WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

29 May - 2 June 2017

DataStreme Earth Climate System will return for Fall 2017 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 21 August 2017. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Participate in Field Photo Weekends -- The public is invited to join thousands of other citizen scientists from across the nation in the Field Photo Weekend during the Memorial Day Weekend (27, 28, 29 May 2017) by taking six digital photographs at a place that you choose and submit these photos via a smart phone app or on-line with your computer. These photos, to be taken in the four cardinal directions (North, East, South and West), upward and downward, will be placed in the Geo-Referenced Field Photo Library, which is a community- and citizen- science data portal for people to share, visualize and archive geo-referenced photos from the fields in the world. Field Photo Weekend is a partnership between CoCoRaHS, the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) and the Earth Observation and Modeling Facility (EOMF)
By taking photos this weekend along with two other Field Photo Weekends later this year (4th of July and Labor Day weekends), one can begin to visualize seasonal changes in the local landscape. A similar Field Photo Weekend was held earlier this year on the Presidents' Day Weekend (18-20 Feb. 2017).

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Sea ice coverage of Chukchi Sea off Alaska is unusually small this spring -- The climate sciences and services manager for the National Weather Service's Alaska region recently wrote a news item that reveals the sea ice covering the Chukchi Sea off the coast of northwestern Alaska is breaking up and melting earlier this May than typically found. He provided a map of sea ice concentration across the waters surrounding Alaska in mid-May 2017 based on satellite and surface observations that shows the amount of open water in sections of the Chukchi Sea to be unprecedented for the satellite era. A mild winter and warm spring appear to be responsible for this large patch of open water. [NOAA Climate.gov News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

An expanded Operation IceBridge in Arctic concludes for the season -- Slightly more than two weeks ago, NASA's annual Operation IceBridge in the Arctic concluded for the 10-week season after conducting a series of 40 flights that expanding the region covered. Operation IceBridge represents an annual airborne survey made by NASA scientists and their colleagues of the Arctic ice cover. This spring, a rapid-response flight was made to inspect a new crack that had developed in the Petermann Glacier, one of the largest and fastest-changing glaciers in Greenland. IceBridge hosted a high school science teacher from Florida. She wrote a blog describing her experiences and participated in 65 live chats from the airplane with 1414 students from K-12 classes in 14 states, along with Mexico and Canada. [NASA Global Climate Change News]
Monitoring the changes in atmospheric sulfur dioxide concentration across North America from space -- Scientists at Environment and Climate Change Canada, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Maryland, Michigan Technological University and other research centers have been monitoring changes in the concentrations of sulfur dioxide, a critical air pollutant, using data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite since 2004. The researchers have published a global catalog of large sulfur dioxide sources. They found that 92 major "hot spots" serving as sources for sulfur dioxide over North America that included nine volcanoes, 71 power plants, four smelters and eight oil refineries. Comparison of maps made from OMI data in 2005 and in 2016 shows a reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions in the Ohio Valley of the eastern United States, while increases in sulfur dioxide emissions in Mexico. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Video shows seasonal changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide -- An 80-second video was prepared showing a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over one year (September 2014 through August 2015) from observational data collected by NASA's second Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) spacecraft, supplemented by numerical simulations produced by NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) modeling system. The animation shows a buildup of carbon dioxide in the Northern Hemisphere that reaches a peak in late spring before land plants become active and use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. By the end of the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere, this gas has been drawn down. [NASA Global Climate Change Resources]
Nation's newest geosynchronous environmental satellite to be positioned over western Atlantic to becomes GOES-East -- NOAA officials recently announced that its new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16 will be positioned as GOES-East along the Equator at 75 degrees west longitude after becoming operational in November, approximately one year after it was launched. The current GOES-East satellite (also known as GOES-13) will be placed into orbital storage in its geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles over the Equator. The GOES-16 satellite's field of view will include all the 48 contiguous United States, along with a large section of Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and significant portions of the Atlantic Basin, especially those areas were tropical cyclones form that could affect the US. [NOAA News]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

Late season frosts influenced by prevalent weather patterns -- Researchers from the University of Utah and the US Geological Survey who have analyzed the factors contributing to the timing of frost in the United States have found that atmospheric circulation patterns tend to remain the dominant influence on frost timing, although the trend of increased global temperatures has played a part as well. [University of Utah News]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

ENSO forecasters from US and Peru discuss recent "coastal El Niño" event -- A meteorologist in the Development Branch of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) recently interviewed a colleague at the Instituto Geofísico del Perú concerning the development of what has called a "coastal El Niño" from February through April 2017. While the temperatures of the near-surface waters in the central equatorial Pacific remained either at or slightly below long-term averages, which would suggest ENSO-neutral conditions, those waters in the eastern Pacific along the west coast of South America had well above-average temperatures, indicative of a strong coastal El Niño. This coastal El Niño brought rain to coastal Peru and Ecuador. The potential for a new El Niño in 2017 was also discussed. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Hurricane outlooks issued -- During the last week, scientists with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released their outlook for the upcoming hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and the central North Pacific basin, which lies between the 140 degree West meridian of longitude and the International Dateline.

Their outlook for the North Atlantic basin indicates a 45 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 35 percent chance of a near-normal season, and only a 20 percent chance of a below-normal season in 2017. The forecasters predict a 70-percent likelihood of 11 to 17 named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms with sustained surface winds of at least 39 mph), including five to nine of these tropical cyclones becoming hurricanes (maximum sustained surface winds of 74 mph or higher). Between two and four of these hurricanes could become major hurricanes (Category 3 hurricanes or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale). The forecasted numbers include Tropical Storm Arlene, a rare pre-season storm that formed over the eastern Atlantic in April. (Based upon long-term statistics, an average Atlantic season consists of 12 named tropical cyclones per year and the six hurricanes that normally form during each year. Three of these hurricanes typically become major hurricanes.) The forecasters based their above-normal forecast in the frequency of named tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin upon this year upon the possibility of weak El Niño conditions this summer, near- or above-average sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and average or weaker-than-average vertical wind shear in the basin. NOAA will update this Atlantic hurricane outlook in early August, just before the peak in the season. [NOAA News]
For comparison, Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University had released a forecast of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season in early April that called for a slightly below-average season. They envisioned eleven named tropical cyclones, which would include four hurricanes. Of these hurricanes, the forecasters foresee two major hurricanes. [The Tropical Meteorology Project]
The CPC outlook for the central North Pacific basin suggests that this basin should experience an 80-percent chance of a near- or above-normal hurricane season in 2017. A 70 percent probability exists that five to eight tropical cyclones could form, as compared with the long-term average of four to five tropical cyclones. The indication of an above average season is based upon a possible transition to weak El Niño conditions during the hurricane season, along with near- or above-average ocean temperatures in the main hurricane formation region, and near- or weaker-than-average vertical wind shear. [NOAA News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

29 May 2000...A new national maximum temperature record for May is set when the high temperature in Death Valley, CA soared to 122 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
30 May 1948...The Columbia River reached its highest stage since 1894. A railroad bed acting as a dam gave way during a flood along the Columbia River destroying the town of Vanport, OR. The nearly 18,700 residents escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs. Damage was estimated at 101 million dollars and 75 lost their lives. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) Twenty carloads of glass were needed in Denver, CO to replace that destroyed by a severe hailstorm. (The Weather Channel)
30 May 1985...The temperature in Oklahoma City, OK reached a sizzling 104 degrees, making it the highest ever for so early in the season. This also marked the very first time the temperature had reached the 100-degree plateau in the month of May at Oklahoma City. (Intellicast)
30 May 1986...Hanford, WA hit a scorching 104 degrees, breaking the all-time record high temperature for May for Eastern Washington. Yakima, WA hit 102 degrees, a record high for the month of May for Yakima. Records also fell at Boise, ID and Reno, NV. (Intellicast)
31 May 1889...The Johnstown, PA disaster occurred, the worst flood tragedy in U.S. history. Heavy rains totaling 4 to 10 inches over the previous 36 hours collapsed the South Fork Dam sending a thirty-foot wall of water rushing down the already flooded Conemaugh Valley. The wall of water, traveling as fast as twenty-two feet per second, swept away all structures, objects, and people, practically wiping out Johnstown. About 2100 persons perished in the flood. (David Ludlum)
31 May 1935...The U.S. record 2-hour rainfall amount was set at D'Hanis, TX, with exactly 15 inches. The U.S. 2.75-hour record rain was also set with 22 inches. (National Weather Service files)
31 May-1 June 1941...Thunderstorms deluged Burlington, KS with 12.59 inches of rain to establish a 24-hour rainfall record for the Jayhawk State. (The Weather Channel)
31 May 1973...Canada's sunniest month ends as Eureka, Northwest Territories recorded 621 hours of bright sunshine. (The Weather Doctor)
31 May 1983...Albany, NY experienced its wettest spring (March-May) in 109 years of records as 19.54 inches of precipitation was recorded. (Intellicast)
31 May 1986...The Weather Service Office in Washington, DC reported its driest spring on record with only 3.47 inches of precipitation from 1 March to 31 May. (Intellicast)
31 May 1988...Hot and humid weather prevailed in the eastern U.S. Thirteen cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Cape Hatteras, NC reported their first ninety-degree day in May in 115 years of records. (The National Weather Summary)
31 May 1991...Norfolk, VA hit 100 degrees, setting a new all-time record high for the month of May. (Intellicast)
31 May 1992...This May was the driest on record for Chicago, IL and Rockford, IL. Only 0.30 inches of rain fell at Chicago and Rockford had a paltry 0.48 inches. The total rainfall at El Paso, TX of this past month was 4.22 inches, making this the wettest May ever for the city. The normal rainfall for May is only 0.24 inches, which means that this month rainfall total was 1758 percent of normal! (Intellicast)
Month of June...According to a 1969 US Army technical report, the average dewpoint temperature at Ras Andahglie and Assab, Eritrea (Ethiopia) average slightly more than 84 degrees F. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
1 June 1907...Sarmiento, Argentina reported a temperature of 29 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in South America. (The Weather Doctor)
1 June 1941...Burlington, KS received 12.59 inches of rain, which set a 24-hour precipitation record for the Jayhawk State. (NCDC)
1-17 June 2001...The deadliest and costliest tropical storm in US history, Tropical Storm Allison, wandered westward across the tropical Atlantic and crossed over into the Pacific before reversing and moving back into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. On 1 June the tropical wave, which eventually evolved into TS Allison, moved into the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific coast of Mexico after moving westward across the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean from the west coast of Africa on 21 May. On the 2^nd, a cyclonic (counterclockwise) circulation developed to the south-southeast of Salma Cruz, Mexico, but the low-level circulation became ill defined as the system moved inland on the 3^rd over southeastern Mexico and western Guatemala. This system intensified again and eventually moved northward to the Texas Gulf Coast and then eastward to the Atlantic before turning into an extratropical storm in mid-June. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
1 June 2005...The UV (ultraviolet) Index in Toronto, Ontario reached 11 or Extreme on the 5-category UV scale, marking the first time the new extreme category has ever been attained in Canada. (The Weather Doctor)
2 June 1917...The temperature at Tribune, KS dipped to 30 degrees to establish a state record for the month of June. (The Weather Channel)
3 June 1905...Seattle, WA received its heaviest ever 24-hour June rainstorm with 1.42 inches falling. (Intellicast)
4 June 1871...The United States' 15-minute rainfall record was set in Galveston, TX at 3.95 inches as the season's first tropical storm came onshore. Galveston would be struck by another tropical storm just five days later. (National Weather Service files)
4-5 June 1908...Helena, MT was deluged with 3.67 inches of rain to establish their all-time 24-hour rainfall record. (The Weather Channel)

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