WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

WEEK SIX: 3-7 March 2014

ITEMS OF INTEREST

New climate change report released -- Last week, the US National Academy of Science and the United Kingdom's Royal Society released a new report entitled "Climate Change: Evidence and Causes" written by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists and reviewed by climate scientists and others. This 36-page pdf publication is intended as a brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. In addition to this, a webinar was presented on the scientists' findings. [US National Academy of Science]
High-quality maps of March 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 March 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.
March 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 March, 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.
Mardi Gras climatology -- With the observance of Ash Wednesday during this upcoming week, the famous Mardi Gras Carnival celebration in New Orleans, LA will conclude the day before on "Fat Tuesday" or Shrove Tuesday (4 March 2014). The National Weather Service Forecast Office at New Orleans/Baton Rouge has posted a "Mardi Gras climatology" that provides summary tables of the normals and the extremes that have been observed in New Orleans for the last 140 years during the weeks in mid February through early March when Mardi Gras would occur. [New Orleans/Baton Rouge WSFO]
Viewing atmospheric circulation in three-dimensions -- Read this week's Supplemental Information.. In Greater Depth for information concerning the average circulation in the lower and upper troposphere.
Becoming AWARE -- NOAA's National Weather Service and its partner, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be observing "National Severe Weather Preparedness Week" that from Sunday 2 March through Saturday 8 March 2014. The theme for this year's National Severe Weather Preparedness Week is "Be a Force of Nature: Take the Next Step."
[NOAA News] The NOAA "Weather-Ready Nation" website
(http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/), contains links that allow the public to "Be a Force of Nature" in their communities through Tweet, a blog post, or a presentation. In addition a dozen states will also observe Severe Weather Awareness Weeks during this week. Other states throughout the nation have either conducted or will conduct their Severe Weather Awareness Weeks in the next several months as the spring season for severe thunderstorms unfolds.

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

New satellite to measure global precipitation launched into orbit -- At the end of last week (early Friday morning Japan Time), a rocket was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan that contained the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory spacecraft. This spacecraft represents a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed to conduct high-resolution observations of planetary precipitation from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle, which should result in improved weather and climate forecasts and assist in better management of water resources. Within minutes of launch, the GPM spacecraft had reached an altitude of 247 miles above Earth and its solar arrays had been deployed to power the spacecraft. The GPM Core Observatory carries the GPM Microwave Imager and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar that are two instruments to measure rain and snowfall. [NASA Headquarters] Note: Status updates on the GPM mission are available.
Instruments for nation's next geosynchronous environmental satellite delivered -- During the last week, four of the six instruments that will placed onboard NOAA's next generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R) spacecraft were delivered to Lockheed Martin in Denver, CO. These instruments will be placed on the spacecraft bus scheduled for launch in early 2016. The delivered instruments include: the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), and the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS). The remaining two instruments are the Magnetometer and Geostationary Lightning Mapper that should be delivered later in 2014. [NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service News]
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]

CLIMATE FORCING

Aromatic vapors from pine forests could produce aerosols that affect climate -- An international team of researchers from the US, Germany and Finland have revealed the process by which vapors emitted from conifer trees could quickly create numerous airborne liquid or solid particles or aerosols that could reflect incident solar radiation and also promote cloud formation. The increased reflectivity and the cloud formation represent important climate feedback mechanisms. [University of Washington News]
Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before landfall -- Researchers from Stanford University and the University of Delaware report that their computer simulations of three recent land falling hurricanes (Katrina in 2005 and Isaac and Sandy in 2012) indicate offshore wind farms with large arrays of thousands of wind turbines could significantly reduce wind speed and the storm surge from major hurricanes. These turbines would slow the winds in the outer bands of the approaching hurricane, which could decrease wave height and affect the inflow of near surface winds into the center of the hurricane, causing a slowing of the entire circulation regime. [Stanford University News Service]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Canadian national seasonal outlook issued -- Forecasters with Environment Canada issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across Canada for meteorological spring, of the three months of March through May 2014. Their temperature outlook indicates that sections of southern and southeastern Canada extending from southeastern Manitoba across the Great Lakes to Newfoundland could experience below normal (1981-2010) temperatures for these three months. On the other hand, sections of coastal British Columbia, the Yukon and Northwest Territories and most of the Canadian Archipelago could have above average spring temperatures. Elsewhere, near normal temperatures were to be expected for the next three months.
The Canadian precipitation outlook for Spring 2014 indicates that most of Canada should experience near average precipitation. Scattered areas of British Columbia, the Northwest Territory, the Canadian Arctic and the Maritime Provinces could experience above average precipitation. Conversely, below normal precipitation was projected widely scattered areas that included Manitoba and Quebec.
[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.]
"Big thaw" projected for Antarctic sea ice -- A scientist at Virginia Institute of Marine Science and colleagues at Old Dominion University recently reported that a modeling study they conducted indicated the recent observed increase in summer sea ice cover on Antarctica's Ross Sea should end soon and that the areal summer ice coverage could decrease by more than half by 2050 and by three quarters by 2100. They warned that these changes would significantly impact marine life in one of the world's most productive and unspoiled marine ecosystems. [Virginia Institute of Marine Science]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Tropospheric westerly winds, north and south

The theoretical existence of upper tropospheric jet stream winds were not confirmed until being encountered by World War II bomber pilots when heading west into strong headwinds at altitudes of approximately 30,000 feet (10,000 m). Wind speeds sometimes exceeded 170 mph causing their relatively slow, heavily laden aircraft to almost stand still. Subsequently, westerly jet stream winds were found to encircle the planet in midlatitudes of both hemispheres above regions of strong temperature contrasts.

The explanation for these winds involves atmospheric mass distributions and forces on a rotating planet. Air in tropical latitudes is warmed, rises and then flows poleward, both north and south. On a rotating planet, moving air is deflected by the Coriolis effect, to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (and left in the Southern). The greater the temperature differences between warm lower and cold higher latitudes, the stronger the air motions and the faster the jet streams. The vertical temperature patterns result in the highest wind speeds near the top of the troposphere.

So Northern Hemisphere air headed northward, deflected to the right ends up headed east, a "westerly wind." In the Southern Hemisphere, southward moving air, deflected left will also go east, as a westerly wind. These "rivers" of strong upper-level winds steer surface weather systems as they move generally eastward across midlatitudes. They also provide boosts for jet aircraft headed eastward with them, but need to be avoided for going west! Of course, the full story is complex as land (especially mountains) and water surfaces interact with the heating of the air and eddies form in the turbulent flows, so jet streams wander. And with them go the storms and the weather patterns that form our short-term climate.

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

The Northern Hemisphere jet stream winds would be directed such that cold air is [(to the left),(to the right),(directly ahead)] of their forward motion.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the jet stream winds to be directed generally toward the [(south), (east), (west)].

Historical Events:

3 March 1896...The temperature in downtown San Francisco, CA fell to 33 degrees, which was the lowest ever for the city in March. (Intellicast)
3 March 1971...An extremely intense coastal storm blasted the northeastern US on this day and continued into the 4th. The barometric pressure dropped to 960 millibars (28.36 inches) at Worcester, MA for the lowest pressure ever recorded at the location. The same record was set at Concord, NH with a reading of 963 millibars (28.44 inches). Wind gusts 70 to 100 mph lashed eastern New England with major wind damage occurring. Tides ran 4 to 5 feet above normal resulting in extensive coastal damage and beach erosion. (Intellicast)
3 March 1994...A major coastal storm was in progress over the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. The 8.7 inches of snow at Allentown, PA raised its seasonal snowfall to 69.2 inches for its snowiest winter ever. Boston's 8 inches pushed its seasonal snow to 89.5 inches for its snowiest winter as well. (Intellicast)
3 March 2003...The day's low temperature of 30 degrees below zero at Marquette, MI was the lowest temperature ever recorded in March in the city. (The Weather Doctor)
4 March 1953...Snow was reported on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. (The Weather Channel)
4-5 March 1899...Tropical Cyclone Mahina (the Bathurst Bay Hurricane) crossed Australia's Great Barrier Reef and generated produced the highest storm surge ever recorded: 13 m (42.6 ft) surge in Bathurst Bay. The Australian pearling fleet was destroyed, over 100 shipwrecks reported and 307 people killed. Minimum central pressure barometric pressure fell to an unofficial reading of estimated at 914 millibars (26.90 inches of mercury). (Accord's Weather Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
5 March 1960...The greatest March snowstorm of record in eastern Massachusetts began to abate. The storm produced record 24-hour snowfall totals of 27.2 inches at Blue Hill Observatory, 17.7 inches at Worcester, and 16.6 inches at Boston. (The Weather Channel)
5 March 2000...The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN established a new record for the fewest number of days between 70-degree Fahrenheit temperature reading from the last date in the autumn to the first date in the spring, with only 113 days passed. The previous record was 131 days, while the average has been 175 days. (The Weather Doctor)
6 March 1900...A chinook wind blowing down the slopes of the Rockies through Havre, MT raised the temperature 31 degrees in just three minutes. (The Weather Channel)
6 March 1954...Florida received its greatest modern-day snowfall of record, with 4.0 inches at the Milton Experimental Station. Pensacola, FL equaled their 24-hour record with 2.1 inches of snow. (The Weather Channel)
6 March 1962...Forty-two inches of snow fell at Big Meadows, located in the mountains of Virginia, for a state record as part of the Great Atlantic Coast Storm of 1962. (Intellicast)
6 March 1971...The temperature at Palteau Rosa, Italy fell to 30.2 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, Italy's lowest temperature on record. (The Weather Doctor)
7 March 1932...A severe coastal storm set barometric pressure records from Virginia to New England. Block Island, RI reported a barometric pressure reading of 955.0 millibars (28.20 inches of mercury). (David Ludlum)
7 March 1996...6.5 inches of snow fell at Boston, MA on this date to bring its seasonal total to 96.4 inches -- the city's snowiest winter in 105 years of record keeping. The old record was 96.3 inches set in the 1993-94 winter season. Now all major cities along this East Coast had broken their seasonal snowfall records in the 1995-96 winter season. (Intellicast)
7 March 2000...The temperature at Duluth, MN reached 70 degrees, which was the earliest that a 70-degree reading was reported in Duluth; the previous earliest date was 22 March 1945 when the temperature reached 72 degrees. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
7 March 1999...Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada's snowiest major city set a new record for a one-day snowfall of 45.7 inches, but prior to that date the winter's total had been a meager (for the city) 46 inches of snow. (The Weather Doctor)
8 March 1971...A snowstorm dropped 10 to 20 inches of new snow across Vermont to raise snow depths to record levels. A snow cover of 116 inches was measured on the ground on top of Mount Mansfield, the second highest snow depth ever recorded on the mountain up to the time. The town of Orange measured 88 inches on the ground for a new state low-elevation snow depth record. (Intellicast)
8 March 1992...In the first 8 days of March, Las Vegas, NV recorded 1.87 inches of rain, setting a new monthly record for rainfall in March. The previous record was 1.83 inches set in 1973. (Intellicast)
8 March 1994...A major snowstorm buried sections of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. Ozark Beach, MO recorded 19 inches of snow, while Harrison, AR checked in with 18 inches. Tulsa, OK had 12.9 of snow, for its greatest single storm snowfall ever. (Intellicast)
8 March 1996...Elkins, WV received 2.1 inches of snow on this day to bring its seasonal snowfall to 125.8 inches -- its snowiest winter on record. (Intellicast)
9 March 1911...Aibonito, Puerto Rico had temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest temperature recorded on that island. (The Weather Doctor)
9 March 1943...The temperature at Lac Frontiere, ME fell to 40 degrees below zero, the lowest reading ever in March in New England. (Intellicast)
9 March 1956...A whopping 367 inches of snow was measured on the ground at the Rainier Paradise Ranger Station in Washington. The snow depth was a state record and the second highest total of record for the continental U.S. (The Weather Channel)

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