WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

2-6 January 2017

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2017 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 23 January 2017. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Items of Interest:

In close -- Earth reaches perihelion, the point in its orbit that is closest to the sun (147.1 million kilometers or 91.2 million miles), on Wednesday, 4 January 2017 at 1418Z (9:18 AM EST, 8:18 AM CST, etc.).
Seeing beauty in clouds from space -- A feature appearing on NASA's Earth Observatory site focuses upon a variety of topics involving the viewing of clouds from satellites and upon the understanding of the processes in the formation of these clouds. A dozen satellite images of interesting clouds are provided. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Top 15 images of Earth obtained from the Space Station in 2016 are selected -- A video slide show with the title of "Incredible Earth Pics Snapped from Space Station in 2016" contains 16 digital photographs of Earth made by astronauts onboard the International Space Station during 2016that have been selected by NASA Johnson Space Center's Earth Observations team. These images show a variety of interesting features of the planet's atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. [Space.com]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- Tropical cyclone activity during the last week was limited to the western North Pacific basin. Here, the former Super typhoon Nock-Ten traveled generally westward across the central Philippines last Monday after making initial landfall near Bato in the province of Catanduanes on Christmas evening (local time). Torrential rains fell across some of the Philippine Islands, with over 13 inches of rain reported on the island of Mindoro. As many as four fatalities were reported in the Philippines. By Tuesday, Nock-Ten had exited out over the South China Sea where it eventually dissipated by midweek. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images for Super typhoon Nock-Ten.
NOAA Fisheries' "Top 6 of 2016" stories reviewed -- Scientists and officials with NOAA Fisheries recently posted the most popular top six stories that had appeared on their website during the 2016 calendar year. This assortment of top stories feature protected marine species such as sea turtles and the status of the nation's fisheries and aquaculture industry. In addition, the agency also posted "Our 'Top 6' Instagram Photos of 2016," a slide show of pictures received on their online mobile photo-sharing Instagram account. [NOAA Fisheries]
Opportunities for public engagement in voluntary conservation efforts strengthened -- NOAA Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service recently finalized revisions to the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) policy under the Endangered Species Act. The recent revisions to policy implementing Candidate Conservation program are meant to improve process for working with states, tribes and private landowners. [NOAA Fisheries News]
New controls developed to keep instrumented balloons aloft in hurricanes for a week -- Engineers and scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed new control algorithms and devices designed to permit swarms of instrumented balloons to fly into hurricanes and survive for up to a week in order to collect in-situ weather measurements and transmit these data back to meteorologists for use in forecast updates. The sensor-laden balloons would fly at altitudes of up to 5 miles. [University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering News]
New record highest significant wave height measured by a buoy is confirmed -- Slightly more than two weeks ago, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Climatology's Extremes Evaluation Committee reported that it established a new world record significant wave height of 19 meters (62.3 feet) measured on 4 February 2013 by an automated buoy that is part of the United Kingdom's Met Office Marine Automatic Weather Station network in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom. This new record height occurred as strong winds reaching 43.8 knots (50.4 miles per hour) following passage of a strong cold front across the region. This new record broke the previous record of 18.275 meters (59.96 feet) measured on 8 December 2007 in the North Atlantic. "Significant wave height" means the average of the highest one-third of waves measured by an instrument, where wave height is defined as the distance from the crest of one wave to the trough of the next. [World Meteorological Organization News]
World Meteorological Organization claims 2016 on track to be hottest year on record -- As of late December, scientists with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) claimed that the calendar year of 2016 appears to be on track to be the hottest year on record since reliable temperatures were obtained worldwide in 1880. Average global temperature for 2016 would appear to exceed the record high temperature of 2015, in part the result of a very strong El Niño event that extended through the first half of the year. The scientists base their outlook upon projected global temperatures obtained from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast's Copernicus Climate Change Service. [World Meteorological Organization News]
Describing the December 2016 lake effect snow event downwind of the Great Lakes --A meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center wrote an article for the ClimateWatch Magazine describing why several lake effect snowfall events have produced between two to three feet of snow downwind of several of the Great Lakes this December. The Great Lakes remain warm and have little ice cover. Cold winds from the west and northwest traveling across these lakes have produced these impressive lake-effect snow events downwind of several of the lakes, as shown by a map of the Great Lakes States. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Ten thousand metric tons of plastic are estimated to enter Great Lakes annually -- Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology are tracking the concentrations of plastic entering and passing through the North American Great Lakes. From their computer simulations, they estimate that during each year nearly 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds) of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes from the US and Canada. More than half of the plastic enters Lake Michigan, followed in order by Lakes Erie, Ontario, Huron and Superior. [Rochester Institute of Technology News]
Whale research revolutionized by a new tag -- Scientists at Oregon State University recently reported that they have been attaching a sophisticated new tag called the "Advanced Dive Behavior" or ADB tag to whales in order to obtain a record of whale behavior, travels and biology. This new tag type can record data every second over time spans ranging from hours to weeks. By monitoring the travels and behaviors of the tagged whales, the scientists have obtained new information on ocean conditions and climate change. [Oregon State University News]
Six million additional tons of fish could had if global climate target is met -- Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) argue that if countries abided by the global warming target of 1.5 Celsius degrees proposed in the Paris Agreement then potential fish catches could net an additional six million metric tons per year. They claim that some oceans are more sensitive to temperature changes and would have substantially larger gains if the warming target were achieved. [University of British Columbia News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

2 January 1955...Hurricane Alice passed through the Islands of Saint Martin and Saba, battering the Leeward Islands with sustained winds of 85 mph on this day. Alice was upgraded to a hurricane on 30 December 1954, making Alice the latest and earliest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean, as it spanned two calendar years. (National Weather Service files)
2 January 1993...Cyclone Kina battered Fiji with wind gusts to 130 mph and heavy rain. Up to 21.65 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, resulting in the worst flooding in 60 years. Twenty-three people were killed and damage was estimated to be in excess of 547 million US dollars. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
2 January 1998...Tropical Cyclone Ron (the Southwest Pacific's counterpart of a hurricane) destroyed most of the structures on Swains Island in American Samoa. The island's 49 residents sought safety in a concrete structure, which withstood the cyclone's 90-mph sustained winds. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
3 January 2006...The record 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season extended into the new year, as Tropical Storm Zeta reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph for the second time; the previous occurrence was on 1 January 2006. Never a threat to land as it traveled across the central North Atlantic, Tropical Storm Zeta was the 27th named tropical cyclone (including both tropical storms and hurricanes) of the season. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
4 January 1493...The explorer, Christopher Columbus, began his return to Spain and completed his first journey to the New World. (Wikipedia)
5 January 1841...The British explorer, James Clark Ross, was the first to enter pack ice near Ross Ice Shelf off Antarctica.
5 January 1875...CDR Edward Lull, USN, began an expedition to locate the best ship canal route across Panama. This route was followed 30 years later. (Naval Historical Center)
5 January 1903...The general public could use the San Francisco-Hawaii telegraph cable across the Pacific cable for the very first time.
6 January 1839...A two-day storm off the Irish and English coasts was immortalized as "The Big Wind".
6 January 1898...The first telephone message from a submerged submarine was transmitted by Simon Lake, the father of the modern submarine.
6 January 1928...An intense low pressure system over the North Sea created a storm surge that moved upstream along the Thames River to London in England. Water rose over embankments. The rapid rise of the river resulted in 14 deaths in basements. As many as 40,000 people were left homeless. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
6 January 2006...Tropical Storm Zeta dissipated after having formed on 29 December, marking an end to the 2005 hurricane season. It was the 30th named tropical cyclone of the record-breaking season, and one of only two tropical storms on record to span two calendar years (with Hurricane Alice in 1954-55) (National Weather Service files).
7 January 1904...The international Morse code distress signal "CQD" was established. Two years later, the 1906 International Conference on Wireless Communication at Sea, resolved that the radio distress signal should become "SOS" because it was quicker to send by wireless radio. (Wikipedia)
7 January 1927...Transatlantic telephone service began between New York and London, with 31 calls made on this first day.
7 January 1966...Tropical Cyclone Denise dropped 45 inches of rain on La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in 12 hours, and 71.80 inches of rain in 48 hours through the 8th. (National Weather Service files)
8 January 1958...The Coast Guard LORAN Station at Johnston Island began transmitting on a 24-hour basis, thus establishing a new LORAN rate in the Central Pacific. The new rate between Johnston Island and French Frigate Shoal gave a higher order of accuracy for fixing positions in the steamship lanes from Oahu, Hawaii, to Midway Island. In the past, this was impossible in some areas along this important shipping route. (USCG Historian's Office)
8 January 1966...The greatest 24-hour rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone occurred at La Reunion Island when Tropical Cyclone Denise produced 72.0 inches of rain. The storm also set the world's 12-hour rainfall record with an even 45 inches. (National Weather Service files)
8 January 1971...Twenty-nine pilot whales beached themselves and died at San Clemente Island, CA.
8-11 January 1980...Winds, waves and rain pounded Hawaii, resulting in 27.5 million dollars in storm damage, which was the greatest amount to that date in the Aloha State's history. Four houses were destroyed and 40 others damaged by a possible tornado in Honolulu's Pacific Palisades area on the 8^th. Ocean waves with heights to 20 feet entered beach front hotels along the Kona Coast of the Big Island. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)