7-11 March 2011

• Mardi Gras climatology -- With the observance of Ash Wednesday this week, the famous Mardi Gras Carnival celebration in New Orleans, LA will conclude the day before on "Fat Tuesday" or Shrove Tuesday (8 March 2011). The National Weather Service Forecast Office at New Orleans/Baton Rouge has posted a "Mardi Gras climatology" that provides summary tables of the normals and the extremes that have been observed in New Orleans for the last 137 years during the mid February early March when Mardi Gras would occur. [New Orleans/Baton Rouge WSFO]
• Washington's cherry blossoms could bloom early this year -- The National Park Service's chief horticulturist recently predicted that the famous cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC would reach peak bloom between 29 March and 3 April, earlier than average dates due to the recent warm weather. [USA Today]

• Proposals invited for three new Interior Department Climate Science Centers -- Last week, the US Department of the Interior invited proposals to host Climate Science Centers in the Northeast, South Central, and Pacific regions. These three new centers would complete the national network of eight existing or planned centers that will serve as regional hubs of the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center. [US Department of Interior]

• A hot dry summer Down Under -- Australia's Bureau of Meteorology recently reported that the city of Perth recorded its hottest summer in history as the average maximum temperature for the summer was 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). A record 15 consecutive nights had the minimum temperatures did not fall below 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the previous record of 13 nights set in 1990. Meteorologists are blaming the warm Pacific Ocean around Australia as a factor in keeping the overnight minimum temperatures at high levels. While record rainfall was reported in eastern Australia, the summer (December-February) precipitation at Perth was a mere 0.2 mm (.01 inches), compared to the average of 32 mm. [BBC Weather]
• Midwestern flooding seen from space -- Comparison of images made by the MODIS sensors on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites in mid-February and the beginning of March of southern Indiana shows the magnitude of the recent flooding across the region due to heavy rains and snowmelt. [NASA Earth Observatory]

• Glory satellite fails to achieve orbit -- NASA's Glory mission launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California last Friday morning failed to reach orbit. This new Earth-observing satellite was intended to monitor how the interaction of sunlight and aerosols affect Earth's climate [NASA Headquarters] NASA was creating a Mishap Investigation Board to evaluate the cause of the failure. [NASA Headquarters]
• Wintertime air chemistry studied -- Scientists from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Washington have been gathering a variety of atmospheric data along Colorado's Front Range as part of a month-long study of the chemistry of the wintertime atmosphere. They are studying the formation of nitryl chloride, a compound often association with marine atmospheres, that also forms during the wintertime nights in continental locales. The presence of nitryl chloride has important implications in air quality and climate change considerations. [NOAA News]
• Marine animal migration data incorporated into national ocean observing system -- Officials with the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) recently announced that data collected from electronic tags attached to marine animals will be incorporated into (IOOS), a federal, regional and private-sector partnership working to enhance our ability to collect, deliver and use ocean information. Inclusion of the marine animal date should provide scientists with an opportunity to understand how these animals move with the flow of tides and currents and ultimately, how those patterns may be affected by climate change. [NOAA News]

• Worldwide sulfur emissions rose at beginning of 21st century -- Following analysis of 150 years of sulfur emissions data, researchers at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report that worldwide sulfur emissions increased since 2000 following a decrease during the previous decade. This recent increase atmospheric sulfur dioxide, which is attributed to international shipping and growing economies in developing countries, could not only affect the atmosphere, health and the environment, but also influence future changes in climate. [Northwest Pacific National Laboratory]

• An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]

• Climate on Tibetan Plateau affected by soot -- Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of Michigan and NOAA have discovered that soot, fine black carbon particles from industrial and agricultural pollution, landing on snow on the massive Tibetan Plateau appears to have a greater effect on the regional climate than greenhouse gases. The soot deposited on the Plateau's snow can cause earlier snow melt and do more to alter snowmelt and Asian monsoon weather patterns than carbon dioxide and airborne soot. [Northwest Pacific National Laboratory]

• Exploring ice sheet dynamics with super computers -- Climate scientists from the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories along with colleagues at New York University and Florida State University, have been using the Scalable, Efficient, and Accurate Community Ice Sheet Model (SEACISM) on a supercomputer at ORNL to run numerical simulations that explore ice sheet dynamics. The goal is to predict the behavior of ice sheets under a changing climate. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory]

• More carbon dioxide could cause plants to release less water vapor -- Scientists at Indiana University-Bloomington and Utrecht University in the Netherlands report that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations since the mid 19th century appears to have caused a dwindling in the densities of plant stomata (pores), which would restrict the amount of water vapor released into the atmosphere from these plants. [Indiana University News Room]

• Flood-tolerant rice plants can survive drought -- Plant scientists at the University of California, Riverside have discovered that some rice plant varieties that have become flood tolerant are also more capable of recovering from a drought. [University of California, Riverside]

• Seasonal Drought Outlook updated -- Late last week, forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center updated their US Seasonal Drought Outlook that is valid for meteorological spring (March through May) 2011. This outlook indicates that drought conditions were expected to develop or persist across the southern tier of states, extending from Arizona eastward to Florida and northward into western Nebraska in the Plains and to New Jersey along the Atlantic Seaboard. They also indicated that improvement in the drought conditions could be anticipated across sections of the Midwest and the Mid-South, primarily in the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys.

• Spring flood outlook for nation -- In late February, forecasters with the National Weather Service's Hydrologic Information Center issued an update on their outlook of the spring flood risk for the nation. Many rivers across the north central US are at risk of moderate to major flooding, including the Mississippi River, the Red River of the North and many of their tributaries. Sections of the Northeast, including southern New England and eastern New York State, were also viewed to have an above average risk of flooding. The southern tier of states, extending from Texas to the Southeast and into the Middle Atlantic States would have a below average risk of flooding. The final hydrologic assessment will be issued in two weeks. [NWS Hydrologic Information Center]

• New interpretation of Antarctic ice cores made -- Climate researchers at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research who have been analyzing reconstructions of past temperatures based on ice cores have expanded the prevailing theory on long-term climate history. They have expanded the Milankovitch theory of climate change involving changes in the seasonal solar radiation associated with variations in the earth's orbital elements to now include the influence of land masses in the Southern Hemisphere. They claim that their temperature reconstructions can also be explained by local climate changes in the Southern Hemisphere. [Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research]

• Human vulnerability to climate change is mapped -- In an effort to forecast potential regional changes in worldwide population by 2050, researchers at Montreal's McGill University using climate and global census data have produced the first global map that graphically depicts where projected climate change would have the greatest impact on population. They developed a climate-demography vulnerability index (CDVI), [McGill University News Room]

• Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Tropospheric westerly winds, north and south

The theoretical existence of upper tropospheric jet stream winds were not confirmed until being encountered by World War II bomber pilots when heading west into strong headwinds at altitudes of approximately 30,000 feet (10,000 m). Wind speeds sometimes exceeded 170 mph causing their relatively slow, heavily laden aircraft to almost stand still. Subsequently, westerly jet stream winds were found to encircle the planet in midlatitudes of both hemispheres above regions of strong temperature contrasts.

The explanation for these winds involves atmospheric mass distributions and forces on a rotating planet. Air in tropical latitudes is warmed, rises and then flows poleward, both north and south. On a rotating planet, moving air is deflected by the Coriolis effect, to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (and left in the Southern). The greater the temperature differences between warm lower and cold higher latitudes, the stronger the air motions and the faster the jet streams. The vertical temperature patterns result in the highest wind speeds near the top of the troposphere.

So Northern Hemisphere air headed northward, deflected to the right ends up headed east, a "westerly wind." In the Southern Hemisphere, southward moving air, deflected left will also go east, as a westerly wind. These "rivers" of strong upper-level winds steer surface weather systems as they move generally eastward across midlatitudes. They also provide boosts for jet aircraft headed eastward with them, but need to be avoided for going west! Of course, the full story is complex as land (especially mountains) and water surfaces interact with the heating of the air and eddies form in the turbulent flows, so jet streams wander. And with them go the storms and the weather patterns that form our short-term climate.

Concept of the Week: Questions

(Place your responses on the Chapter Progress Response Form provided in the Study Guide.)

1. The Northern Hemisphere jet stream winds would be directed such that cold air is [(to the left),(to the right),(directly ahead)] of their forward motion.
2. In the Southern Hemisphere, the jet stream winds to be directed generally toward the [(south), (east), (west)].

• 7 March 1932...A severe coastal storm set barometric pressure records from Virginia to New England. Block Island, RI reported a barometric pressure reading of 955.0 millibars (28.20 inches of mercury). (David Ludlum)
• 7 March 1996...6.5 inches of snow fell at Boston, MA on this date to bring its seasonal total to 96.4 inches -- the city's snowiest winter in 105 years of record keeping. The old record was 96.3 inches set in the 1993-94 winter season. Now all major cities along this East Coast had broken their seasonal snowfall records in the 1995-96 winter season. (Intellicast)
• 7 March 2000…The temperature at Duluth, MN reached 70 degrees, which was the earliest that a 70-degree reading was reported in Duluth; the previous earliest date was 22 March 1945 when the temperature reached 72 degrees. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 7 March 1999...Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada's snowiest major city set a new record for a one-day snowfall of 45.7 inches, but prior to that date the winter's total had been a meager (for the city) 46 inches of snow. (The Weather Doctor)
• 8 March 1971...A snowstorm dropped 10 to 20 inches of new snow across Vermont to raise snow depths to record levels. A snow cover of 116 inches was measured on the ground on top of Mount Mansfield, the second highest snow depth ever recorded on the mountain up to the time. The town of Orange measured 88 inches on the ground for a new state low-elevation snow depth record. (Intellicast)
• 8 March 1992...In the first 8 days of March, Las Vegas, NV recorded 1.87 inches of rain, setting a new monthly record for rainfall in March. The previous record was 1.83 inches set in 1973. (Intellicast)
• 8 March 1994...A major snowstorm buried sections of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. Ozark Beach, MO recorded 19 inches of snow, while Harrison, AR checked in with 18 inches. Tulsa, OK had 12.9 of snow, for its greatest single storm snowfall ever. (Intellicast)
• 8 March 1996...Elkins, WV received 2.1 inches of snow on this day to bring its seasonal snowfall to 125.8 inches -- its snowiest winter on record. (Intellicast)
• 9 March 1911…Aibonito, Puerto Rico had temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the lowest temperature recorded on that island. (The Weather Doctor)
• 9 March 1943...The temperature at Lac Frontiere, ME fell to 40 degrees below zero, the lowest reading ever in March in New England. (Intellicast)
• 9 March 1956...A whopping 367 inches of snow was measured on the ground at the Rainier Paradise Ranger Station in Washington. The snow depth was a state record and the second highest total of record for the continental U.S. (The Weather Channel)
• 10 March 1912...The barometric pressure reached 990.9 millibars (29.26 inches) at Los Angeles, CA, and 997.7 millibars (29.46 inches) at San Diego, CA, setting all-time records for those two locations. (David Ludlum)
• 10 March 1922...Dodge City, KS reported an all-time record 24-hour total of 17.5 inches of snow. (The Weather Channel)
• 10-11 March 1972, The temperature at Chicago, IL rose from 15 degrees on the 10th to 73 degrees on the 11th. The 58-Fahrenheit degree temperature rise tied the largest day-to-day rise on record. The city experienced a similar jump in temperature in February 1887. (The Weather Doctor)
• 11 March 1911...Tamarack, CA reported 451 inches of snow on the ground, a record for the U.S. (David Ludlum)
• 11 March 1948...Record cold followed in the wake of a Kansas blizzard. Lows of 25 degrees below zero at Oberlin, Healy, and Quinter established a state record for the month of March. Lows of 15 degrees below zero at Dodge City, 11 degrees below zero at Concordia, and 3 degrees below zero at Wichita were records for March at these locations. The low of 3 degrees below zero at Kansas City, MO was their latest subzero reading of record. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
• 11 March 2006…The record run for dry days in Phoenix, AZ finally ended at 143 at 12:07 AM MST. The last measured rain in the city fell on 18 October 2005. The last time the region had significant precipitation was 2 August when 0.59 inch (15 mm) fell. Not only did the rain break the dry spell, the 1.40-inch total was a record amount for the date: The previous consecutive dry-day mark, set in 1998-99, was 101 days. (The Weather Doctor)
• 12-13 March 1907...A storm produced a record 5.22 inches of rain in 24 hours at Cincinnati, OH. (The Weather Channel)
• 12 March 1923...The record low air pressure of 971.9 millibars (28.70 inches) for Chicago, IL was set during a storm that produced heavy snow, a thick glaze, gales, and much rain that caused $800,000 damage. (Intellicast)
• 13-15 March 1952...The world's 5-day rainfall record was set when a tropical cyclone produced 151.73 inches of rain at Cilos, Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The 73.62 inches that fell in a 24-hour period (15^th-16^th) set the world's 24-hour rainfall record. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 March 1993...The "Great Blizzard of '93" clobbered the eastern US and produced perhaps the largest swath of heavy snow ever recorded. Heavy snow was driven to the Gulf Coast with 3 inches falling at Mobile, AL and up to 5 inches reported in the Florida Panhandle, the greatest single snowfall in the state's history. Thirteen inches blanketed Birmingham, AL to set not only a new 24 hour snowfall record for any month, but also set a record for maximum snow depth, maximum snow for a single storm, and maximum snow for a single month. Tremendous snowfall amounts occurred in the Appalachians. Mount Leconte in Tennessee recorded an incredible 60 inches. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina was not far behind with 50 inches. Practically every official weather station in West Virginia set a new 24-hour record snowfall. Farther to the north, Pittsburgh, PA measured 25 inches, Albany, NY checked in with 27 inches, and Syracuse, NY was buried under 43 inches. The major population corridor from Washington, DC to Boston, MA was not spared this time as all the big cities got about a foot of snow before a changeover to rain. A rather large amount of thunderstorm activity accompanied the heavy snow. Winds to hurricane force in gusts were widespread. Boston recorded a gust to 81 mph, the highest wind gust at that location since hurricane Edna in 1954. Numerous cities in the south and mid Atlantic states recorded their lowest barometric pressure ever as the storm bottomed out at 960 millibars (28.35 inches) over Chesapeake Bay. Some 208 people were killed by the storm and total damage was estimated at $6 billion-- the costliest extratropical storm in history. (Intellicast)

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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.