WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

PREVIEW WEEK: 19-23 January 2015

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2015 Campaign is underway -- The series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2015 has begun with a 10-night campaign that runs through Tuesday 20 January. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Orion in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. In addition to the 11-20 January campaign, the other five GLOBE at Night campaigns during the first half of 2015 are on 9-18 February; 11-20 March; 9-18 April, 9-18 May and 8-17 June. [GLOBE at Night]
Free admission into the National Parks and Forests-- This Monday, 19 January 2015, has been designated by the National Park Service as a fee-free day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. This fee waiver will cover entrance and commercial tour fees in many of the national parks and monuments administered by the Park Service. [National Park Service Fee Free Days]
End of a long polar night -- After being below the horizon for approximately 65 days, the Sun should rise at Barrow, the northernmost city in Alaska, for the first time this new year on this coming Friday, 23 January 2015, at 1:05 PM Alaska Standard Time (AKST). However, the Sun will only remain above the horizon for only 69 minutes, as it will set again at 2:14 PM. Although the Sun set last fall at 1:45 PM AKST on 18 November 2014, residents of Barrow had roughly three hours of some diffuse sunlight each day that is equivalent to civil twilight, provided the cloud cover was not too thick. To check the sunrise and sunset times of Barrow or any location in the United States go to the US Naval Observatory's on-line, interactive service for the entire year.
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.

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Mid-January view of Great Lakes ice cover from space -- A natural color image made early last week from data collected by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument onboard NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite shows the extent of ice cover on the North American Great Lakes. According to the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, ice covered 29.3 percent of the five Great Lakes as of 13 January 2015. [NOAA View]
Review of national weather and climate for December 2014 and for the calendar year -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) have released reports based upon their preliminary analysis of temperature and precipitation data collected through the end of December 2014 from across the nation. Based upon the data processed through late last week, they report:

December 2014 was warm and slightly wet -- The nationwide average December temperature across the contiguous United States was 37.1 degrees Fahrenheit, making this past month the second warmest December since a sufficiently dense national climate observing network was established in 1895; for comparison, December 1939 remains the warmest December with a 37.7-degree reading. All of the 48 coterminous states reported statewide December temperatures that were either above or much above the long-term "normals" for the 20th-century (1901-2000) interval. Most of the states along the West Coast and into the Intermountain West had statewide temperatures that ranked within the top 10 on record.
The nationwide precipitation total for December across the country was 0.16 inches above the 20th century average, placing this past month as the 70th driest November since 1895. States across the Southwest, the central Rockies, the central Plains, along with parts of the Southeast and the Northeast experienced above average precipitation. Below-average December precipitation was reported in the southern and northern Plains, as well as along sections of the lower Mississippi River Valley. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]

Calendar year of 2014 was slightly warm but wet in some parts of the US -- The preliminary average temperature for the coterminous United States during the recently concluded 2014 was 52.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which was slightly (0.5 Fahrenheit degrees) above the 20th-century average. As a result, 2014 tied 1977 for being the 34th warmest year since 1895. Many of the states across eastern half of the nation had below to much below average statewide average temperatures. States in the Mississippi Valley and the western Great Lakes reported statewide temperatures that ranked within the ten lowest in the past 120 years. Arkansas and Illinois reported their sixth coldest years on record, Indiana its seventh coldest, while Louisiana, Missouri and Wisconsin had their ninth coldest years since 1895. On the other hand, the western third of the nation reported much above average annual temperatures. Arizona, California and Nevada experienced record high statewide annual temperatures for 2014. Most of the New England States along with Florida also experienced above average temperatures.
The nationwide average precipitation across the 48 coterminous states for 2014 was 30.76 inches, which made it the 40th wettest year on record since 1895. Many of the states across the northern United States had above to much above annual precipitation totals, with Wisconsin and Michigan experiencing their seventh wettest years in the 120-year record. On the other hand, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia reported below average statewide precipitation. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
NOTE: A description is provided of the climatological rankings employed by NCDC for their monthly, seasonal and annual maps. [NOAA/NCDC]
Additional preliminary information concerning significant weather and climate events during 2014 are also available. [NOAA/NCDC 2014 US Annual Report]

Annual national drought report for 2014 -- The National Climate Data Center has posted its 2014 annual drought report online. This report describes how the areas experiencing drought and wet conditions changed throughout the last calendar year. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index (a commonly used indicator of drought conditions), approximately 31 percent of the area of the contiguous United States experienced moderate to exceptional drought conditions at the start of January 2014. Although the areal extent of the drought expanded during the summer, drought conditions subsided during the fall and early winter, with the size of the moderate to exceptional drought was shrinking to slightly less than 29 percent of the contiguous United States at the end of 2014. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the area with severely to extremely wet conditions had shrunk to 10 percent of the area by the end of December. Additional drought information is also available on the December 2014 online drought report.
Global weather and climate for 2014 reviewed -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that based upon their preliminary analysis of worldwide land and ocean surface temperature data, the calendar year of 2014 was the warmest since sufficiently detailed world-wide climate records began in 1880. They found that the annual worldwide combined land and ocean surface temperature for 2014 was approximately 0.69 Celsius degrees (or 1.24 Fahrenheit degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. Separately, the globally averaged land surface temperature for 2013 was 1.00 Celsius degree above the 20th century average, or the fourth highest annual land temperature on record, while the globally averaged ocean surface temperature for the year was 0.57 Celsius degrees above the 20th century average, or the highest on record. The scientists indicated that a ENSO-neutral conditions (standing for El Niño/Southern Oscillation) were found throughout the the year. ENSO-neutral conditions refer to lack of either an El Niño or La Niña event that are anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regime favoring warm or cool waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Arctic sea ice remained well below the long-term averages that cover the period of record beginning in 1979 when satellite surveillance of the polar ice caps began. During the winter growth season, the sea ice covering the Arctic reached a maximum extent that was the fifth smallest on record, while at the end of the summer melt season, the sea ice was the sixth smallest on record. Conversely, sea ice around Antarctica was well above average. During the winter growth season, the ice around that content reached a record for the satellite period, while during the summer melt season, the ice extent was the third largest on record.
The scientists also note that the preliminary global precipitation data from land-based stations indicate 2014 was slightly below long-term averages across the land areas. Although some areas of the planet were exceptionally wet, others experienced drought conditions. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
NCDC also provides a map showing the Global Significant Weather and Climate Events map for 2014.
Using a slightly different methodology for averaging global surface temperatures, scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) reported that the global average temperature for 2014 also was the highest reading since 1880. [NASA GISS]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Monitoring the southern extent of the Northern Hemisphere's seasonal sea ice -- An true color image obtained earlier this month from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA's Terra Satellite shows the sea ice covering eastern Russia's Sea of Okhotsk. Located near 45 degrees North latitude, the Sea of Okhotsk represents the current southernmost extent of seasonal sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere, caused by a combination of extremely cold air spreading outward from eastern Siberia and the large quantities of freshwater coming from the Amur River and other streams. However, the regional sea ice production has decreased between 1974 and 2008. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE FORCING

High methane levels found over Los Angeles basin -- Based upon two years of atmospheric observations made by an instrument mounted on top of southern California's Mt. Wilson, scientists with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory determined that the annual emissions of methane from the Los Angeles basin were 18 to 61 percent higher than widely used estimates. Methane is a greenhouse gas. The instrument that was part of the California Laboratory for Atmospheric Remote Sensing (CLARS) program was a spectrometer used to measure the effect of methane and other gases on the spectrum of sunlight. [NASA Earth Science News Team]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Seasonal weather outlook released -- Late last week, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center released their new national Seasonal Outlook for the next three months of 2015 (February-April) that includes the last month of meteorological winter (December-February) and the first two months of meteorological spring (March-May). Specific details of their outlooks include:
- Temperature and precipitation outlooks -- According to their temperature outlook, nearly the western third of the nation (consisting of the 48 contiguous states) extending from the Pacific coast eastward across the Intermountain West should experience a high chance of above average temperatures for these three upcoming months. The greatest probability of such an occurrence is to be found along the coast of Oregon and northern California. Conversely, sections of the southern Plains and western Gulf Coast stretching from west Texas eastward to the lower Mississippi Valley were considered to have a better than average chance of below average late winter-early spring temperatures. The outlook indicates that the remainder of the nation would have nearly equal chances of warmer or cooler than normal conditions.
  Their precipitation outlook calls for sections of the Northwest, primarily across interior Washington, to have a better than even chance of below average precipitation for the upcoming three months of 2014. Conversely, the Southwest was considered to be under a better than even chance of above average precipitation, especially across southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas. Elsewhere, a large area of the coterminous states should have essentially equal chances of below and above average precipitation for the end of winter and the first two months of meteorological spring.
  A summary of the prognostic discussion of the 3-month outlook for non-technical users is available from CPC. These forecasts were based in part that assuming that ENSO-neutral conditions (ENSO = El Niño/Southern Oscillation) potentially changing to a weak El Niño event during February and March before returning to ENSO-neutral conditions later in the Northern Hemisphere's spring (March-May); an ENSO-neutral situation occurs when neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions would prevail. A description is also provided as how to read these 3-class, 3-month Outlook maps.
- Seasonal Drought Outlook -- The forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also released their US Seasonal Drought Outlook last week that would run from mid-January through April 2015. Their outlook would call for persistence or the development of extensive drought conditions across a large section of the West, primarily across California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Sections of the southern Plains extending from southern Texas northward to southwestern Kansas should also continue to experience drought conditions. Sections of the mid-Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys in the Midwest could experience development of drought during the next three and one half months. A few sections of the Southwest extending from southern California eastward Arizona and New Mexico that are currently experiencing drought conditions could see sufficient improvement that they would possibly be removed from drought status. Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Many of the "planetary boundaries" have been exceeded by humanity -- In an updated report entitled "Planetary Boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet," an international team of researchers warns that human civilization has crossed four of nine so-called planetary boundaries as the result of human activity. Climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a "safe operating space." The report will be discussed during this upcoming week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. [University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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

Welcome to DataStreme Earth's Climate System (ECS)! The Earth's Climate System website 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 DS Climate Studies website 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 webpage.

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 course website 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 course website 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 website 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 "US Global Change Impacts Report" to the left 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 course website 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 one of the Climate Literacy links, either a PDF or the Word version. 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 Climate Services", 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 2010.
Under the Societal Interactions and Climate Policy section, click the "U.S. Global Change Research Program" link. Near the bottom of page are tabs that show areas in the report. On the "Explore" tab, one can investigate climate impacts categorized by [(only regions)(only topics)(both regions and topics)].

Historical Events:

19 January 1786...The temperature at Hartford, CT fell to 24 degrees below zero. Up to this time, it was the lowest ever known on a thermometer.
19 January 1925...The record low temperature for the state of Maine was set at Van Buren when the temperature fell to 48 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
19 January 1933...Giant Forest, CA received 60 inches of snow in just 24 hours, a state record, and the second highest 24-hour total of record for the U.S. (David Ludlum)
19 January 1994...An extremely cold arctic airmass set 67 new record temperature lows from Minnesota to Virginia, including 10 cities that recorded their lowest temperatures ever. The following cities set all-time record lows: Indianapolis, IN (27 degrees below zero), Akron, OH, Clarksburg, WV, and Zanesville, OH (25 below), Pittsburgh, PA, Louisville, KY, Columbus, OH and Youngstown, OH (22 below), Cleveland, OH (20 below), and Erie, PA (18 below). The mercury plunged to 36 below zero at New Whiteland, IN to set a new record low temperature for the Hoosier State. In Kentucky, a statewide record low temperature was set at Shelbyville with a reading of 37 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
19 January 1995...Columbia, MO was buried under 19.7 inches of snow in 24 hours for its greatest 24-hour snowfall and snowstorm ever. Wind gusts up to 45 mph produced blizzard conditions and thunderstorms occurred several times during the heavy snow. Interstates 70, US 63, and US 54 were closed down. The same storm produced 15 inches of snow at Moline, IL and 14 inches at Blue Jacket, OK. (Intellicast)
20 January 1937...The record low temperature for the state of California was set at Boca when the thermometer dropped to 45 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
20 January 1954...The temperature at Rogers Pass, MT plunged to 69.7 degrees below zero to establish a new low temperature record for the continental U.S. (David Ludlum)
20 January 1977...The barometric pressure at St. Anthony, Newfoundland dropped to 940.2 millibars (27.76 inches of mercury), the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in Canada. (The Weather Doctor)
21 January 1985...An all-time record low temperature of 7 degrees was set on this day at Jacksonville, FL. The coldest day ever recorded at Macon, GA was recorded on this day when the mercury dropped to 6 degrees below zero. Records began at Macon in 1899. (Intellicast) The all-time record low temperature for North Carolina was set at Mt. Mitchell with a 34 degree below zero reading, while a 19 degree below zero reading at Caesars Head in South Carolina set that state's record low temperature. (National Climatic Data Center)
22 January 1930...The record low temperature for the state of Illinois was set at Mount Carroll as the mercury dipped to 35 degrees below zero. This state record has since been broken in 1999. (Intellicast)
22 January 1961...The all-time record low temperature for Connecticut was tied when the temperature fell to 32 degrees below zero at Coventry. (National Climate Data Center)
22 January 1943...Chinook winds during the early morning hours caused the temperature at Spearfish, SD to rise 49 Fahrenheit degrees from 4 degrees below zero to 45 degrees above zero in just two minutes (between 7:30 and 7:32 AM), the most dramatic temperature rise in world weather records. An hour and a half later the mercury plunged from 54 degrees above zero to 4 degrees below zero in twenty-seven minutes. Plate glass windows cracked as a result of the quick thermal expansion and contraction. (David Ludlum)
22-23 January 1943...Hoegees Camp, at an elevation of 2760 feet in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California, received 26.12 inches of precipitation in a 24-hour span, setting the Golden State's 24-hour precipitation record. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
22 January 1985...Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia reported a temperature of 30 degrees below zero, which established the all-time record low temperature for the state. (National Climate Data Center)
24 January 1857...The coldest weather in pre-U.S. Weather Bureau history occurred with temperatures of 50 degrees below zero reported in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The temperature was 30 degrees below zero in Boston, MA and 11 degrees below zero on Nantucket Island. (Intellicast)
24 January 1916...The temperature at Browning, MT plunged 100 Fahrenheit degrees in just 24 hours, from 44 degrees above zero to 56 degrees below zero. It was a record 24-hour temperature drop for the U.S. (Weather Channel) (National Severe Storms Forecast Center)
24 January 1922...The all-time record low temperature for the state of Wisconsin was set at Danbury when the temperature dipped to 54 degrees below zero. (Intellicast) (This record has been broken by one degree in February, 1996)
24 January 1956...Thirty-eight inches of rain deluged the Kilauea Sugar Plantation of Hawaii in 24 hours, including twelve inches in just one hour. The 38.00 inches remains the Aloha State's 24-hour maximum precipitation record. (David Ludlum)
25 January 1965...Alta, UT was in the midst of a storm that left the town buried under 105 inches of snow establishing a record for the state. (David Ludlum)

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