20-24 June 2011

DataStreme Earth Climate Systems will return for Fall 2011 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2011. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Happy Summer Solstice! The summer solstice will occur early this afternoon (officially, 21 June 2011 at 1716Z, or 1:16 PM EDT, 12:16 PM CDT, etc.). At that time, the earth's spin axis is oriented such that the sun appears to be the farthest north in the local sky of most earth-bound observers. While most of us consider this event to be the start of astronomical summer, the British call the day the "Midsummer Day", as the apparent sun will begin its southward descent again. For essentially all locations in the northern hemisphere, daylight today will be the longest and the night will be the shortest of the year. Starting Wednesday, the length of darkness will begin to increase as we head toward the winter solstice on 22 December 2011 at 0530 Z. However, because the sun is not as perfect a time-keeper as a clock, the latest sunsets of the year at many mid-latitude locations will continue through about the first week of July -- a consequence of the earth being near aphelion (on 4 July 2011) and the apparent sun moving across the sky well to the north of the celestial equator.
  The National Park Service has designated Tuesday, 21 June 2011 as a fee free day in its National Parks in celebration of the First Day of Summer. For more information see National Park Service Fee Free Days for 2011.
• World Hydrography Day celebration -- The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) will celebrate its annual World Hydrography Day on Tuesday 21 June 2011, the 90th anniversary date on which the IHO was created in 1921. The theme for this year's celebration is Human Resources, which is designed to increase public awareness of the vital role played in hydrography in human life. [International Federation of Hydrographic Societies]
• Space weather forum to be held -- The National Space Weather Program Council in conjunction with NOAA's Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) will sponsor Space Weather Enterprise Forum 2011 on Tuesday, 21 June, at the National Press Club in Washington DC. The theme of this year's forum is Solar Maximum: Can We Weather the Storm? and will address the uncertainties associated with the nation's space weather-affected technologies such as for communications, navigation and security. The forum is designed so the space weather community can share information and ideas among policymakers, senior government leaders, researchers, service provider agencies, private sector service providers, space weather information users, media, and legislators. [The National Space Weather Program]

• May drought report -- The National Climate Data Center has posted its May 2011 drought report online. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index, approximately 19 percent of the coterminous United States experienced severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of May, while 35 percent of the area had severely to extremely wet conditions.
• Canadian seasonal climate summary for Spring 2011 -- Climate scientists with Environment Canada recently reported that the nationwide average temperature during meteorological spring 2011 (March through May) was slightly below the 1961-1990 normal spring temperature, making this past spring the 29th coolest spring since nationwide records began in 1948. Below average temperatures were found across the Prairie Provinces, along with eastern Nunavut and northern Quebec. Above average spring temperatures were reported across much of the Canadian Archipelago and the western Canadian Arctic. Nationwide, spring precipitation across Canada was below above average, with Spring 2011 being the eighth driest since 1948. Central sections of Canada east of the Rockies were the driest, while those sections of the nation along the US-Canadian border, stretching from British Columbia eastward to the St. Lawrence Valley had above average spring precipitation. [Environment Canada]
• Review of global weather and climate for May 2011 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the recently concluded month of May was the tenth warmest May since global climate records began in 1880. They based their report on preliminary calculations of the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for May 2011. The worldwide average May land surface temperature was the seventh highest for May since 1880, while the monthly global ocean surface temperature was the eleventh highest on record. In addition, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the tenth highest for the last three months (March through May), considered meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere (fall in the Southern Hemisphere). The scientists concluded that oceanic and atmospheric conditions associated with the recent La Niña event ended during May 2011.
  Snow cover extent across the Northern Hemisphere during May was the third smallest on record. Arctic sea ice was also the third smallest for any May since satellite records began in 1979. On the other hand, the sea ice around Antarctica was above average, resulting in the fourteenth smallest extent for any May on record. [NOAA News]

• Two-week long video of Chilean volcano made from GOES satellite -- The NASA/NOAA GOES Project recently released an animation of the eruptions from Chile's Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano produce from 445 images obtained between 4 June and 16 June 2011 from the sensors onboard the GOES-13 satellite. [NASA GSFC]
• Assessment report made on Arctic melt -- A new assessment report was recently released by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) that provides 15 key findings concerning the effects of increased global temperatures have upon the climate of the Arctic basin. Many of these findings have been based upon observations made by NASA satellites. AMAP is a working group of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental organization consisting of eight Arctic nations. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• 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]

• Exploring how solar minima affect planet Earth -- A scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory along with colleagues at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research has been exploring how extended times of low solar activity have affected the Earth. Currently, a lengthy solar minimum has been occurring since 2008, roughly the end of the last solar cycle. [NASA JPL]
• Humans top volcanoes in carbon dioxide emissions -- A retired volcanic gas geochemist at the US Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory recently reported that his calculations indicate human activities on average emit as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in three to five days as volcanoes produce globally in an entire year. [USGS Newsroom]
• "Magnetic ropes" proved to be a cause of solar storms -- Scientists at George Mason University report having discovered a phenomenon called a giant "magnetic rope" from inspecting images obtained from the NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft that they conclude is responsible for the cause of solar storms that ultimately affect satellite communications on Earth. These magnetic ropes are twisted magnetic field lines that form on the Sun's surface prior to a solar eruption. [George Mason University]
• Seeing how barrier islands will fare with changing climate and rising sea level -- A study by scientists from Meredith College and Duke University in North Carolina using satellite images from NASA's Landsat 7 satellite assessed how the thousands of the world's barrier islands would fare as the climate would change and sea level would rise. Interestingly, slow rises in sea level appear to help generate new barrier islands, while rapid sea level rises would inundate islands causing their disappearance. [NASA's Earth Science News Team]

• Small changes in climate may assist in growth of oceanic low-oxygen zones -- Scientists at the University of California Los Angeles, Colorado State University and the University of Washington report that expansion of the size of low-oxygen zones in the oceans is sensitive to small changes in climate. Using computer simulations, they found that increased ocean temperatures would reduce the dissolved oxygen, affecting marine life through the reduction in nutrients. [UCLA Newsroom]
• Wondering if evolution can outpace climate change -- In a study conducted on tiny tide pool copepod at the University of California, Davis, researchers found that various plants and animals may not be able to evolve to increase their heat tolerance sufficiently in the face of projected increases in global temperature during the next century. [UC Davis News]

• New seasonal climate outlooks issued -- Near the end of last week, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center released their new three-month seasonal national climate outlooks for July through September 2011, corresponding to the last two months of the meteorological summer season and the first month of meteorological autumn. The forecasters call for a better than equal chance for above average temperatures across the southern tier of states, extending from the Southwest to the Florida Peninsula. On the other hand, they foresaw better than even chances of below average temperatures across the northern Rockies and the northern Plains to the upper Midwest. Elsewhere, equal chances of below or above average summer temperatures can be anticipated. The forecasters also expected the northern Rockies and northern Plains, together with the Southern Atlantic coastal states to have a better than even chance of above average precipitation for the next three months. However, the forecasters felt that much of the country could experience equal chances of above and below average summer rainfall. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
• Seasonal drought outlook posted -- Forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center issued their three-month seasonal drought outlook for the nation last week, which would run from mid-June through September. Their outlook would call for persistence of the drought across south central sections of the nation, primarily in central and north Texas, western Oklahoma, northern Louisiana and neighboring sections of Arkansas and Mississippi. However, they foresaw improvement of the drought conditions across the Florida Peninsula, along the Atlantic Coast and over the southern Rockies, with some slight improvement across sections of west Texas and sections of the Gulf Coast States. [NOAA CPC Drought Outlook]
• Northern Hemisphere summers forecast to be permanently hotter -- In a recent study using at least 50 climate model experiments along with past climate data, scientists at Stanford University forecast that summer temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere will be permanently higher within the next 20 to 60 years due to the increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide. They warn that the projected higher seasonal temperatures could have severe consequences for human health, agricultural production and ecosystem productivity. [Stanford University News]

• An ancient global warming episode is dated -- A team of researchers from the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre, the British Geological Survey Pennsylvania State University have employed sophisticated radiochemical dating methods to find that the start of an episode of an ancient global warming event known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) was at the time of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary between 55.728 and 55.964 million years ago. [EurekAlert!]

• Public comments sought on NOAA's scientific integrity policy -- Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator recently announced that public comment was invited through mid August on her agency's draft of a scientific integrity policy that addresses how NOAA ensures quality science in its practices and policies, along with the promotion of ethical behavior. The proposed policy is based on the principles of scientific integrity contained in guidance from the White House. [NOAA News]
• 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.

• 20 June 1921...Circle, MT received 11.50 inches of rain in 24 hours, a record for the state. The town of Circle received a total of 16.79 inches of rain that month to establish a rainfall record for any town in Montana for any month of the year. (The Weather Channel)
• 20 June 1970...Norway's hottest day on record occurred, as the temperature at Nesbyen, Norway peaked at 96.1 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
• 20 June 2000...The town of Barrow on Alaska's North Slope experienced its first recorded thunderstorm, which dropped 0.16 inches (4.1 mm) of rain in just a couple minutes. (The Weather Doctor)
• 21 June 1942...The temperature at Tirat Tsvi, Israel reached 129 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Asia. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 June 1947...Heavy rains deluged Holt, MO as a foot of rain fell in 42 minutes, still a world's record rainfall rate for the fastest foot of rain accumulation. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 June 1987...Thunderstorms in New York State produced 5.01 inches of rain in 24 hours at Buffalo, an all-time record for that location.
  The temperature at Fairbanks, AK soared to 92 degrees, establishing a record for the date. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 22 June 1988...Tucson, AZ reported an all-time record high of 114 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 112 degrees established a day earlier. Highs of 98 degrees at Pittsburgh, PA and 100 degrees at Baltimore, MD tied records for the month of June. (The National Weather Summary)
• 22 June 2003...The largest recorded hailstone in the United States fell on Aurora, NE. The diameter of this hailstone was 7 inches, and its circumference was 18.75 inches. (Northern Indiana NWSFO) The National Weather Service reported this hailstone was the largest ever documented in the U.S. by size, but the second largest hailstone by weight.
  The mercury peaked at 95 degrees in the northern community of Moosonee, Ontario, the hottest June day ever recorded here. (The Weather Doctor)
• 23 June 1902...The temperature at Volcano Springs, CA soared to 129 degrees to set a June record high temperature for the U.S. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders)
• 23 June 1982...The temperature fell to all-time record low of 117 degrees below zero for Antarctica's South Pole Weather Station. (The Weather Doctor)
• 24 June 1946...Mellen, WI received 11.72 inches of rain, setting a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Badger State. (NCDC)
• 24 June 1972...Rainier Park Ranger Station in Washington State had 4.4 inches of snow on this day. This turned out to be the last snowfall for the 1971-72 season and brought the seasonal total to 1122 inches -- a new single season snowfall record for the U.S. (Intellicast)
• 24 June 1988...Forty-three cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Valentine, NE reported an all-time record high of 110 degrees, and highs of 102 degrees at Casper, WY, 103 degrees at Reno, NV, and 106 degrees at Winnemucca, NV were records for the month of June. Highs of 98 degrees at Logan, UT and 109 degrees at Rapid City, SD equaled June records. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 25 June 1925...The mercury hit 101 degrees at Portland, OR, their earliest 100 degree reading of record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders)
• 25 June 1953...The temperature at Anchorage, AK soared to 86 degrees, their highest reading of record. (The Weather Channel)
• 25 June 1988...Fifty-two cities in the central and eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 100 degrees at Erie, PA and 104 degrees at Cleveland, OH established all- time records for those two locations. Highs of 101 degrees at Flint, MI, 105 degrees at Chicago, IL, and 106 degrees at Fort Wayne, IN equaled all-time records. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
  Southwestern Ontario experienced a heat wave as the mercury soared to 104.4 degrees in Windsor and 100.8 degrees in London, the hottest day ever recorded in these cities. (The Weather Doctor)
• 26 June 1931...The temperature soared to 92 degrees at Anchorage, AK, the highest reading of record to date for that city. (The Weather Doctor)

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