WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

16-20 July 2012

DataStreme Earth Climate Systems will return for Fall 2012 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 27 August 2012. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Honolulu will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (15-17 Jul). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Honolulu and the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. The other time when the Oahu experienced a zenithal sun was in late May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Lake Michigan warms with record heat --The record heat that the Midwest experienced during the first week of July 2012 helped warm Lake Michigan. MODIS sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites and the water temperature sensors on NOAA's instrumented buoy moored in southern Lake Michigan reported surface water temperatures that reached the upper 70s and even 80 degrees. The 80-degree water temperature was the earliest on record and was more than 15 Fahrenheit degrees above average for early July. [NWSFO Milwaukee-Sullivan]
Review of US weather and climate for June 2012 -- Scientists with the NOAA National Climatic Data Center recently released their preliminary monthly climate statistics for June 2012, which indicates that the nationwide average temperature was 2.0 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century (1901-2000) average temperature for June. The month's average temperature for the 48 coterminous states was the 14th highest for any June since 1895 when relatively dense and reliable climate records began across the nation. Above average to much above statewide temperatures were reported across the nation's midsection, especially across those states in the central Plains, along with central and southern Rockies. Colorado experienced its warmest June in since 1895. Seven other states across the Plains, Rockies and Great Basin (South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona) had June temperatures that were in the top ten for the 118-year period of record. On the other hand, several states in the Southeast and Northwest experienced below much below average temperatures for June 2012. The statewide temperature for Washington was the seventh coldest June. Furthermore, January through June temperatures across the coterminous United States for 2012 has set a record-war, first half of the calendar year.
The nationwide average June 2012 precipitation was 0.62 inches below the 20th-century value, which made June 2012 the 10th driest June since 1895. Many of the states across the nation experienced below to much below precipitation, with a dozen states extending from the Great Basin eastward to the Ohio Valley reporting statewide precipitation totals that were within the driest ten on record. Wyoming had the driest June. Conversely, Florida had its wettest June in 118 years and several other states in the Northeast and Northwest had much above average June precipitation. [NOAA NCDC State of the Climate]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

State of the climate examined for 2011-- Last week, NOAA, in coordination with the American Meteorological Society, released a peer-review report entitled the 2011 State of the Climate that notes two La Niña events at the start and end of 2011 cooled the globe sufficiently to cause the global temperature for the calendar year to be the lowest since 2008, even though the annual temperature remained above the 30-year average. This 22nd annual State of the Climate report, complied by 378 scientists from 48 nations, provides a detailed update on 43 global-scale climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected by a global network of environmental monitoring stations and instruments onboard satellite platforms. The concentrations of greenhouse gases climbed, while the Arctic sea ice extent decreased. The report noted that many extreme events occurred at regional and local levels, including historic drought, record flooding, major heat waves and numerous tornado outbreaks. A supplementary paper, Explaining Extreme Events of 2011 from a Climate Perspective, was produced by NOAA and the United Kingdom's Met Office. [NOAA News]
New ways for satellites to detect air pollution below clouds -- Scientists at the University of Iowa have created a technique to help satellites "see" through clouds and better estimate the concentration of near-surface atmospheric pollutants, such as soot, that are found below the cloud cover. These airborne particles reduce air quality and can affect weather and climate. [University of Iowa Now]
Trends in air quality seen from space -- Satellite measurements made by the European Space Agency and NASA since 1996 have shown that the atmospheric concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the low troposphere across sections of Europe and the United States have decreased in the last decade. This decrease has occurred when the populations and economies in many countries have been growing, which have resulted in increased atmospheric pollution. Nitrogen dioxide levels have increased in the Middle East and parts of Asia. [ESA 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]
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]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Northern European climate reconstructed for last two millennia -- An international research team from Germany, Finland, Scotland, and Switzerland has recently completed a high-resolution reconstruction of the climate in northern Europe over the last 2000 years (or to 138 BC) based on the information obtained from tree-ring measurements. This reconstruction precisely demonstrates that the long-term trend over the past two millennia has been toward climatic cooling, with the decrease in temperature of 0.3 Celsius degrees per millennium due to gradual changes in the Earth's orbital elements associated with the Milankovitch theory. [Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz]

CLIMATE FORCING

Trigger found for rapid rises in prehistoric sea level -- A team of scientists from the United Kingdom's University of Bristol report finding the cause of the rapid rise in sea level during two events that occurred approximately 14,600 years ago with the Meltwater pulse 1a and at 8200 years ago. Employing climate and ice sheet models, they claim that the "saddle-collapse" process was responsible in which domes of ice over North America became separated in the saddle area, leading to rapid melting and the opening of an ice-free corridor. [University of Bristol Press Releases]
A potential source of terrestrial water found -- Scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science and colleagues from the US and the United Kingdom claim that frozen water distributed in the early Solar System in the form of asteroids and meteorites between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter appears to represent a major source of water on Earth. [Carnegie Institution for Science]
Campaign to study chemistry of thunderstorms concludes -- Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3), a field campaign designed to understand how thunderstorms affect the chemistry of the upper troposphere (at altitudes reaching 40,000 feet) recently ended. This DC3 campaign, which consisted of a team of 100 researchers from 29 organizations, was based in Kansas, but numerous research flights were made to neighboring Colorado and Oklahoma, as well as to Alabama during the six weeks. Of particular interest, the researchers made observations of thunderstorms that developed in northeastern Colorado in the smoke plume that had spread across the area from the nearby High Park wildfire. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Fewer, but more violent, thunderstorms could result from climate change -- Researchers at Israel's Tel Aviv University warn that while projected increases in global temperature along with drier surface conditions could diminish the number of thunderstorms, but the intensity of these thunderstorms would increase especially in the Mediterranean basin and across the southern United States. These more intense thunderstorms could also create more flash floods, more wildfires and more damage to power lines and other infrastructure. One of the researchers predicted a 10 percent increase in lightning activity for every one Celsius degree increase in temperature. [American Friends Tel Aviv University]

CLIMATE IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE

Changing climate in Southern US could result in less milk production -- New research from the University of Washington involving high-resolution climate data and county-level dairy industry data indicates that projected changes in climate involving day-night temperature swings and changes in atmospheric humidity could stress dairy cows across the Southeastern US and cause a reduction in milk production in this region. The report included a a county-by-county assessment of the impact climate change will have on Holstein milk production in the US through 2080. [University of Washington News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Worsening US drought results in disaster designations -- The lack of adequate rainfall along with above average temperatures across a large section of the nation have exacerbated current drought conditions, which now can be considered the nation's worst drought since 1988. This drought has resulted in a reduction in the projected corn production across most of the Corn Belt for 2012. This past week, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that more than 1000 counties in 26 states would be designated as disaster areas due to the worsening drought, making this one of the largest natural disasters ever in the US. [USDA Blog]
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.

Historical Events:

17 July 1987...Slow-moving thunderstorms caused flooding on the Guadalupe River in Texas resulting in tragic loss of life. A bus and van leaving a summer youth camp stalled near the rapidly rising river, just west of the town of Comfort, and a powerful surge of water swept away 43 persons, mostly teenagers. Ten drowned in the floodwaters. Most of the others were rescued from treetops by helicopter. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
17-18 July 1996...Heavy rains were responsible for unprecedented flooding across north central and northeast Illinois, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Aurora, IL received 16.91 inches of rain, which established a new 24-hour precipitation record for the Prairie State. Approximately 60 percent of the city's homes were affected by flooding. At Romeoville, 10.36 inches of rain fell. Interstates were closed and some towns were isolated. Rampaging floodwaters scoured out roads near Dayton, leaving gravel and sand deposits to twenty feet high. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
18 July 1889...A cloudburst in West Virginia along the small creeks in Wirt County, Jackson County and Wood County claimed twenty lives. Rockport, WV reported 19.00 inches of rain in two hours and ten minutes that Thursday evening, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Mountain State. Tygart Creek rose 22 feet in one hour, and villages were swept away on Tygart, Slate, Tucker, and Sandy Creeks. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
18 July 1942...A record deluge occurred at Smethport in northern Pennsylvania, with 30.70 inches in just six hours. The 24-hour rainfall total for the day was 34.50 inches, which set a maximum 24-hour precipitation for the Keystone State. The downpours and resultant flooding in Pennsylvania were devastating. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) (NCDC)
18 July 1955...In Martinstown, England, eleven inches of rain fell in a 15-hour period on this day believed to be the 24-hour greatest rainfall for the United Kingdom. (The Weather Doctor)
18-19 July 1979...A 30-foot high tsunami wave leveled four Indonesian villages on the Sunda Islands during the night. The wave swept 1500 feet inland, causing 589 deaths among the sleeping villagers. A landslide from Mount Werung (Lomblen Island) caused the tsunami. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
18-21 July 1996...Between six and twelve inches of rain fell on an already saturated Saguenay River Valley of Quebec, producing Canada's first billion-dollar disaster ($1.5 billion). Flooding destroyed or damaged 1718 houses and 900 cottages. Ten people were killed and 16,000 were evacuated. Roads and bridges disappeared. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor) (Wikipedia)
18 July 1996...Aurora, IL received 16.91 inches of rain, which established a new 24-hour precipitation record for the Prairie State. (NCDC)
18-22 July 1997...Hurricane Danny, the only hurricane that made landfall in the continental US in 1997, moved inland into coastal Alabama at a snails pace. Radar storm total estimates of 43 inches over Mobile Bay. A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell on 19-20 July at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
19 July 1886...A hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico crossed Florida causing great damage from Cedar Keys to Jacksonville. This was the third hurricane in one month to cross the Florida peninsula. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
19 July 1955...The Yarkon Water Project was opened to supply water to Negev desert in Israel. The Yarkon "flows" through the most densely populated areas of the country to the Mediterranean. The river has deteriorated rapidly since the 1950's due to excessive draining for irrigation by the National Water Carrier, with marked decline in water quality, animal habitats, flora and fauna. The National Water Carrier (1964), which crosses Israel from north to south, is the 81-mile main artery connecting all regional water projects in the State. (Today in Science History)
19 July 1974...A severe thunderstorm with winds to 80 mph and up to two inches of rain washed out four to five foot deep sections of roadway in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Three persons in a station wagon died as it was carried 3000 feet down a wash by a ten foot wall of water. (The Weather Channel)
19 July 1977...Thunderstorms produced torrential rains over parts of southwestern Pennsylvania. Some places in the Johnstown area received more than twelve inches in a seven-hour period. The heavy rains cause flash flooding along streams resulting in widespread severe damage, representing the "second Johnstown flood", second to the more disastrous flood in May 1889. The cloudburst flooded Johnstown with up to ten feet of water resulting in 76 deaths, countless injuries, and 424 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
19 July 1994...Hurricane Emilia was the first of three Category-5 hurricanes to develop in the Central Pacific in 1994 as unusually warm sea temperatures prevailed south of Hawaii. Sustained winds reached 160 mph. (Intellicast)
19 July 2006...Charlwood, England melted under the highest temperature ever recorded in Britain in July at 97.3 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
20 July 1965...The 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Show-Me State was set at Edgarton, MO as 18.18 inches of rain fell. (NCDC)
20 July 1989...Showers and thunderstorms in the Middle Atlantic Coast Region soaked Wilmington, DE with 2.28 inches of rain, pushing their total for the period May through July past the previous record of 22.43 inches. Heavy rain over that three-month period virtually wiped out a 16.82-inch deficit that had been building since drought conditions began in 1985. Thunderstorms in central Indiana deluged Lebanon with 6.50 inches of rain in twelve hours. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
20 July 1997...A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC)
20 July 1930...The temperature at Washington, DC soared to an all-time record of 106 degrees. The next day Millsboro reached 110 degrees to set a record for the state of Delaware. July 1930 was one of the hottest and driest summers in the U.S., particularly in the Missouri Valley where severe drought conditions developed. Toward the end of the month, state records were set for Kentucky with 114 degrees and Mississippi with 115 degrees. (David Ludlum)
20 July 1934...The temperature at Keokuk, IA soared to 118 degrees to establish an all-time record high temperature for the Hawkeye State. (The Weather Channel)
20 July 1965...The 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Show-Me State was set at Edgarton, MO as 18.18 inches of rain fell. (NCDC)
20 July 1997...A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC)
20 July 1986...The temperature at Charleston, SC hit 104 degrees for the second day in a row to tie their all-time record high. (The Weather Channel)
20 July 1988...The temperature at Redding, CA soared to an all-time record high of 118 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
20 July 1994...Seattle-Tacoma, WA sizzled at 100 degrees, the highest ever temperature recorded there. (Intellicast)
20 July 1997...A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC)
21 July 1911...The temperature at Painter, WY dipped to 10 degrees to equal the record low for July for the continental U.S. (The Weather Channel)
21 July 1930...The record high temperature for Delaware was set with 110 degrees at Millsboro. (Intellicast)
21 July 1934...The temperature reached 109 degrees at Cincinnati, OH to cap their hottest summer of record. The state record for Ohio was established that day with a reading of 113 degrees near the town of Gallipolis. (David Ludlum)
21 July 1983...The temperature at Vostok, Antarctic (elevation 11,220 ft) fell to 129 degrees below zero, establishing the all time lowest temperature ever recorded at a surface station on earth, as well as for the Antarctic continent. (NCDC)
21 July 1991...Windsor Locks, CT hit 101 degrees, the third day in a row with temperatures over 100 degrees. Providence RI reached 102 degrees, their second day of 100-degree readings, very rare for this location. (Intellicast)
22 July 1926...The temperature at Troy, NY reached 108 degrees to set a high temperature record for the Empire State. The record high temperature for Connecticut was set at Waterbury with 105 degrees; this record for the Nutmeg State was broken by one degree in July 1995 at the same city. (Intellicast)
22 July 1972...Fort Ripley, MN received 10.84 inches of rain, to establish a new 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Gopher State. (NCDC)
22 July 1987...Barrow, AK received 1.38 inches in 24 hours on the 21^st and 22^nd, an all-time record for that location. The previous record was the 1.00 inch water equivalent in a 15 inch all-time record snowfall of 26 October 1926. The average annual precipitation for Barrow is just 4.75 inches. (The National Weather Summary) (The Weather Channel) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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