WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

11-15 February 2013

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Mardi Gras climatology -- With the observance of Ash Wednesday during this upcoming week, the famous Mardi Gras Carnival celebration in New Orleans, LA will conclude the day before on "Fat Tuesday" or Shrove Tuesday (12 February 2013). 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 139 years during the weeks in mid February through early March when Mardi Gras would occur. [New Orleans/Baton Rouge WSFO]
Monitoring degree-day units -- If you would like to monitor how this upcoming winter will affect the amount of energy that you will need for heating your home, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth. You will see how heating degree-day units are computed, as well as the corresponding cooling-degree day units. This supplemental also provides links to tabulations of the cumulative heating and cooling degree-day units that are available on a monthly basis for selected cities across the country.
New director for NOAA's National Weather Service selected -- Late last week, Dr. Louis W. Uccellini, the current director of the National Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), was selected as the new director of NOAA's National Weather Service. In addition, he will be the assistant NOAA administrator for weather services, effective this past weekend. As NCEP director he was responsible for the overall planning and operation of such centers as the National Hurricane Center, the Ocean Prediction Center and the Climate Prediction Center. [NOAA News] (Editor's Note: Dr. Uccellini has long been a supporter of the AMS Education Program. In addition, while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he was an instructor to this reporter. Congratulations and many thanks! EJH)

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Two of Great Lakes at record low water levels -- The "Detroit News" recently reported that at the end of January, the US Army Corps of Engineers claimed that Lakes Huron and Michigan had reached all-time low lake levels, breaking the previous record set in 1964. While the drought across the nation's midsection played a role in the record low levels, higher lake evaporation rates and a lack of winter ice have also contributed to these historic levels. [Detroit News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

A "La Nada" phase appears to persist across the Pacific -- Scientists with the Ocean Surface Topography Team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory report that images of sea surface heights across the Pacific generated from data collected by NASA's Jason-2 satellite indicate the equatorial Pacific remains locked in a neutral state for the tenth consecutive month. They term this neutral phase as a "La Nada" state, as opposed to the cold phase La Niña events of recent years and the warm phase El Niño events. A neutral state tends to make long-range climate forecasting more difficult due to their greater unpredictably. This La Nada phase could persist for a while. [NASA JPL] Forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also indicate that ENSO-neutral conditions continue and should persist through Northern Hemisphere spring. (ENSO represents El Niño/Southern Oscillation). [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
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 FORCING

Greenhouse gas emission data updated -- Early last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted an updated list of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions data on its website for access by the public. These emissions data for the 2011 are listed by industry sector, by greenhouse gas, and by geographic region such as county or state. The collection of the 2011 data was through the congressionally mandated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Program. One of the findings from the 2011 data indicates that while power plants remain the largest stationary source of GHG emissions, the amount of emissions from this source in 2011 was nearly five percent lower than 2010 emissions. [EPA Newsroom]
Gases and particles promote cloud formation -- In research conducted at Columbia University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, certain volatile organic gases acting in concert with airborne particles or aerosols have been shown to promote cloud formation. Organic material can comprise a large percentage of the airborne particles called cloud condensation nuclei in the lower levels of the atmosphere and variations in these concentrations can affect cloud formation, the number of cloud droplets and ultimately, climate. The volatile organic gases could be gas-phase surfactants that lower the surface tension of water and enhance the activity of cloud condensation nuclei. [Columbia University Engineering]
Studying the world's saltiest pond -- Using time lapse photography and other data, geologists from Brown University have discovered how Don Juan Pond in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys has become the most saline natural body of water known on Earth. They report that salty soil and the saline water not only absorbs water vapor from the atmosphere due to hygroscopic attraction but also melts snow causing an influx of fresh water to maintain the pond. The high salinity keeps this water body from freezing. The researchers claim that this process may have similarities with water flow on Mars. [Brown University]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Updated national drought outlook issued -- During the last week, forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently released their updated Seasonal Drought Outlook covering February through April 2013. This three-month forecast period includes the remainder of February, which is the last month of 2012-13 meteorological winter and the first two months of meteorological spring. These forecasters foresee a persistence of drought conditions across a large area of the nation extending from the southern and central Plains westward across the Rockies and Great Basin to southern and central California. Sections of the Southeast should also continue to maintain drought conditions, while sections of southern Florida could experience developing drought conditions. The forecasters feel that improvement in the drought conditions could occur across the Upper Midwest, the northern Plains and the central Appalachians in the Southeast. Some limited improvement in drought conditions could also occur across the Four Corners area of the Southwest. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center] Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.
New way found to identify which El Niño events have largest impact on nation's winter weather -- Research conducted by scientists at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the University of Washington has created a new way to identify which El Niño events would have biggest impact on US winter weather that would involve the monitoring changes in outgoing long-wave radiation (OLR). They considered all El Niño events identified by sea surface temperatures since 1979 and found those events that also showed a marked dip in OLR from deep convective clouds as found from satellite imagery appeared more likely to play havoc with winter weather across the country. Those events with a smaller OLR dip did not. [NOAA News]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

Growth of toxic algae linked to nitrogen from pollution and natural sources -- Researchers from San Francisco State University report that nitrogen entering the oceans from natural sources and human activity has increased the growth of a group of tiny, toxic phytoplankton species known to be harmful to marine life and human health. One of the species can cause the human illness Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning. [San Francisco State University News]
Rainfall and temperature extremes place baby elephants at risk -- Researchers from the United Kingdom's University of Sheffield have analyzed the records of more than 8000 elephants from Myanmar for nearly a 100-year period and found that extreme temperatures and low rainfall have been affecting the survival of Asian elements working in the timber camps of this country. The occurrence of these temperature and rainfall extremes could double the risk of death in elephant calves up to the age of five. [University of Sheffield]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Tropical rainfall patterns in Central America have varied over last two millennia -- Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have found that the climate patterns they reconstructed from lake sediments in a Nicaraguan lake indicate drought cycles across Central America interrupted by wet spells over the last 2000 years, which included the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. They found that over this time the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have had fluctuating influences on the rainfall. The researchers found that the North Atlantic Oscillation has had an impact on rainfall during recent times, but the El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation pattern appeared to be important. [University of Pittsburgh News]
Comet or asteroid impact appears to have caused the dinosaurs' demise -- Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley and their colleagues in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have concluded that since their more precise dates of the dinosaur extinction and the well-known impact of a comet or asteroid with Earth in the Caribbean were both at 66 million years ago, the comet/asteroid impact appears to be responsible for the dinosaurs' demise. The scientists based their analysis on precise dating of samples of materials taken from near a dinosaur extinction layer. [University of California, Berkeley News Center]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Poll finds more Americans convinced of climate change -- In an online survey conducted of nearly 1100 adults during the third week of January by Duke University, approximately 84 percent of Americans believe that climate change is either definitely or probably occurring. These results represent the highest level in national polls conducted since 2007. Furthermore, 54 percent say that this change in climate is a result of human activity, such as burning of fossil fuels and 64 percent of the respondents would favor regulating greenhouse gas emissions to fix the problem. [USA Today]
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.

REPORT FROM THE FIELD -- Barbara Des Rault, a DataStreme LIT mentor from Massapequa on New York’s Long Island, reported on the winter storm that brought blizzard conditions to sections of the Middle Atlantic and New England over the past weekend. She compared this storm, which The Weather Channel named “Nemo”, with the “Superstorm Sandy” that hit coastal sections of New York State and New Jersey last October. She noted that Sandy formed as a result of a hurricane moving northward along the Atlantic Coast combining with at least one other strong midlatitude low pressure system arriving from the west. Likewise, Nemo emerged as a result of a low pressure system traveling northward along the East Coast to merged with a weather system coming from the Midwest. She noted that the recorded barometric pressure readings from her digital home weather station indicated that the lowest reading for Sandy was 965 mb, while the lowest for Nemo was 998 mb. (A millibar or mb is a traditional meteorological unit of atmospheric pressure based originally based on one standard atmosphere, which is currently 1013.25 mb = 29.92 inches of mercury.)

Concept of the Week: Climate and Architecture

Humans have been constructing houses and other buildings for thousands of years not only to protect themselves from the weather and other environmental factors, but also to create a comfortable indoor environment that would exhibit energy efficiency, especially in harsh climates. For centuries, natural or primitive housing reflected an adaptation to the climate of the locale and the availability of local building materials.

In order to maintain a tolerable level of comfort within a building, attention must be paid to thermal effects, ventilation, illumination and atmospheric humidity.

The indoor thermal state ultimately depends upon the building's energy budget involving incoming and outgoing radiation, latent and sensible heat loss and by interior heat sources or sinks. The indoor thermal level is mainly associated with the external energy load on the building. The external energy load on the building depends upon the latitude of the building, season of the year and time of day.

In tropical latitudes and during midday hours in summer, the sun's path across the local sky increases the solar radiation incident upon the roof and walls of the building. In polar latitudes, or during the winter or the amount of available sunlight is significantly lower, with the loss of infrared radiation causing a net cooling from the building. Changes in the color of the roof and the outer walls can affect the amount of incoming sunlight absorbed. Building orientation and the effective use of overhangs can also affect the amount of sunlight absorbed. Furthermore, the amount of insulation, often related to the thickness of the walls, reduces the conduction of heat into or out of the building. Thick adobe walls have been used effectively in the Southwest to moderate indoor temperature. These walls reduce the heat flow into the building during the daytime and in summer and out from the building at night or during winter.

The size and placement of windows also affects the energy balance. Large windows on the side of the building facing the sun's path tend to permit large amounts of sunlight to penetrate into the building. However, large windows on the side facing away from the sun can cause for heat loss due to conduction, as many types of windowpanes are not energy efficient.

Effective landscaping can reduce energy demands upon a dwelling: Deciduous trees planted on the south and west sides of the home provide cooling shade during the summer, keeping sunlight from entering the windows. These trees will lose their foliage in fall and allow the sun to shine through in winter, and warm south facing rooms. Evergreen trees or dense shrubbery on the north side can serve as a windbreak, which reduce the cold northerly winds from striking the house in winter.

Energy losses from buildings during the upcoming winter in northern latitudes can be seen readily by how quickly snow melts from roofs and by how big the icicles form. Heat losses from buildings occur with larger negative energy budgets, which are reflected also in higher heating bills during the winter season. However, the heating bills also depend upon the severity of the winter season that can be ascertained from the number of accumulated heating degree-day units. Check this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for how you can monitor the number of heating degree-day units to date in your state for this coming heating season.

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

The thicker the outdoor walls, the [(greater),(less)] the heat flow into or out of a building.
Planting [(evergreen),(deciduous)] vegetation on the south side of a home in New England will help reduce winter heating and summer cooling bills.

Historical Events:

11 February 1895...Braemar (Grampian), Scotland reported a temperature of 17 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever measured in the United Kingdom. (The Weather Doctor)
11 February 1899...Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The record low temperature for Washington, DC was set when the temperature fell to 15 degrees below zero. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
11 February 1935...Temperature of 11 degrees below zero at Ifrane, Morocco was the lowest temperature ever in Africa. (The Weather Doctor)
11 February 1970...Mount Washington, NH, the highest point in New England, recorded 10.38 inches during a 24-hour span (10^th-11^th) to set a statewide 24 hour maximum precipitation record. (NCDC)
11 February 1999...Tahtsa Lake, located in the Whitesail Range of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia reported 57 inches of snow, which set a new 24-hour snowfall record for Canada, eclipsing the old record of 46.5 inches of snow that fell at Lakelse, BC on 17 January 1974. This former record replaced a 44.0 inch summertime snowfall on 29 June 1963 at Livingston Ranger Station, AB. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
12 February 1899...Texas and the eastern Great Plains experienced their coldest morning of modern record. The temperature at Camp Clarke, NE plunged to 47 degrees below zero to establish a record for the Cornhusker State; this record has been tied in December 1989. (David Ludlum)
13 February 1784...Ice floes blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans, then passed into the Gulf of Mexico. The only other time this occurred was during the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of 1899. (David Ludlum)
13 February 1899...It was the coldest morning of record along the Gulf Coast. The mercury dipped to 2 degrees below zero at Tallahassee, the lowest reading of record for the state of Florida. The record low temperature for the state of Louisiana was set at Minden, when the thermometer fell to 16 degrees below zero. A trace of snow fell at Fort Myers, FL. This was the farthest south snow has ever been observed in the U.S. until 1977 when snow fell in Miami. The lowest temperature ever recorded at Dayton, OH occurred when it dropped to 28 degrees below zero. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
13 February 1905...Morning lows of 29 degrees below zero at Pond, AR, 40 degrees below at Lebanon, KS, and 40 below at Warsaw, MO established all-time records for those three states. (The Weather Channel)
15 February 1936...The temperature at Parshall, ND plunged to 60 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. On the 6^th of July that same year, the temperature at Steele, ND hit 121 degrees, also a state record high temperature. (David Ludlum)
16 February 1903...The temperature at Pokegama Dam, MN plunged to 59 degrees below zero to establish a state record. (David Ludlum) This record has since been broken with a 60 degree below reading in 1996. (NCDC)
16 February 1929...Britain's greatest snowfall of 70.9 inches fell in just 15 hours at Dartmoor, Great Britain. (The Weather Doctor)
16 February 1943...Record cold prevailed in the northeastern U.S. The morning low of 32 degrees below zero at Falls Village, CT established a state record, yet the afternoon high that day was 20 degrees above zero. In January 1961, this Connecticut record low was tied. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
16 February 1966...Heavy rain fell in Whenuapai, New Zealand, with 4.2 inches of rain falling in one hour, a new record for that time in New Zealand. (The Weather Doctor)
16 February 1989...A surge of arctic air produced all-time record high barometric pressure readings of 31.08 inches at Duluth, MN, 30.97 inches at Chicago, IL and 30.94 inches at South Bend, IN. Readings of 31.00 inches at Milwaukee, WI and 30.98 inches at Rockford, IL tied their all-time records. (The National Weather Summary)
16 February 1996...A coastal storm produced heavy snow along the East Coast to push seasonal snowfall totals to new records at several locations. The following cities set new all-time seasonal snowfall records: Lynchburg, VA (8.1 inches new, 51.3 inches seasonal total); Washington/Dulles, VA (7.5, 53.4) ; Washington/National, DC (6.8, 40.8); Baltimore, MD (9.8, 54.9); Philadelphia, PA (7.5, 55.9); Hartford/Bradley, CT (10.3, 90.2) and Providence, RI (7.0, 78.0). (Intellicast)
17 February 1748...The temperature at Charleston, SC fell to 10 degrees, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Colonial South. (The Weather Doctor)
17 February 1926...A deadly avalanche, Utah's worst, demolished 14 miner's cottages and a three-story boarding house in Binham Canyon. Thirty-six are killed and 13 injured. (The Weather Doctor)
17 February 1936...The temperature at McIntosh, SD plunged to 58 degrees below zero to establish a state record low temperature. (David Ludlum)
17 February 1974...Lakelse Lake, British Columbia received 46.5 inches of snow over 24 hours, Canada's greatest 24-hour snowfall on record that stood for nearly one quarter of a century until 57 inches fell in 24 hours at Tahtsa Lake, British Columbia on 11 February 1999. (The Weather Doctor)
17-18 February 2003...The President's Day snowstorm set a new Boston, MA record for the greatest snowstorm total snowfall: a total of 27.5 inches. (The Weather Doctor)

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