was 0.25 inches below the long-term (1901-2000) average, with many of the states east of the Mississippi River experiencing below to much below average precipitation. Several of the Western States also were extremely dry. On the other hand, sections of the western Gulf Coast and the Plains reported much above average February precipitation. December through February precipitation across the 48 coterminous states was 0.78 inches below the 20th-century average, with California experiencing its second driest winter since records began in 1895. [State of the Climate NOAA/NCDC]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Multi-agency satellite officially begins Earth's weather and climate monitoring --Early last week, NASA officials announced that their agency had completed commissioning the new Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite (NPP) after running extensive tests on all five instruments onboard this polar orbiting satellite launched in October 2011. These instruments are now making global environmental observations that will provide scientists additional information into the dynamics of the entire Earth system involving the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and cryosphere. Improvements in weather and climate forecasting are envisioned based upon data collected by this new satellite that was developed and launched through a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Defense Department. NOAA will now operate the satellite. [NASA Headquarters]
Long-term trends in Great Lakes ice cover --Researchers from NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory were recently interviewed concerning the impacts that ice cover on the North American Great Lakes has on the surrounding region and the changes in the ice cover that the Laboratory has been monitoring over the last four decades. Except for some interannual variability attributed to ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) and NAO/AO (North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation) patterns, a general decrease in ice cover has been observed that have been ascribed to the anthropogenic activity leading to higher global temperatures. [NOAA Research]
Sounding rockets to light sky in upper atmospheric wind study -- NASA scientists are planning to launch five sounding rockets from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in the next several weeks to measure the 200 to 300 mph winds that have been found at altitudes between 60 to 65 miles above the Earth's surface. As part of the the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX), these sounding rockets will be launched at five-minute intervals and will disperse a chemical tracer that can be used to track these wind speeds and direction out over the western Atlantic Ocean. The researchers hope to find a connection between these winds and the electrical current patterns surrounding the Earth. [NASA GSFC] (Editor's note: These "jet stream" winds in the thermosphere should not be confused with the upper tropospheric winds of the polar and subtropical jets that are found near the cruising altitudes of transcontinental aircraft and which can affect surface weather systems. EJH)
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

Big Apple's roofs made to run cool -- In a study conducted by scientists with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University, widespread use of a white roof coating on buildings in the New York City metropolitan area could reduce the peak roof-top temperatures by near 42 Fahrenheit degrees in summer, resulting in a reduction of the metropolitan area's "urban heat island" effect. [NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies]
Ground-level ozone across American West increases due to Asian emissions -- NOAA scientists from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and Earth System Research Laboratory along with their colleagues from academic institutions have found that springtime air pollution originating in Asia and carried across the North Pacific on strong winds appears to contribute to episodes of high surface ozone pollution across the Western States. [NOAA Research]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

Urban heat island effects contribute to early spring in Middle Atlantic suburbs -- Scientists at the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science reported on their analysis of the number of days where trees across the Middle Atlantic Stated had foliage based upon 25 years of high-resolution satellite data. They found that urban heat islands across this region appear to affect the growing seasons in suburban areas within 20 miles of cities. Factors involved in the increased length of the growing season include changes in climate associated with increased temperature along with changes in carbon storage and water balance. [University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science]
Some coral species may adapt to warmer oceans -- Researchers at Australia's University of New South Whales and Singapore's Nanyang Technology University claim that although increased global air and ocean temperatures appear to be a threat to coral reefs, some coral species at sites in Singapore and Malaysia have been able to be able to survive and flourish in warmer waters. [EurekAlert!]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Canadian outdoor ice hockey appears threatened -- Based upon analysis of long-term weather data from 142 weather stations, researchers from Canada's McGill University and Concordia University report that the outdoor hockey season on natural rinks in Canada has been shrinking significantly over the last half century due to higher winter season temperatures since the 1950s. They found the largest decreases in the skating season length were across the Prairies and Southwest regions of Canada. [ScienceDaily]
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]

COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY

Martian dust devil detected -- A dust devil with a height of approximately one half mile that was hovering above the Martian surface last month was detected by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Start of the Growing Season

As we move through meteorological spring, the increases in daylength and air temperature across many areas of the nation make backyard gardeners as well as farmers contemplate the start of the growing season. For many crops, the soil has to be tilled and prepared for planting before the growing season really commences. Soil temperatures and moisture levels often influence when fieldwork can start.

The term 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. 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 Climatic Data Center 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.

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.

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 spring killing frost would occur when the plant has become well emerged and the temperature around the plant would fall to a point that would kill most tender vegetation. Sometimes, other terminology is used.

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

Many emerging crops would succumb if the spring air temperatures fell to [(36),(33),(28)] degrees.
The frost-free season in states bordering Canada would probably be about [(60),(90),(120)] days.

Historical Events:

12-13 March 1907...A storm produced a record 5.22 inches of rain in 24 hours at Cincinnati, OH. (The Weather Channel)
12 March 1923...The record low air pressure of 971.9 millibars (28.70 inches) for Chicago, IL was set during a storm that produced heavy snow, a thick glaze, gales, and much rain that caused $800,000 damage. (Intellicast)
13-15 March 1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches of rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15^th-16^th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
13 March 1993...The "Great Blizzard of '93" clobbered the eastern US and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded. Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile, AL and up to 5 inches reported in the Florida Panhandle, the greatest single snowfall in the state's history. Thirteen inches blanketed Birmingham, AL to set not only a new 24-hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month. Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches. Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24-hour record snowfall. Farther to the north, Pittsburgh, PA measured 25 inches, Albany, NY checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, NY was buried under 43 inches. The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, MA was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain. A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at that location since hurricane Edna in 1954. Numerous cities in the south and mid Atlantic states recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches of mercury) over Chesapeake Bay. Some 208 people were killed by the storm and total damage was estimated at $6 billion-- the costliest extratropical storm in history. (Intellicast)
14 March 1944...A single storm brought a record 21.6 inches of snow to Salt Lake City UT. (The Weather Channel)
14 March 1984...A coastal storm dumped very heavy snow over northern New England. Caribou, ME received 28.6 inches of snow in 24 hours, by far its greatest 24-hour snowfall on record. (Intellicast)
15 March 1892...A winter storm in southwestern and central Tennessee produced 26 inches of snow at Riddleton, and 18.5 inches at Memphis, resulting in the deepest snow of record for those areas. (David Ludlum)
15 March 1906...The temperature at Snake River, WY dipped to 50 degrees below zero, a record for the U.S. for the month of March. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders -1987)
15 March 1952...Over 72 (73.62) inches of rain fell on Cilaos, Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, the greatest global 24-hour total rainfall. (The Weather Doctor)
15 March 2004...Rain at Brownsville, TX broke a century-old precipitation record for the greatest daily rainfall accumulation for March with 3.23 inches . (The Weather Doctor)
16 March 1975...A single storm brought 119 inches of snow to Crater Lake OR establishing a state record. (The Weather Channel)
16-17 March 2002...A snowstorm dumped 28.7 inches of snow on Anchorage, AK breaking the old daily record of 15.6 inches. Snow amounts ranged from 24 to 29 inches at lower elevations. (The Weather Doctor)
17 March 1906...The temperature at Snake River, WY dipped to 50 degrees below zero, a record for the coterminous U.S. for the month of March. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders -1987)
17 March 1998...Calgary, Alberta experienced its worst March snowstorm in 113 years, measuring 13 inches of snow at the airport and from 15 to 18 inches in other parts of the city. (The Weather Doctor)
17-24 March 1999...Intense Tropical Cyclone Vance (Category 5) moved across portions of Western Australia. A record wind gust for the Australian mainland of 167 mph was recorded at the Learmonth Meteorological Office. (The Weather Doctor)
18 March 1914...San Francisco, CA reached its highest temperature ever recorded in March. The mercury rose to 86 degrees. (Intellicast)
18 March 1925...The great "Tri-State Tornado" occurred, the most deadly tornado in U.S. history. The tornado, which claimed 695 lives (including 234 at Murphysboro, IL and 148 at West Frankfort, IL), cut a swath of destruction 219 miles long and as much as a mile wide from east central Missouri to southern Indiana between 1 PM and 4 PM. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
18 March 2002...A snowstorm over coastal British Columbia produced the latest and heaviest single-day snowfall on record for the city of Vancouver of 2.55 inches. (The Weather Doctor)

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