WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

4-8 January 2016

DataStreme Earth's Climate Systems will return for Spring 2016 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 18 January 2016. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Climate News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2016 Campaign continues -- The first in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2016 will continue with a 10-night campaign running through 10 January. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Orion in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next series in the 2016 campaign is scheduled for 1-10 February 2016. [GLOBE at Night]
Top 15 images of Earth obtained from the Space Station in 2015 are selected -- A gallery of 15 digital photographs of Earth made by astronauts onboard the International Space Station during 2015 has been selected by NASA Johnson Space Center's Earth Observations team and posted. These images show a variety of interesting features of the planet's atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. [NASA Features]
Finding the "ABCs" images of Earth from orbit -- The "NASA Earth Observatory" writer and social media manager has produced a gallery of 26 images obtained from NASA spacecraft during the that contain features in the Earth's atmosphere, oceans and on the land surface resembling each of the letters in the Latin alphabet. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Tracking orbiting environmental satellites -- NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) posted a website that provides information that helps locate those orbiting satellites used to monitor the weather and other aspects of the Earth's environment. [NOAA NESDIS News]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Monitoring freeze-thaw patterns across polar and subpolar latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere from space -- Scientists at the University of Montana and other research institutions have been analyzing more than 30 years of data obtained from orbiting satellites to determine the seasonal freeze-thaw patterns across land areas of the Northern Hemisphere. A map is shown of the frozen and thawed land areas poleward of the 45 degree North latitude parallel for early March 2015 generated from the data collected by the radar instrument on NASA's new Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. Earlier, the researchers showed that soils in the Northern Hemisphere thawed for as many as 7.5 days more in 2008 than they did in 1979. The change was primarily driven by an earlier start to the spring thaw and coincided with measurable warming in the region. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Satellites detect a still-growing El Niño event aimed on US -- Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently reported that the latest image of sea surface heights across the Pacific Ocean basin obtained from the U.S./European Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 mission spacecraft bears a striking resemblance to one from December 1997 obtained by the NASA/Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) Topex/Poseidon mission, Jason-2's predecessor, during the last large El Niño event. Both images reflect the classic pattern of a fully developed El Niño. The researchers foresee that the United States would continue to experience the impacts of this current El Niño event of the next several months. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

California drought threatens tens of millions of trees -- Using laser-guided imaging spectroscopy tools mounted on the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) aircraft, researchers from CAO and from California's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) have determined that as many as 58 million large trees in California have experienced severe canopy water loss between 2011 and 2015 due to the state's historic drought, while up to 888 million large trees had measurable canopy water loss. Some of these trees are in forests that are home to the planet's oldest, tallest and most-massive trees. In addition to the persistently low precipitation totals, high temperatures and outbreaks of the destructive bark beetle have increased forest mortality risk. [Carnegie Science News]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Exploring ice and sea level change through time with a new app -- The education coordinator at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and her colleagues have designed and made available a new free mobile application (or app) for the iPad called "Polar Explorer: Sea Level" that allows the user to learn about sea level and the various processes that control the location of the shoreline. (A version of the app for iphones will be available shortly.) A series of maps of the planet are available on this app, ranging from the deepest ocean trenches to the ice at the poles. Users, ranging from students to interested adults, can see how ice, the oceans, precipitation and temperatures have changed over time and listen as scientists explain the reasons for these variations. A browser version of the Polar Explorer App is available from a companion web page for use in class rooms and seminars:[Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory News]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Canadian national seasonal outlook issued -- Forecasters with Environment Canada issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across Canada for the first three months of 2016, which represent the remainder of meteorological winter (January and February) and the first month of meteorological spring (March). Their temperature outlook indicates that essentially all of Canada could experience above average or normal (1981-2010) temperatures for these three months. Only a few scattered areas along the eastern Great Lakes in Ontario and in coastal sections of eastern Canada could have close to average temperatures for the next three months.
The Canadian precipitation outlook for January through March 2016 indicates that a large section of the nation, running from central British Columbia across the Prairie Provinces and Ontario to Quebec could experience below average precipitation for these three months. Sections of the Yukon and Northwest Territories could also have below average precipitation. Conversely, above normal precipitation was projected for a large section of the Canadian Arctic including the Nunavut Territory and along the Atlantic coast in Labrador and the Maritime Provinces.
[Note for comparisons and continuity with the three-month seasonal outlooks of temperature and precipitation generated for the continental United States and Alaska by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, one would need to use Environment Canada's probabilistic forecasts for temperature and precipitation.]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Climate-induced disasters and food security linked across time and location -- Archaeologists, historians and geographers from the United States, the United Kingdom and Denmark have found that prehistoric and historic peoples in the American Southwest and on North Atlantic islands who had created vulnerabilities to food shortfall were especially susceptible to challenges caused from climate. The researchers compared four pre-Columbian regions in arid to semi-arid deserts with three sub-polar North Atlantic islands during Norse occupation, applying eight variables -- ranging from social to environmental aspects -- to quantify vulnerability to food shortage before extreme climate challenges. The researchers discovered that social factors, such as limitations on networks and mobility, were the primary contributors to vulnerability to food shortage. [Arizona State University News]

COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY

US postage stamps to honor NASA planetary discoveries -- The US Postal Service has recently announced a series of postage stamps that are to be released during this upcoming year of 2016 highlighting NASA's Planetary Science program. The stamps include an image of Pluto and the New Horizons spacecraft, eight new colorful Forever stamps of NASA images of solar system planets, a Global Forever stamp dedicated to Earth's moon as well as another postal treat for space fans: a tribute to 50 years of Star Trek. [NASA Feature]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

4 January 1888...Sacramento, CA received 3.5 inches of snow, an all-time record for that location. The heaviest snow in recent history was two inches on 5 February 1976. (4th-5th) (The Weather Channel)
5 January 1904...Bitterly cold air gripped the northeastern U.S. Morning lows of 42 degrees below zero at Smethport, PA and 34 degrees below zero at River Vale, NJ established state records for both the Keystone and Garden States. (The Weather Channel)
5 January 1913...The temperature at the east portal to Strawberry Tunnel reached 50 degrees below zero to tie the Utah state record low established at Woodruff on 6 February 1899. (David Ludlum) This record was later smashed in February 1985 when the temperature at Peter's Sink fell to 69 degrees below zero. (NCDC)
5 January 1974...The temperature at Vanda Station on the Scott Coast, Antarctica reached 59 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica. (The Weather Doctor)
5 January 1999...The temperature fell to 36 degrees below zero at Congerville in central Illinois to set a new record low temperature for the state. (NCDC)
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 storm 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 1913...Tucson, AZ set its all-time record low temperature with a frigid six degrees above zero. (NWS)
7 January 1971...The temperature at Hawley Lake, located southeast of McNary, AZ, plunged to 40 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature for the Grand Canyon State. (The Weather Channel)
7 January 1989...Fargo, ND was in the middle of a 3-day snowstorm over which time 24.4 inches of snow fell on the city -- the greatest single storm total ever for the location. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
7 January 1992...A rare January thunderstorm rumbled over Sioux Falls, SD. This was the first January thunderstorm recorded in the city since 1939. Meanwhile, thunderstorms produced six tornadoes (one F2 and five F1) near Grand Island, NE -- the first tornadoes ever recorded in Nebraska during January. (Intellicast)
7 January 1996...The "blizzard of '96" clobbered a huge area from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast with record snows. A new snowfall record for New Jersey was set when 35 inches were measured at White House. (Intellicast)
7-8 January 1966...Torrential rain fell at Foc Foc on the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, with 45 inches falling in 12 hours and 72 inches falling in 24 hours, both world precipitation records.
8 January 1859...This is the only day New York City's temperature stayed below zero the entire day. (Intellicast)
8 January 1923...The all-time January record high temperature reading was reached at Los Angeles when the mercury climbed to 90 degrees. (Intellicast)
8 January 1937...The record low temperature for the state of Nevada was set at San Jacinto when the temperature dropped to 50 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
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)
9 January 1875...The temperature at Cheyenne, WY dipped to an all-time record low reading of 38 degrees below zero. (The Weather Channel)
9 January 1899...The temperature at Norway House, Manitoba: 1899 plummeted to 63 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), marking the coldest day ever recorded in Manitoba. (The Weather Doctor)
9 January 1954...The temperature reading taken during the British North Greenland Expedition at near Northice, Greenland was 87 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Greenland and in the Western Hemisphere. (The Weather Doctor)
9 January 1992...An unbelievable 14 consecutive days of cloudy skies finally ended at Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Every single weather observation during this time period showed overcast conditions -- 350 consecutive hours of cloudy skies! There was not even a "mostly cloudy" -- all observations were completely cloudy. During this cloudy period, it was very mild. The average temperature from 26 December to 8 January was 19 degrees above normal. (Intellicast)
10 January 1800...Savannah, GA received a foot and a half of snow, and ten inches blanketed Charleston, SC. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S. (David Ludlum)
10 January 1949...Snow was reported at San Diego, CA for the first and only time since 1882. Snow was noted even on some of the beaches in parts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
10 January 1958...The world record for a 48-hour rainfall amount was set at Aurere, La Reunion, with 97.10 inches. (National Weather Service files)

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