WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

30 June- 4 July 2014

DataStreme Earth Climate System will return for Fall 2014 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2014. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

• Change in seasons -- The beginning of July marks the beginning of the new heating season. Traditionally, meteorologists and climatologists define the heating season to run from 1 July to 30 June of the following year. Heating degree day units are accumulated commencing on 1 July. Likewise, the snow season runs from 1 July through 30 June. Seasonal snowfall totals for next season will be summed from Tuesday.
• High-quality maps of July 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 July 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.
• July 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 July, 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.
• The half-way point -- Midpoint of calendar year 2014 will occur at noon local standard time on Wednesday, 2 July 2014.
• "Dog days" of summer begin -- The "Dog Days" traditionally begin on the third day of July of each year and continue through the eleventh day of August. The hot weather period received its name from Sirius, the brightest visible star in the sky and known as the Dog Star. Sirius rises in the east at the same time as the sun this time of the year. (The Weather Channel)
• Weather in Philadelphia for the 4th of July 1776--This Friday is the 4th of July or Independence Day. Sean Potter, a consulting meteorologist who has an interest in history, wrote an article three years ago that describes the weather observations made during July 1776 in Philadelphia by Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence. [Weatherwise Magazine] Have a happy and safe 4th of July! EJH
• Way out there!...The earth reaches aphelion, the point in its annual orbit when it is farthest from the sun this Thursday evening (officially at 00Z on 4 July 2014, which is equivalent to 8 PM EDT or 7 PM CDT on the 3rd). At aphelion, the earth-sun distance is 152,089,000 km, or 3.4% greater than the distance at perihelion, the smallest earth-sun distance, which occurred earlier this year on the morning of 4 January 2014. [US Naval Observatory]
• "Warmest day of the year" approaches -- NOAA's National Climatic Data Center recently created a new "Warmest Day of the Year" map for the contiguous United States based upon the highest daily maximum temperatures of the year as calculated from the 1981-2010 climate normals. Many places across the location will experience their highest daily temperatures within the next two to three weeks. However, some locations in Arizona and New Mexico affected by the Southwest Monsoon reach their maximum temperatures during the last two weeks of June. On the other hand, coastal locations along the Pacific Ocean would have the highest temperatures in September. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center News]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

• Review of global weather and climate for May 2014 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the recently concluded month of May was the warmest May since sufficiently dense global climate records began in 1880. They based their report on preliminary calculations of the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for May 2014, which was 2.03 Fahrenheit degrees (0.74 Celsius degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average May temperature. When considered separately, the average May 2014 land surface temperature was also the fourth highest for any May since 1880, while the record high monthly global ocean surface temperature for May 2014 tying June 1998, October 2003 and July 2009 as the highest departure from average for any month on record. This record high temperature was reached as waters across the east and central equatorial Pacific Ocean warmed signalling a transition from the ENSO-neutral conditions that had prevailed for the last several months toward an anticipated El Niño event.
  In addition, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for the last three months (March through May), which is considered meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere (fall in the Southern Hemisphere), was the second highest since 1880. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
  The average Arctic sea ice extent for May 2014 was the third smallest extent for May since satellite records began in 1979, while the corresponding sea ice extent around Antarctica was the largest on record for May according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
  According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the snow cover extent across the Northern Hemisphere during May 2014 was the sixth smallest for any May since Northern Hemisphere snow records began in 1967. [NOAA/NCDC Global Snow & Ice]
  A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for May 2014 is available from NCDC.

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

• South Asian heat wave precedes summer monsoon season -- Two maps showing the land surface temperature anomalies (or differences between actual and long term average temperatures) for the first two weeks of June show relatively high temperatures during the first week and slightly lower temperatures during the second week. These maps were generated from data provided from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. During the first week, an extreme heat wave was continuing across India prior to the onset of the weak arrival of the southwest summer monsoon season with clouds and rain on near surface winds from the southwest. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• New satellite imagery animations show of water vapor transport over Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans -- Scientists with the NASA/NOAA GOES Program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have created two new animations of water vapor channel images obtained from sensors onboard GOES-East (or GOES-13) and GOES-West (or GOES-15) satellites that show the flow of water vapor across the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Basins, respectively. The five-day animations were produced from full-disk satellite images made once every three hours. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
• 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 FORECASTS

• Second-quarter 2014 Regional Climate Impacts and Outlooks reports released -- During the last week, NOAA and its partners released a series of eight regional climate outlooks for the second quarter of 2014 that are designed to inform the public of recent climate impacts within their respective regions. These regional future climate outlooks span the upcoming three months of July through September 2014. In addition, major climate events that occurred during the three months from March through May 2014 are discussed and historical seasonal assessments described. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center News]

CLIMATE FORCING

• Saharan Air Layer seen from space -- A natural color image obtained from data collected at the start of last week by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite shows a veil of dust being carried from the Sahara Desert of northern Africa out over the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. This dust is part of an area of dry and dusty air known as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), which can provide a hostile environment for the formation of tropical cyclones and their intensification. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
• Assessing global air pollution from space -- A feature article produced by scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center highlights the improvement in remote sensing of air pollution around the globe by satellites during the last several decades, along with the long-term trends in pollutant levels. [NASA Earth Observatory]
  One area of improvement has been a reduction in the nitrogen dioxide across the United States as documented by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura satellite. [NASA's Earth Science News Team] or [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Pacing and intensity of ice ages may have been changed by ancient ocean currents -- Scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory report that changes in the speed and location of deep ocean currents during the last million years appears to have contributed to changes in the pace and the intensity of the Ice Ages. These researchers analyzed fossil plankton shells to reconstruct ancient ocean circulation patterns. The changes in the deep sea currents changed the transport of heat around the globe, influenced the extent of ice cover in the polar regions and affected the carbon dioxide storage in the ocean. They found that over the last 1.2 million years, the conveyor-like currents strengthened during warm periods and weakened during ice ages. In addition, ocean circulation weakened significantly about 950,000 years ago and remained weak for 100,000 years. [Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

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

• 30 June 1912...The deadliest tornado in Canadian history struck Regina, Saskatchewan, as 28 people were killed. (The Weather Doctor)
• 30 June 1983...Tasmania's coldest night on record was observed as the temperature at Shannon dropped to 8.6 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
• 30 June 1989...The remains of tropical storm Allison dropped copious amounts of rain on Louisiana. Winnfield, LA reported 22.52 inches of rain in three days, and more than thirty inches for the month, a record for June. Shreveport received a record 17.11 inches in June, with a total for the first six months of the year of 45.55 inches. Thunderstorms also helped produce record rainfall totals for the month of June of 13.12 inches at Birmingham, AL, 14.66 inches at Oklahoma City, OK, 17.41 inches at Tallahassee, FL, 9.97 inches at Lynchburg, VA, and more than 10.25 inches at Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh had also experienced a record wet month of May. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)
• Month of July 1861...The greatest one-month of precipitation ever measured globally (366 inches) was recorded at Cherrapunji, India. Total rainfall for the period 1 August 1860 to 31 July 1861 was the greatest rainfall in one year ever recorded (1041.78 inches). (The Weather Doctor)
• Month of July 1931...The July- August 1931 flood in the Yangtze basin of China affected over 51 million people or one-quarter of China's population. As many as 3.7 million people perished from this great 20^th century disaster due to disease, starvation or drowning. (The Weather Doctor)
• 1 July 1911...The high temperature of just 79 degrees at Phoenix, AZ was their lowest daily maximum of record for the month of July. The normal daily high for 1 July is 105 degrees. (The Weather Channel)
• 1 July 1915...Pawtucket, RI received a deluge with 5.1 inches of rain in 24 hours. (Intellicast)
• 1 July 1979...It snowed almost half a foot (5.8 inches) at Stampede Pass, WA, a July record. (The Weather Channel)
• 1 July 1988...Twenty-six cities in the north central and northeastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date --an unusual cool spell in what turned out to be one of the hottest summers on record. Lows of 48 degrees at Providence, RI, 48 degrees at Roanoke, VA, 49 degrees at Stratford, CT, and 48 degrees at Wilmington, DE, were records for the month of July. Boston, MA equaled their record for July with a low of 50 degrees. Barre Falls, MA dropped to 34 degrees. Five inches of snow whitened Mount Washington, NH. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)
• 1 July 1987...Lake Charles, LA was drenched with a month's worth of rain during the early morning. More than five inches of rain soaked the city, including 2.68 inches in one hour. (The National Weather Summary)
• 2 July 1908...The temperature at Dumfries, Scotland reached 91 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Scotland. (The Weather Doctor)
• 2 July 1942...The temperature at Portland, OR hit 107 degrees, an all-time record for the city. This record was subsequently reached on three other occasions. (ThreadEx) (Intellicast)
• 2 July 1989...Midland, TX reported an all-time record high of 112 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
• 2 July 1998...Italy's highest recorded temperature was 108.5 degrees, set at Catania, Italy: (The Weather Doctor)
• 2-6 July 1994...Heavy rains from the remains of Tropical Storm Alberto produced major flooding across northern and central Georgia. Three-day rains exceeded 15 inches at Atlanta. An impressive 21.10 inches of rain fell at Americus, GA on the 6^th to establish a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Peach State. Numerous road closures and bridge washouts. Thirty people were killed and 50,000 were forced from their homes, as 800,000 acres were flooded. Total damage exceeded $750 million... (NCDC) (Intellicast)
• 3 July 1975...Shangdi, Nei Monggol, China received 401 mm (15.78 inches) of rain, the greatest 1-hour rainfall ever recorded on Earth: (The Weather Doctor)
• 3 July 1966...The northeastern U.S. was in the midst of a sweltering heat wave. The temperature at Philadelphia reached 104 degrees for a second day. Afternoon highs of 102 degrees at Hartford, CT, 105 degrees at Allentown, PA, and 107 degrees at La Guardia Airport in New York City established all-time records for those two locations. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 3 July 1995...The lowest temperature ever recorded in New Zealand was 6.9 degrees below zero at Ophir, New Zealand. (The Weather Doctor)
• 4 July 1911...The northeastern U.S. experienced sweltering 100-degree heat. The temperature soared to 105 degrees at Vernon, VT and North Bridgton, ME, and to 106 degrees at Nashua, NH, to establish all-time records for those three states. Afternoon highs of 104 degrees at Boston, MA, 104 at Albany, NY, and 103 at Portland, ME, were all-time records for those three cities. (The Weather Channel)
• 4 July 1956...A world record for the most rain in one minute was set at Unionville, MD with a downpour of 1.23 inches. (The Weather Channel) (The National Severe Storms Forecast Center)
• 4 July 1989...Independence Day was "hot as a firecracker" across parts of the country. Nineteen cities, mostly in the north central U.S., reported record high temperatures for the date, including Williston, ND with a reading of 107 degrees. In the southwestern U.S., highs of 93 at Alamosa, CO, 114 at Tucson, AZ, and 118 at Phoenix, AZ, equaled all-time records for those locations. (The National Weather Summary)
• 4 July 2007...The temperature at St. George, UT hit an unofficial temperature reading of 118 degrees, which would have topped the state's all-time record of 117 degrees, set in St. George in 1985. (The Weather Doctor)
• 5 July 1925...An immense hailstone weighing 227 grams (0.5 lb) fell at Plumstead in London, England, the heaviest hailstone ever recorded in the United Kingdom. (The Weather Doctor)
• 5 July 1936...The all-time state record high of 120 degrees was set at Gann Valley, SD. (Intellicast)
• 5 July 1937...The temperature at Medicine Lake, MT soared to 117 degrees to establish a state record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
  Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan hit 113 degrees to establish an all-time record high for Canada that same day. (The Weather Channel)
• 5 July 1985...The temperature at St. George, UT reached 117 degrees, setting a record high temperature for the Beehive State. (NCDC)
• 5 July 1986...The low temperature at Boise, ID dropped to a crisp 35 degrees, the coldest ever for the month. (Intellicast)
• 5 July 1988...Afternoon and evening thunderstorms spawned eleven tornadoes in Montana and three in North Dakota. Baseball size hail was reported at Shonkin, MT, and wind gusts to 85 mph were reported south of Fordville, ND. Twenty cities in the north central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date, including Fargo, ND with a reading of 106 degrees. Muskegon, MI equaled their July record with a high of 95 degrees. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 5 July 1989...Moisture from what once was Tropical Storm Allison triggered thunderstorms over the Middle Atlantic Coast Region, which deluged Wilmington, DE with a record 6.83 inches of rain in 24 hours, including 6.37 inches in just six hours. Up to ten inches of rain was reported at Claymont, northeast of Wilmington. July 1989 was thus the wettest month in seventy years for Wilmington, with a total of 12.63 inches of rain. Alamosa, CO reported an all-time record high of 94 degrees, and Pierre, SD hit 113 degrees. Denver, CO reached 101 degrees, topping 100 for the second straight day, only happened once before in 1972 (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
• 5 July 1993...Heavy rains deluged the Central Plains as one of the greatest floods in U.S. history began to unfold. Twenty-four hour totals included 5.90 inches at Columbia, IA, 5.15 inches at Centralia, KS and 4.80 inches at Haddam, KS. (Intellicast)
• 6 July 1928...A hailstorm at Potter, NE produced a stone that was 5.5 inches in diameter, and seventeen inches in circumference, weighing a pound and a half. At the time, it was the world's largest hailstone. (David Ludlum) (Wikipedia)
• 6 July 1921...The mercury hit 104 degrees at Ville Marie, Quebec, marking Quebec's highest temperature on record. (The Weather Doctor)
• 6 July 1936...Steele, ND reached 121 degrees, the state record. Moorhead, MN reached 114 degrees to set a record high temperature for the Gopher State. (Intellicast) (NCDC).
• 6 July 1988...Thirty-six cities in the north central and northeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Afternoon highs of 98 degrees at International Falls, MN and 101 degrees at Flint, MI equaled all-time records. Highs of 96 degrees at Muskegon, MI and 97 degrees at Buffalo, NY were records for July. (The National Weather Summary)
• 6 July 1994...An impressive 21.10 inches of rain fell at Americus, GA to establish a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Peach State. (NCDC)

Return to DataStreme ECS website

Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2014, The American Meteorological Society.