WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

23-27 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

Peak in the annual temperature curves -- This upcoming week is the fourth full week of July, which for many locations across the nation typically marks the warmest week of the year, as indicated by the daily normal high and low temperatures. Usually, those stations located away from the moderating influences of the oceans reach their highest temperatures during the third to fourth week of July, or a roughly one month after the summer solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere receives the most hours of daylight and the largest amounts of solar radiation. During July, temperatures continue to rise to their highest typical values as radiational heating continues. However, the length of daylight and the amount of sunshine during this month begin decrease and the normal daily temperatures will begin to fall toward their lowest levels in mid to late January.
Weather and Climatology for the Summer Olympics -- The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are scheduled to take place in London, England in the United Kingdom from Monday, 27 July to Sunday, 12 August 2012. The United Kingdom's Meteorological Office, the country's national weather service, has assembled a climatology of weather statistics over a 30-year span (1971-2000) for the various venues around the London metropolitan area. [UK Met Office] In addition, the UK Met Office has produced a page entitled Weather and Sport that describes how weather can have a huge impact on sports.
Five-day weather forecasts are being made available for the venues and nearby locations throughout the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Researchers at Penn State University who have examined previous summer Olympic games claim that the occurrence of rain and whether the weather is cloudy or sunny may have an impact on the tone of how members of the US media will report on the Games from London. [Phys.org]
Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Hawaii's Big Island will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (22-23 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 Hilo and elsewhere on the Big Island. The other time when the Big Island experienced a zenithal sun was in mid May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
Mid-level solar flare recently detected -- Solar scientists from NOAA and NASA reported that a solar flare (classified as M7.7) was emitted from the Sun last Thursday. A coronal mass ejection (CME) was also associated with this flare. An image of this solar flare was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). [NASA GSFC]
Satellite sees ice calving from Greenland glacier -- A sequence of images obtained one week ago from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows massive icebergs breaking off the Petermann Glacier on the northwestern coast of Greenland.[NASA Earth Observatory]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

June drought report -- The National Climate Data Center has posted its June 2012 drought report online. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index, approximately 33 percent of the coterminous United States experienced severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of June, while 4 percent of the area had severely to extremely wet conditions. Furthermore, moderate to extreme drought categories (as defined by the Palmer Drought Index) covered approximately 55 percent of the area of these 48 states at the end of the month. This 55 percent coverage marks the largest areal percentage since December 1956 when 58 percent of the coterminous states was determined to be in moderate to extreme drought.
Review of global climate for June 2012 --Relying upon preliminary data, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center have noted that the combined global land and ocean temperature for June 2012 was 0.63 Celsius degrees (1.1 Fahrenheit degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average, which makes this past June the fourth warmest since reliable global climate records began in 1880. The global land surface temperature was the highest for any June on record, while the global ocean surface temperature was the tenth warmest June in 132 years. Furthermore, the combined global land and ocean temperature for the first six months of the year (January through July 2012) was the eleventh highest on record. The demise of last year's La Niña event during the first half of this year was considered to influence the land and ocean temperatures.
According to the scientists, the loss of Arctic sea ice in June was a record since satellite surveillance began in 1979. Consequently, the Arctic sea ice extent during this past June tied June 2010 for the second smallest of the 34-year record. On the other hand, Antarctic sea ice extent in June was the tenth largest of the satellite era. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Highlighting Landsat at 40 --On Monday morning, officials from the US Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA will hold a news conference in Washington, DC to highlight the accomplishments of Landsat on the 40th anniversary of the successful launch of the first Landsat satellite. The Landsat program is the world's longest-running Earth-observing satellite program and its 40-year archive of Earth observations from the Landsat fleet forms an impartial, comprehensive, and easily accessed register of human and natural changes on the land. [USGS Newsroom] NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has a time-line and photos of the seven Landsat satellites. [NASA GSFC]
Sensors readied for new Landsat continuity mission -- Engineers have recently reinstalled the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instrument onto NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft. A leak in the mechanism used to cool the TIRS instrument fixed. The TIRS instrument, which detects thermal infrared radiation emitted from the planet Earth system will be used in conjunction with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the LDCM spacecraft currently scheduled to be launched in February 2013. [NASA Landsat Mission]
Earth's electric atmosphere to be studied -- A new NASA mission called the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) is scheduled to be launched in August 2012 in order to explore how the electrified gas in interplanetary space called plasma interacts with the electrified doughnut-shaped belts called Van Allen Radiation Belts surrounding planet Earth. [NASA GSFC]
Earth-observing camera sent to Space Station-- A remote-controlled Earth-observing camera system called ISERV (International Space Station SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System) was launched to the International Space Station aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's third H-II Transfer Vehicle last Friday. Once installed, researchers on the ground will remotely command the ISERV system to acquire imagery of specific areas of the globe for disaster analysis and environmental studies. [NASA]
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 AND IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH

More stringent national ozone standard would reduce mortality/morbidity rates -- Researchers associated with the American Thoracic Society claim that lowering the national ozone standard in the US below the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 75ppb would significantly reduce ozone-related premature mortality and morbidity. [LabSpaces]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Investigation how ocean chemistry affects climate change -- Scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of California Santa Cruz claim that the chemistry of the world's oceans have helped affect climate change. They point an event 50 million years ago where seawater chemistry was altered as causing the cooling trend over the last 45 million years. The event at 50 million years ago was the collision between India and Eurasia that resulted in dissolution of an extensive belt of water-soluble gypsum across the region from Oman to Pakistan and western India, with changes in the sulfate content of the ocean ultimately affecting the amount of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere. These changes in the sulfate aerosols would have marked the transition from a warm "greenhouse" to cold glacial climate. [University of Toronto News]

CLIMATE FORCING

Per capita carbon dioxide emissions in China reach levels of major industrialized nations -- An annual report recently released by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has determined that the annual average per capita emissions of carbon dioxide has increased during the last year to approximately 7.2 metric tons per person, placing China with the range of 6 to 10 metric tons per capita emission of major industrialized nations. At the same time, average per capita emissions in the European Union dropped to 7.5 tons. Worldwide, annual global emissions in 2011 increased by 3 percent. In terms of national statistics, total annual contributions by China were 29 percent, by the US were 16 percent and by the European Union were 11 percent. [European Commission Joint Research Centre]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Seasonal outlooks for the nation released -- This past week, forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently released their new three-month Seasonal Outlook running from August through October 2012. The eastern two-thirds of the nation was expected to have a better than equal chance of having above average temperatures through the last month of meteorological summer and the first two months of meteorological autumn. The signal for above average temperature appears strongest over the Midwest. On the other hand, the West Coast, together with the northern Rockies and northern Plains were expected to have equal chances of above or below average temperatures. The Midwest was also expected to experience an above average chance of below average precipitation for the next three months. Sections of the Pacific Northwest could also see drier than average precipitation. Conversely, sections of the Southwest and the central Gulf Coast were expected to stand a good chance of receiving above average rainfall. Elsewhere, no clear-cut signal appears, meaning equal chances of below and above average precipitation. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center] A summary 3-month outlook text discussion for non-technical users is available. An El Niño watch has been continued as the forecasters foresaw the development of El Niño conditions by September 2012 and continue into early 2013, as sea surface temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific were expected to be exceed 0.5 Celsius degrees above average for at least one month within the next six months. Currently, equatorial sea surface temperatures (SST) have been observed to be above average in the eastern Pacific Ocean. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
The NOAA forecasters also released their Seasonal Drought Outlook that is to run through October. They foresee drought persisting or expanding across large area of the nation, extending from the Midwest across the Plains and the central Rockies to sections of the Great Basin. Some sections of the Southeast and the Southwest, primarily across Arizona and New Mexico, could experience some improvement. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

National farm economy hopes look bleak as drought worsens -- Economists are concerned that this summer's drought, which arguably is the nation's worst since 1988, is damaging crops and rural economies, ultimately threatening to drive food price to record levels. [Bloomberg News] Earlier this month, a vegetation anomaly map generated from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows the widespread drought conditions across the Midwest and the Plains states. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Partnerships with coastal tribes formed to explore climate change -- The "First Stewards" symposium was held last week at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC to consider how climate change affects the nation's indigenous coastal cultures. This symposium was hosted by several coastal treaty tribes from Washington state who are collaborating with NOAA and other partners. In addition to native leaders representing American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders, climate scientists, policy makers and representatives from a variety of non-governmental organizations were in attendance. [NOAA News]
Members of Generation X appear unconcerned about climate change -- A report made by researchers at the University of Michigan on a recent survey of the American public who were born between 1961 and 1981 indicates that members of "Generation X" appear to be somewhat disengaged about climate change, as well as being somewhat uninformed about the causes for climate change and unconcerned about the potential dangers associated with this change. The investigators were surprised by these results. They also noted that educational attainment levels and political affiliations influenced responses. [University of Michigan News Service]
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:

23 July 1923...Sheridan, WY was drenched with 4.41 inches of rain, an all-time 24-hour record for that location. (22^nd-23^rd) (The Weather Channel)
23 July 1987...Thunderstorms produced a record ten inches of rain in six and a half-hours at Minneapolis, MN, including 5.26 inches in two hours. Flash flooding claimed two lives and caused 21.3 million dollars damage. Streets in Minneapolis became rushing rivers, parking lots became lakes, and storm sewers spouted like geysers. A tornado hit Maple Grove, MN causing five million dollars damage. Baseball size hail was reported at Olivia, MN. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
24 July 1928...Wahluke, WA hit a high temperature of 118 degrees, which tied a record high for the state. In August 1961, this all time state record high was tied at Ice Harbor Dam. (Intellicast)
24 July 1936...Record high temperature for Kansas was tied at 121 degrees near Alton. The record high for Nebraska was also tied at Minden with 118 degrees.
24 July 1942...The temperature at Las Vegas, NV hit 117 degrees to set an all- time record for that location. (The Weather Channel)
24 July 1952...The temperature at Louisville, GA soared to 112 degrees to establish a state record. This record for the Peach State was tied in August 1983. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
25 July 1979...Tropical Storm Claudette produced phenomenal rainfall totals in southeast Texas. Thirty to forty inches fell in 24 hours around Alvin. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. (Intellicast)
25 July 1987...Sixteen cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Beckley, WV equaled their all-time record high of 91 degrees, established just the previous day. It marked their fourth day in a row of 90-degree heat, after hitting 90 degrees just twice in the previous 25 years of records. The water temperature of Lake Erie at Buffalo, NY reached 79 degrees, the warmest reading in 52 years of records. (The National Weather Summary)
26 July 1943...Tishomingo, OK baked in the heat as the mercury soared to 121 degrees, a Sooner State record high temperature. (The Weather Channel)
26 July 1960...The temperature at Salt Lake City, UT hit 107 degrees, an all-time record high for that location. (The Weather Channel)
27 July 1897...Jewell, MD received 14.75 inches of rain, which was a 24-hour rainfall record for Maryland. (NCDC)
27 July 1939...The temperature at Lewiston, ID hit 117 degrees to establish an all-time record high for that location. (The Weather Channel)
27-28 July 1984...Unprecedented rainfall fell at Alvsbyn in Sweden (approximately 62 miles south of the Arctic Circle), which was remarkable for such a northern location that is at about the same latitude as Fort Yukon, AK. On the 26^th, 5.51 inches fell and on the 27^th, an additional 5.63 inches were recorded. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
27 July 1989...Thunderstorms produced locally heavy rains in the southwestern U.S. Yuma, AZ experienced their most severe thunderstorm of record. Strong thunderstorm winds, with unofficial gusts as high as 95 mph, reduced visibility to near zero in blowing dust and sand. Yuma got nearly as much rain in one hour as is normally received in an entire year. The storm total of 2.55 inches of rain was a record 24-hour total for July. Property damage due to flash flooding and high winds was in the millions. (Storm Data)
28 July 1930...The temperature at Greensburg, KY soared to 114 degrees to set a state record. (The Weather Channel)
28 July 1934...The temperature at Orofino, ID climbed to 118 degrees to establish a record for Idaho. (The Weather Channel)
28 July 1995...Yuma, AZ reached its all-time high temperature reading with 124 degrees. (Intellicast)
29 July 1898...The temperature at Prineville, OR soared to 119 degrees to establish a state record, which was tied on the 10^th of August of that same year at Pendleton. (The Weather Channel)
29 July 1930...Mississippi's record high temperature of 115 degrees was set at Holly Springs. (Intellicast)

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