WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

3-7 September 2018

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2018 Campaign for September is underway -- The ninth in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2018 will continue through Monday, 10 September. 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 with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. These constellations are Cygnus in the Northern Hemisphere and Sagittarius for the Southern Hemisphere. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The ninth series in the 2018 campaign is scheduled for 1-10 October 2018. [GLOBE at Night]
September is National Preparedness Month -- The upcoming month of September has been declared National Preparedness Month (NPM), which is aims to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all types of emergencies, including natural disasters. NPM is managed and sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Administration's (FEMA) Ready Campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council, A toolkit of marketing materials is provided to help promote the month and represents the lead on this campaign that was originally launched in 2004. The overarching theme for 2018 NPM is "Disasters Happen. Prepare Now. Learn How" with an emphasis on planning. Week 1 of the 2018 NPM ends this Saturday (8 September) with the theme of "Make and Practice Your Plan."
Week 2 of the 2018 NPM (9-15 September) has the theme "Learn Life Saving Skills."
[FEMA's Ready.gov]
Teachers: Get real-time atmospheric and ocean sciences data for your classroom -- NOAA's Data in the Classroom Program is providing K-12 educators with great real-time data for students to better understand atmospheric and ocean sciences. The real-time ocean data can be used to explore current environmental issues, as well as to help students develop problem-solving skills employed by scientists. Accompanying curricula materials are available on El Nino, Coral Bleaching and Sea Level variations, while additional materials will be coming soon on Ocean Acidification and Water Quality. [NOAA Satellite and Information Service]
Looking back one year to Hurricane Irma -- During the first two weeks of September 2017, a major hurricane traveled westward across the tropical waters of the North Atlantic and the Caribbean before curving toward the north to hit the Florida Peninsula. Starting as a tropical storm near the Cabo Verde Islands on 30 August 2017, this hurricane was identified as Irma and strengthened to become a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale on 4 September. At that time maximum sustained surface winds surrounding the center reached 185 mph, just before striking the Leeward Islands. Being the strongest hurricane in terms of maximum sustained winds since Wilma traveled across the Caribbean Sea in 2005, Irma has the distinction of being the strongest hurricane ever observed in the open waters of the Atlantic basin outside the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. After passing close to Cuba, Irma weakened slightly as it curved north and crossed the Florida Keys as a category 4 hurricane on 10 September. Later that day, Irma made a final landfall at Marco Island on the southwest coast of the Florida Peninsula as a category 3 hurricane. Traveling to the north, Irma weakened to a tropical storm over Florida, then to a tropical depression over Georgia and to a remnant low over Alabama before dissipating over Missouri on the 13th. Widespread damage was left in the wake of Irma, across some of the Caribbean islands (Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla, and Cuba) and the Florida Keys. Irma has been tabulated to be the fifth-costliest Atlantic hurricane ($64.8 billion in damage). As many as 47 direct deaths were attributed to Irma across the Caribbean islands and the U.S. [National Weather Service Tallahassee (FL) Forecast Office] NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) prepared a feature on the improvements made to 5-day track forecasts of Irma due to improvements in weather prediction models and to data made available from NOAA satellites. [ NOAA NESDIS News]

CLIMATE MONITORING

Hurricane Lane sets new rainfall record in Hawaii -- Hurricane Lane, a former category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, brought widespread rainfall across several of the Hawaiian Islands two weeks ago. The torrential rain accompanying Hurricane Lane and the topography of the Hawaii's Big Island caused Lane to become the wettest tropical cyclone of record for the Hawaiian Islands. A weather station at Mountain View on the east-facing or windward side of Hawaii's Big Island received a preliminary total of 51.53 inches of rain between noon on 22 August and 4 AM on the 26th, which represents the third highest storm total rainfall from a tropical cyclone in the united states since 1950. The highest total is 60.58 inches, measured at Nederland, TX during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Some recent unsubstantiated reports indicate that Mountain View received 52.02 inches of rain, which would break the record highest tropical cyclone storm total rainfall in Hawaii of 52.00 inches that was measured at Kanalohuluhulu Ranger station, during Hurricane Hiki in 1950. [National Weather Service NWSChat]
Mapping the heat islands in Richmond, VA -- Citizen-scientists in Virginia's capital city of Richmond have been traveling around the streets of this city on specially equipped bikes and cars to find what regions are the hottest-and where residents might be most vulnerable to extreme urban heat. They have been enlisted by scientists with the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond and urban studies professor at Portland State University to collect temperature data around the city. These data have been used to map the city's heat island, featuring certain areas of elevated temperatures surrounded by cooler suburban areas. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
All Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) regional networks are now NOAA-certified -- NOAA officials recently announced that the last of last of eleven Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) regional associations has been certified as "Regional Information Coordination Entities", meaning that data coming from all IOOS partners now adhere to common federal collection, storage and management standards. These IOOS coastal and marine data, such as water temperature, water level, currents, winds and waves, are collected by many different tools including satellites, buoys, tide gauges, radar stations, animal tags and underwater vehicles. IOOS now represents a coordinated network of eleven regional associations cover most of the U.S. coastal zone in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Great Lakes. [NOAA News]
Sea level rise over last 25 years assessed in new study -- The World Climate Research Programme, which is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Science Council (ISC) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, recently published an extensive study assessing the various datasets used to estimate components of sea-level rise since the start of the altimetry era in 1993. Altimetry datasets on the world's ocean levels have been collected by satellites, and traditional in-situ measurements. According to the study, The altimetry-based global mean sea level rise averages approximately 3.1 millimeters (mm) per year, with an acceleration of 0.1 mm per year over the recent 25-year period. [WMO News]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Canadian national seasonal outlook issued -- Forecasters with Environment Canada issued their outlooks for temperature and precipitation across Canada for September, October and November 2018, which represents meteorological autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. The temperature outlook indicates that the southern half of Canada, including sections of Arctic Canada extending northward across the Canadian Archipelago to Ellesmere Island should experience above normal (1981-2010) temperatures. Only a few areas across northwestern and northeastern Canada could have normal to below normal fall temperatures.
The Canadian precipitation outlook for autumn 2018 indicates below average precipitation could occur across southwestern British Columbia, including southern Vancouver Island and the Vancouver metropolitan area, and across the northern Prairie Provinces. On the other hand, above average precipitation could be expected across the southern sections of Saskatchewan, Manitowoc and Ontario, northern Quebec and Labrador and sections of the Yukon and Northwest and Nunavut Territories. Elsewhere, near normal precipitation should be anticipated for these upcoming three months.
[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 (CPC), one would need to use Environment Canada's probabilistic forecasts for temperature and precipitation.]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Extinction of Neanderthals may have been attributed to colder climates -- Researchers from several European and American institutions recently published detailed new records of changes in European climate over the last 40,000 years, based upon chemical analysis of stalagmites from two Romanian caves. These scientists found several periods of prolonged extreme cold and excessively dry conditions in Europe between 44,000 and 40,000 years ago that coincide with the timings of a near complete absence of archaeological artifacts from the Neanderthals. This absence of artifacts suggests the impact that changes in climate had upon the long-term survival of the Neanderthals. [Northumbria University News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

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

Concept of the Week: Touring the AMS Climate Studies RealTime Climate Portal

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Climate News.

The RealTime Climate Portal is intended to deliver a wealth of climate information that is both pertinent to the course as well as being a reference site for you as you study Earth's climate system. The webpage is arranged in several sections. On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Climate News that includes Climate in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to climate), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to climate in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events important in the understanding of climatology). When appropriate, Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the RealTime Climate Portal along with the "Current Climate Studies" that complement your Climate Studies Investigations Manual. These materials should also be available Monday morning. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your response forms.

Beyond these course Learning Files, sections include Climate Information, Climate Variability, Climate Change, Societal Interactions and Climate Policy, and Extras. As the titles suggest, there are multiple uses for climate data and their interpretation. Here we explore some examples of the information provided in the various sections of the RealTime Climate Portal.

The Climate Information section includes access to weather data, the raw material of climate synthesis, from the United States and the world under the heading "Observations and Data." Under this heading, click on "NOAA's Climate.gov." This page displays weather and climate stories and the Dashboard shows graphs of climate information back to 1880.

The second major subdivision of the RealTime Climate Portal encompasses Climate Variability. Climatic variability refers to the fluctuations and oscillations that may occur within the climate system at temporal and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events. Select the link, "NOAA El Niño Page". The page that appears provides access to a wealth of background and information on El Niño and La Niña, including the animation showing sea surface temperatures (SST) in the tropical Pacific during recent months. The page of current tropical Pacific conditions appears on a small map.

The third major section of the RealTime Climate Portal is termed Climate Change. Here we provide links to information and analyses that primarily focus on anthropogenic (human-made) change processes and results in the climate system. That prominently includes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's ("IPCC") latest classic report on atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions and their effects. Also linked are modeling results ("Models") based on those studies.

The last major section of the RealTime Climate Portal is titled Societal Interactions and Climate Policy. This block contains information on the impacts of projected change on human societies around the world, beyond that listed in the IPCC report, and the international actions and debates regarding those issues. Select and click on "National Climate Assessment (NCA3) Highlights" in this section. This webpage introduces you to the latest comprehensive and authoritative report on climate change and its impacts in the United States, now and in the future. You will be directed to this report several times in this course.

Completing the RealTime Climate Portal is the Extras section of additional handy information for the course and individual study such as dictionaries of terms, maps and materials. Choose and examine one of the Climate Literacy links. This document has recently been developed and released by NOAA to provide an overview of general concepts and information the general public and especially students should be aware of regarding the climate and the climate debate.

Historical Events

5 September 1925...The temperature at Centerville, AL soared to 112 degrees to establish a state record. Every reporting station in Alabama was 100 degrees or above that afternoon. (The Weather Channel)
5 September 1950...Hurricane Easy produced the greatest 24-hour rainfall in U.S. weather records up to that time. The hurricane deluged Yankeetown, on the upper west coast of Florida, with 38.70 inches of rain. While this US record has since been replaced by 43 inches of rain at Alvin, TX on 25-26 July 1979, the rain at Yankeetown remains the 24-hour precipitation record for the Sunshine State. (David Ludlum) (NCDC)
5 September 1958...The heaviest hailstone recorded in Britain had a weight of 0.31 pounds (141 grams) and fell at Horsham (Sussex), Great Britain. (The Weather Doctor)
5 September 1970...Heavy rain from the remnants of a tropical system from the eastern Pacific spread across the Southwest as 11.40 inches fell in 24 hours at Workman Creek, AZ to establish a 24-hour precipitation record for the Grand Canyon State, while an estimated six inches of rain fell at Bug Point, UT, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Beehive State. (NCDC)
6 September 1840...The first official weather observation in Canada was taken at King's College, University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario by members of the British Royal Artillery. (The Weather Doctor)
6 September 1929...Iowa recorded its earliest snow on record as a few flakes noted in Alton at 9 AM. (The Weather Doctor)
6-7 September 1909...Topeka, KS was drenched with 8.08 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for that location. (The Weather Channel)
7 September 1955...An 8-day run of 100-degree heat in Los Angeles, CA finally came to an end after causing 946 fatalities. (National Weather Service files)
8 September 1900...The greatest weather disaster in U.S. records occurred when an estimated Category 4 hurricane struck Galveston, TX. Waves fifteen feet high washed over the island demolishing or carrying away buildings, and drowning more than 6000 persons. The hurricane destroyed more than 3600 houses, and total damage was more than $30 million. Winds to 120 mph, and a twenty-foot storm surge accompanied the hurricane. Following the storm, the surf was three hundred feet inland from the former water line. The hurricane claimed another 1200 lives outside of the Galveston area. (8^th-9^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
8 September 1987...The afternoon high of 97 degrees at Miami, FL was a record for the month of September. (The National Weather Summary)
9 September 1775...The Newfoundland hurricane, also known as the Independence Hurricane, killed more than 4000 mariners, mostly off the coast of Newfoundland. It has been speculated that this storm was a turning point in the American Revolution because most lives lost were British sailors. (National Weather Service files)
9 September 1921...A dying tropical depression unloaded 38.20 inches of rain upon the town of Thrall in southeastern Texas killing 224 persons. The 36.40 inches that fell in 18 hours represents a record for the United States. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
9 September 1971...Hurricane Ginger formed, and remained a hurricane until the 5th of October. The 27-day life span was the longest of record for any hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean. (The Weather Channel)
9 September 1994...Hurricane John become an extratropical storm in the central north Pacific Ocean, ending a 29-day life as a hurricane, the longest-lived hurricane on record. (The Weather Doctor)
9 September 2000...The Antarctic ozone hole extended to more than 11.4 million square miles over Antarctica, the single-day largest area of depletion ever measured. (The Weather Doctor)

Return to RealTime Climate Portal