WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

1-5 January 2018

Happy Holidays to you and yours from the AMS Earth's Climate Systems Central Staff!

Ed Hopkins

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Many areas of the nation are seeing an increase in occurrence of Christmas week snow -- Researchers at the Rutgers Snow Lab used data collected from NOAA satellite images for over fifty years to find that the average number of days with snow cover across many areas of the nation during the week of Christmas has increased during the most recent 27 years (1990-2016) from the average number during the first 24 years (1966-1989) by as much as 25 percent. However, other areas of the nation received approximately 25 percent less snow in recent decades. [NOAA News]
According to the National Weather Service's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC), nearly half (49%) of the 48 contiguous United States was covered with snow on 25 December 2017, giving many across the nation a White Christmas. [NWS NOHRSC National Snow Analyses]
Perigean spring tide to occur early this week with a "supermoon" -- The moon will reach its full moon phase on Monday evening at 9:24 PM EST, 8:24 PM CST (or officially 0224Z on 2 January 2018). This full moon will occur four hours after perigee, when the moon is closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit. Since the moon will come within 221,070 miles of Earth, it is called a "supermoon," as its closeness would make the moon appear larger than usual. This early January full moon will be the closest and largest appearing full supermoon of 2018. [EarthSky] The closeness of the moon and increased gravitational pull will cause an increase in the height of ocean tides, resulting in what is called a "perigean spring tide" (or King Tide) during the first several days of this week. [NOAA National Ocean Service Facts]
Higher than normal tides will be found during the first several days of this week along the Pacific Coast from California north to Alaska; around Hawaii and the Pacific Islands; and along the Atlantic Coast, from Maine southward to the eastern coast of Florida. The Gulf Coast will not be affected by these higher than average tides. [NOAA High Tide Bulletin for Winter 2017]
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, 3 January 2018 at 0535Z (12:35 AM EST, 11:35 PM CST on the 2nd, etc.).
Nine of "The Best Moments of 2017" as seen by the NOAA Satellite and Information Service -- Nine events during 2017 were selected by a team at the NOAA Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS) that are considered to be some of the agency's proudest moments. These moments included the launches of NOAA's newest geosynchronous and polar orbiting satellites; the monitoring of severe weather and the tracking of wildfires by the NOAA fleet of satellites; the protecting of coral reefs; the monitoring of climate change; the mapping of lightning by a satellite-based sensor; and the viewing of "the Great American total solar eclipse". [NOAA NESDIS News]
Top 17 images of Earth obtained from the Space Station in 2017 are selected -- A video slide show contains 17 digital photographs of Earth made by astronauts onboard the International Space Station during 2017 that have been selected by a team of scientists at the NASA Johnson Space Center. These images show a variety of interesting features of the planet's atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. [Space.com]
High-quality maps of January 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 January 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.
January 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 January, 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.
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2018 Campaign commences -- The first in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2018 will commence this Saturday (6 January) and continue through Monday, 15 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 (in the Northern Hemisphere Orion for latitudes less than 30 degrees and Tarus for latitudes greater than 40 degrees; in the Southern Hemisphere Orion for latitudes less than 30 degrees and Canis Major for latitudes greater than 40 degrees) 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 second series in the 2018 campaign is scheduled for 5-15 February 2018.
[GLOBE at Night]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Updated quarterly regional climate impacts and outlooks released -- During the last week NOAA's Regional; Climate Services Directors and their partner organizations released a set of regional quarterly climate impact and outlook reports for eight of the ten regions across the United States for December 2017. These reports include descriptions of major climate events that occurred during the previous three months (September-November 2017) along with climate outlooks for the first quarter (January-March) of 2018. [NOAA NCEI News]
(Editor's note: The reports and outlooks for the Great Lakes and the Southern Regions are forthcoming. EJH)
World Meteorological Organization expects 2017 to be among three hottest years on record -- As of late December, scientists with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) claimed that the calendar year of 2017 appears to be on track to be among the three warmest years on record since reliable temperatures were obtained worldwide in 1880. As of the end of November 2017, the average global temperature for 2017 was running behind the temperatures for the first eleven months of 2016 and 2015. The lack of an El Niño event during 2017 appears to have kept global temperatures for this year below those of the previous two years. 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]
Pine Island iceberg seen under the "midnight sun" -- A natural-color image of the region around Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier was made from data collected on 15 December 2017 by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard NASA's Landsat-8 satellite. This image was taken six days before the Southern Hemisphere's summer solstice, at a time when the polar cap region is bathed in 24-hour sunlight. A new iceberg, identified as B-44, had calved from the Pine Island Glacier last September and is visible in this image after becoming fragmented. An animation produced from five images obtained from the Landsat-8 over the last four months is also available and shows B-44 breaking into fragments. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CLIMATE MONITORING

Scientists commence a 470-mile trek around the South Pole to gain ground truth for satellites -- At the time of the Southern Hemisphere's summer solstice (21 December 2017), a team of scientists and support personnel began a 470-mile expedition in an arc around the South Pole that is designed to collect precise GPS data of the elevation along a segment of the parallel of latitude at 88 degrees south. These elevation data will be used to assess the accuracy of ice cap height change data to be collected by the Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) that is scheduled to be launched in 2018. [NASA Global Climate Change News]
An interesting blog was posted by the two scientists several days before they left the South Pole Station on their expedition. [NASA Earth Observatory]

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 2018, which represent the remainder of meteorological winter (January and February) and the first month of meteorological spring (March). Their temperature outlook indicates that most of Canada could experience near-normal (1981-2010) temperatures for these three months. However, a few areas could have below-average temperatures, primarily across Baffin Island, northern Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada. Above-average temperatures could be anticipated for the next three months across northwestern Canada, extending from coastal sections of the Yukon and Northwest Territories into the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
The Canadian precipitation outlook for January through March 2018 indicates that a large section of the nation, running from southern British Columbia eastward across the Prairie Provinces and Ontario to the Maritime Provinces could experience near- average precipitation for these three months. However, areas where above-average precipitation could occur are widely scattered across Canada, primarily centered over sections of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada, central Quebec and southern Ontario in central Canada and Alberta in the Prairie Provinces. Conversely, below-average precipitation was projected for a large section of northeastern Canada, stretching from Baffin Island northward to Ellesmere Island and across western British Columbia and the southern Yukon Territory.
[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.]
Importance of current research into seasonal forecasts has roots in a bitter winter during the American Revolution -- Using the dire plight of George Washington's Continental Army during the record cold winter of 1779-1780 as an example, the media relations manager for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) wrote an article showing the importance of research into seasonal and subseasonal weather/climate prediction. [NCAR/UCAR AtmosNews]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

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

Historical Events:

1 January 1886...Norway's coldest night on record occurred as the temperature at Karasjok dropped to 60.5 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (The Weather Doctor).
1 January 1965...A seven-day long snowstorm finally came to an end at Wolf Creek Pass, CO, setting the state's single-storm snowfall record of 143 inches. (National Weather Service files)
1 January 1979...The temperature at Maybell, CO plunged to 60 degrees below zero to tie the state record set back in 1951 at Taylor Park. (The Weather Channel)
1 January 1999...Sydney, Australia recorded a high temperature of 111.6 degrees, the second hottest day on record here. Their highest maximum temperature on record is 113.5 degrees recorded in 1939. Records date back to 1859. Meanwhile, Sydney Airport recorded its hottest day on record reaching 113.4 degrees. (National Weather Service files)
2 January 1885...The lowest temperature ever recorded at Duluth, MN occurred on this date. The temperature plunged to 41 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
2 January 1893...Little Rock, AR had its greatest 24-hour snowfall, with 13 inches that covered the ground. (Intellicast)
2 January 1920...South America's highest temperature on record, 120 degrees, was measured at Villa de Maria, Argentina. (National Weather Service files)
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 1960...Oodnadatta, Australia recorded the Southern Hemisphere's highest temperature on record with a reading of 123 degrees. (National Weather Service files)
2 January 1961...The lowest temperature of record for the state of Hawaii was established with a reading of 14 degrees atop Haleakala Summit. (David Ludlum) (This state record has been eclipsed in May 1979.)
3 January 1913...The barometer at Canton, NY read 28.20 inches of mercury (955.0 millibars), which is the lowest ever recorded at an inland station in the 48 contiguous United States. (Intellicast)
3 January 1961...A three-day long ice storm was in progress over northern Idaho that produced an accumulation of ice eight inches thick, an U.S. record. Heavy fog, which blanketed much of northern Idaho from Grangeville to the Canadian border, deposited the ice on power and telephone lines causing widespread power outages. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
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 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. (National Weather Service files)

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