18-22 February 2013

ITEMS OF INTEREST

• Monitoring the drought -- Read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for information concerning assessing current drought conditions across the nation.
• Celestial events over this past weekend -- Several hours before the anticipated close flyby of an asteroid last Friday, at least one meteorite crashed into the Earth's surface in Russia's western Siberia. According to calculations made by NASA, the meteor that entered the Earth's atmosphere had a diameter of approximately 55 feet and a mass of approximately 10,000 tons. After passing through the atmosphere, the meteor made an impact near Chelyabinsk, Russia, at 0320 UTC on 15 February (or 10:20 PM on 14 February). During its passage through the atmosphere, the meteor disintegrated, producing a bright contrail that was recorded by video equipment near Chelyabinsk. A shock wave or "sonic boom" was created, which broke numerous windows across the region. Over 1000 people were injured. [The Weather Channel] Based upon the meteor track, this event was not considered to be related to the asteroid flyby. [NASA JPL] Later, asteroid 2012 DA14 passed approximately 17,200 miles above the Earth's surface at approximately 11:25 AM PST on Friday 15 February. This asteroid, which had a diameter of approximately 150 feet, was observed by astronomers using telescopes from Australia; images are available. In addition, NASA scientists will use NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar, located in California's Mojave Desert, to take radar images of the asteroid to determine its precise size and shape for the first three days of this upcoming week. The NASA Near Earth Object Observation (NEOO) Program will continue to track the asteroid and predict its future orbit. [NASA JPL]
• Another viewing of "Earth from Space" set for this week -- Last week PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) television presented a two-hour panorama of the Earth system and of the atmospheric sciences as a premiere showing in its NOVA series. This program contains a large collection of satellite imagery revealing complex patterns of global interactions involving the atmosphere, ocean, vegetation, and land surfaces. Extensive consultation was made with NASA scientists in order to assemble numerous sequences of images obtained from data collected by sensors onboard Earth-observing satellites. The show is to be rebroadcast on Tuesday evening (19 February 2013) on many PBS channels. Check local listings. [PBS NOVA]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

• Review of national weather and climate for January 2013 -- Using preliminary data collected from the national network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center have determined that the nationwide average temperature for the coterminous United States for the month of January 2013 was 1.6 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average. This temperature makes this recently completed month the 39th warmest January since comprehensive national climate records began since 1895. Nationwide temperatures were 5.5 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average. The eastern half of the nation had above average January temperatures, with statewide average temperatures for Georgia and Florida roughly 5.7 Fahrenheit degrees above the long-term average. The temperatures for these two states were eleventh highest in 119 years. Conversely, temperatures across the western third of the country were below average, Utah having its eight coolest January since 1895 and Nevada the ninth coolest.
  The scientists also found that last month was slightly wetter than average, as nationwide averaged precipitation was 0.14 inches above the 20th century average. Some locations across the West, including the Pacific Coast, the Intermountain West, the northern Rockies and northern Plains had below average January precipitation. Drier than average conditions were across sections of the Southeast and New England. The states of California, Connecticut and Florida had of their ten smallest January precipitation totals on record. On the other hand, sections of the southern Plains, the Mid-South, the Midwest and the Middle Atlantic States had above average January precipitation. January statewide precipitation for where Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan and Virginia ranked in the ten highest since 1895. [State of the Climate/NCDC]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

• Rating the effects of large snowstorms on nation's urban areas -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) are rating major winter snowstorms using a Regional Snowfall Index (RSI) that bring heavy snowfall to densely populated areas across the eastern two-thirds of the nation. These RSI calculations use area and the amount of snowfall from land-based stations combined with the population in the affected area to produce a numeric value on a scale from 1 to 5. For example, NCDC rated the historic Northeast blizzard of 8-9 January 2013 with a score of 3 out of the possible 5, based upon preliminary snowfall observations through early Sunday morning (10 Sunday 2013). Currently, NCDC has analyzed and assigned RSI values to over 560 storms since 1900. [NOAA's National Climatic Data Center News]
• Monitoring losses in Arctic sea ice volume -- A recent study produced by an international team of scientists combined Arctic sea ice measurement records from NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite, airborne surveys, including those from NASA's Operation IceBridge and ocean-based sensors. The researchers showed autumn Arctic sea ice volume to have declined by 36 percent over the last decade, while winter sea ice has diminished by nine. This study extends previous studies of sea ice based on submarine and NASA satellite data and confirms computer model estimates that indicate ice volume has decreased over the last decade, and builds a foundation for a multi-decadal record of sea ice volume changes. [NASA GSFC]
• Stratospheric temperature trends are being monitored -- Scientists from NOAA, Colorado State University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Remote Sensing Systems recently reported on what they called "The mystery of recent stratospheric temperature trends." They compared a time series of stratospheric temperature derived from the NOAA Stratospheric Sounding Unit on NOAA's fleet of polar orbiting satellites with an earlier data set developed by the United Kingdom's Met Office and with climate model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and Chemistry-Climate Model Validation phase projects. Extensive differences in measurements and seasonal variations were found, both within and between models and observations. Scientists claim that decreases in stratospheric temperature are one of the keys concerning human induced climate changes that generally involve increases in lower tropospheric temperatures. In the future, scientists will focus on developing a "reference" upper-air network of 30 to 40 ground-based observations under the Global Climate Observing System Reference Upper-Air Network that will be designed to improve understanding of the differences in stratospheric temperatures. [NOAA's National Climatic Data Center News]
• Freshwater losses in Middle East detected by satellites -- Scientists at the University of California, Irvine; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research have analyzed data collected by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites over a nearly seven-year span from 2003 through 2009, finding that large areas across the arid Middle East lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade. The gravity sensing instruments onboard the GRACE satellites have found that sections of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran along the Tigris and Euphrates river basins lost an amount of stored freshwater nearly equivalent to the total amount of water in the Dead Sea. The researchers attribute roughly 60 percent of the loss to pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs. [NASA JPL]
• Modernized techniques used to measure height -- NOAA's National Ocean Service is using new techniques to measure reference elevations around the nation more accurately, faster and cheaper than ever before. In addition, changes in elevation of these areas can change due to a variety of reasons that include sea level rise, subsidence, earthquakes and even oil and gas extraction. Read about the various topics associated with the National Ocean Service's "Height Modernization." [NOAA's National Ocean Service]
• 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 AND THE BIOSPHERE

• Pinyon pine cone decline could be caused by warming across Southwestern States -- A researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a colleague from the US Department of Agriculture claim that increased regional temperatures across the Southwestern United States appear to be responsible for a decline in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction, which ultimately reduced the number of pinyon trees. The researchers also warn that this decline would have a negative impact upon wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems. [University of Colorado Boulder]
• Last summer's Arctic sea ice minimum created rapid changes in marine ecosystem -- A multidisciplinary team of researchers from twelve nations who participated in a research cruise onboard the Alfred Wegener Institute's research icebreaker Polarstern during late summer of 2012 reported that as the sea ice cover over the Arctic Ocean decreased to a minimum, rapid changes in the ocean's ecosystem occurred as the algae growing below the melting ice sank to the sea floor several thousand meters under the surface. Deep sea animals such as sea cucumbers and brittle stars fed on the algae, while bacteria would metabolize the remainder of the algae, thereby consuming the oxygen in the sea bed. [Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

• How cities can affect climate change -- In a study conducted by a civil engineering professor and a World Bank climate change specialist at Canada's University of Toronto, cities around the world could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing aggressive but realistic and practical policy changes. The researchers claim that cities, even in such subpolar latitudes such as Canada, could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70 per cent in the long-term. [University of Toronto]
• 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: Keeping your cool!

In order to survive, humans need to maintain a nearly constant internal core temperature that is within several degrees of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Your internal temperature depends upon an energy balance involving the gain and loss of energy from radiation (incoming solar versus incoming and outgoing infrared radiation), sensible heat transfer (conduction and convection), latent heat of evaporation (respiration and perspiration) and the body's metabolic rate. This heat transfer depends upon the differences between skin temperature and the ambient air temperature of the surroundings. In addition, wind and atmospheric humidity can affect the rate of sensible and latent heat transfer. Problems arise when either too much or too little heat flows to or from the body, yielding hypothermia and hyperthermia (heat stress) conditions, respectively.

When the air temperature increases, heat flow from the body is often reduced. Heat flow can be increased to maintain stable temperatures involuntarily by thermoregulatory processes such as increased perspiration (sweating) and dilation of the blood vessels. Humans can also act to prevent hyperthermia by selecting lightweight and light colored clothes, as well as seeking of shade and well ventilated locations. Unfortunately, high atmospheric humidity that often accompanies high summer temperatures also reduces body heat loss since evaporative cooling by perspiration is suppressed. During the summer, the National Weather Service alerts the public of potentially dangerous combinations of high air temperature and atmospheric humidity levels by calculating the Heat Index.

Statistics kept by the National Weather Service reveals that heat (along with high humidity) is responsible for the greatest number of weather-related deaths across the nation during the 10-year period (2001-2010), with 115 fatalities occurring per year. By comparison, 116 fatalities per annum are caused by tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms), 56 deaths per year are associated from tornadoes and 25 deaths annually caused by the cold (low temperatures). (Note: The large number of fatalities associated with the hurricanes of 2005, which totaled 1016 deaths in the US due primarily to Hurricane Katrina, has inflated the annual averages associated with tropical cyclones.) Furthermore, concern has been raised that during this century, more frequent and more severe heat waves due to global climate change could become more common, leading to a greater risk of hyperthermia and, ultimately, to higher morbidity rates.

Concept of the Week: Questions

(Each week you will be asked to respond to two questions relating to that week's Concept of the Week topic. Place your responses on the Chapter Progress Response Form provided in the Study Guide.)

1. The heat index is a function of air temperature and [(atmospheric humidity),(wind speed),(sunshine levels)].
2. The annual number of fatalities across the nation in the last ten years due to heat stress is approximately [(15),(60),(120)].

Historical Events:

• 18 February 1899...While much of the central and eastern U.S. was recovering from the most severe cold wave of modern history, the temperature at San Francisco, CA soared to 80 degrees to establish a record for month of February. (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1959...Some of the higher elevations of California were in the midst of a five-day storm that produced 189 inches of snow, a single storm record for North America. (13^th-19^th) (David Ludlum)
• 18 February 1966...The temperature at Winnipeg, Manitoba dropped to 49 degrees below zero, the city's lowest recorded temperature. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18 February 1979...The record low temperature for the state of New York was set at Old Forge when the temperature plummeted to 52 degrees below zero. (Intellicast)
• 18 February 1996...Cuba's coldest morning on record occurred when the temperature at Bainoa, Cuba dropped to 33 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
• 19 February 1998...The temperature at Mardie, Western Australia reached 122.9 degrees, the second highest temperature ever recorded in Australia. (The Weather Doctor)
• 20 February 1974...The mean wind speed at Bonilla Island, British Columbia was 89 mph, the highest sustained speed on record in British Columbia. (The Weather Doctor)
• 20 February 1995...The temperature at the Civic Center in Los Angeles, CA hit 95 degrees for the highest temperature ever recorded for the month of February. (Intellicast)
• 21 February 1918...A spectacular chinook wind at Granville, ND caused the temperature to spurt from a morning low of 33 degrees below zero to an afternoon high of 50 degrees above zero, representing a rise of 83 Fahrenheit degrees. (David Ludlum)
• 21 February 1971...Elk City, OK was buried under 36 inches of snow to establish a 24-hour snowfall record for the Sooner State. (David Ludlum)
• 21 February 1996...Very hot weather for the time of year prevailed across South Texas. All-time February high temperatures were set at Del Rio (103 degrees), San Antonio (100 degrees), Austin and College Station (99 degrees), and Waco (96 degrees). (Intellicast)
• 22 February 1936...Although heat and dust prevailed in the spring and summer, early 1936 brought record cold to parts of the U.S. Sioux Center, IA reported 42 inches of snow on the ground, a state record. (20^th-22^nd) (The Weather Channel)
• 22 February 1996...Record heat continued over the south-central states. All-time February high temperatures were set at San Angelo, TX (97 degrees), Wichita Falls, TX (93 degrees), Oklahoma City, OK (92 degrees), and Wichita, KS (87 degrees). (Intellicast)
• 23 February 1998...Otis, OR recorded its 79 straight day of rain, the longest in the contiguous US. The streak began on 7 December 1997 (The Weather Doctor)
• 24 February 1905...The temperature at Valley Head, AL fell to 18 degrees below zero, which was the lowest temperature ever recorded in Alabama until January 1966. (Intellicast)
• 24-26 February 1910...Parts of Washington State were in the midst of a storm that produced 129 inches of snow at Laconia between the 24^th and the 26^th, a single storm record for the state. A series of storms, which began on the 23^rd, led to a deadly avalanche on the first of March. By late on the 28^th, the snow had changed to rain, setting the stage for disaster. (The Weather Channel)
• 24 February 1994...The Crystal Mountain ski resort in Washington State recorded 65 inches of snow in a 24-hour period, the state record for 24-hour snowfall. (Intellicast)

Return to DataStreme ECS website

Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2013, The American Meteorological Society.