WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

11-15 May 2015

DataStreme Earth Climate System will return for Fall 2015 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 24 August 2015. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2015 Campaign is underway -- The fifth in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2015 will continue a 10-night campaign that runs through Monday 18 May. 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 (Leo in the Northern Hemisphere and Crux in the Southern Hemisphere) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. In addition to the 9-18 May campaign, the other GLOBE at Night campaigns during the first half of 2015 is on 8-17 June. [GLOBE at Night]
Hurricane season begins in the eastern North Pacific -- The 2015 hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific Ocean basin begins on Friday, 15 May 2015. The hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico will begin in two weeks on 1 June. The official hurricane seasons in both basins end on 30 November 2015. NOAA has declared the week of 24-30 May 2015 to be Hurricane Awareness Week across the nation.
Zenithal Sun -- The end of this upcoming week marks one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents on the Big Island on about 14 May at South Cape (Ka Lae at 18.9 deg North latitude and 155.68 degrees West longitude) and on the 18th and 19 May at Hilo; those on Oahu (Honolulu metropolitan area) will experience the noon sun at the zenith in approximately two more weeks (25-27 May). The sun will again be over the Big Island during the last week of July. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
Classroom activity unit on seasonal plant growth cycle is available -- The GLOBE Program (cosponsored through NOAA, NASA, and the National Science Foundation, or NSF) has created and posted online a classroom curriculum unit for 9-12 grade levels called "Global Patterns in Green-Up and Green-Down" that is based upon the annual cycles in vegetation growth associated with seasonality and climate. [NOAA Climate.gov News]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Reorganizing three of the nation's environmental data centers -- NOAA recently merged three of its former data centers (the National Climatic Data Center, the National Geophysical Data Center, and the National Oceanographic Data Center) into a reorganized National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). This new organization will be responsible for archiving and providing access to comprehensive oceanic, atmospheric and geophysical data. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center News]
Comparisons made between two of the nation's weather observing networks -- A study was recently completed by researchers at the National Climatic Data Center and the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites–North Carolina where temperature and precipitation data collected by selected automatic weather stations in the traditional US Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) network were compared with corresponding data obtained from nearby stations in new US Climate Reference Network (USCRN). The goal of this project was to evaluate the differences in observational technology between the two networks. The study found that the daily maximum temperatures obtained from the COOP stations ran higher than those from the USCRN stations, while the daily minimum temperatures at the COOP stations ran lower than those at the USCRN stations. In addition, the COOP stations reported slightly more daily precipitation. [NOAA National Centers of Environmental Information News]
Assessing global cloud cover from space -- A global cloud fraction map was generated from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite between July 2002 and April 2015. This image shows three bands across the globe with abundant cloud cover, with one narrow strip encircling the equatorial latitudes that form the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and broader bands at subpolar latitudes in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres corresponding to midlatitude storm systems and accompanying fronts. Cloud fraction differences also can be discerned between continents and oceans at the same latitude. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New Ozone Climate Data Record is released -- Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information recently announced the release of a new atmospheric ozone dataset called "Ozone Climate Data Record" that contains global-wide monthly average ozone concentration levels for 70 atmospheric layers extending from the Earth's surface to an altitude of 70 kilometers running from 1979 through 2007. This dataset, which would be of use to meteorologists and climate modelers, was derived from data collected from satellites, aircraft, balloons and ground-based systems. The time span available in the dataset can be used to test the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol, which was an international treaty designed to phase out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons. [NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information News]
Upcoming airborne science mission designed to measure the missing part of the "average" atmosphere -- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and their colleagues are preparing for an airborne campaign called the Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) that would measure the chemical composition of the Earth's troposphere and lower stratosphere under "average" conditions during all four seasons using a variety of instruments mounted on research aircraft. Measurements of the atmospheric composition in vertical cross-sections will be conducted along flight paths out over both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This (ATom) mission, which is expected to start in 2016, is intended provide insights designed to validate satellite measurements and improve climate-change computer models. [NASA Global Climate Change News]
Monitoring gravity waves in Earth's atmosphere -- Atmospheric scientists are using data collected from sensors onboard orbiting satellites to monitor atmospheric gravity waves (or atmospheric internal waves) that are similar to ocean waves, which are also gravity waves. The atmospheric gravity waves can propagate upward and outward especially when air flows across various obstacles such as mountains or islands. Data collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite found that mountain waves produced when air flows over mountains can travel up to the stratosphere. [NASA Global Climate Change News]

CLIMATE FORCING

Monthly atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration reach benchmark level -- According to scientists with NOAA's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network, the monthly global average concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in recorded history during the month of March 2015. This recent level is more than 120 ppm higher than in pre-industrial times and is estimated to be the highest level of carbon dioxide in at least 800,000 years. [NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research News]
Measuring the emissions from a large ethanol refinery -- A team of researchers from NOAA, NASA and several other research institutions recently reported on their findings made from aircraft measurements of the airborne emissions from the nation's third largest ethanol refinery in central Illinois during the summer of 2013. The researchers found that some gases such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) being released into the atmosphere during the refining of ethanol releases were five times more than previously thought, while other gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were in line with national emissions inventories. Emissions of ethanol were about 30 times higher than estimates. The emissions can contribute to the formation of ozone, a regulated pollutant that can affect human health. [NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research News]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

Ocean fronts found to improve fishery production -- In research conducted at the University of Georgia, ocean fronts have been found to help increase the total marine ecosystem biomass and fishery production and help cycle carbon and nitrogen compounds in the ocean. Like fronts in the atmosphere, ocean fronts separate different types of ocean masses that are warm and cool or salty and less salty. They also represent convergence zones. [University of Georgia Today]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

11 May 1966...The 1.6 inch-snow at Chicago, IL was their latest measurable snow of record. Previously the record was 3.7 inches on the 1^stand 2^nd of May set in 1940. (The Weather Channel)
11 May 2003...A total of 4.63 inches of rain fell at Nashville, TN, breaking the previous 24-hour record for the month. (The Weather Doctor)
12 May 1916...Plumb Point, Jamaica reported 17.80 inches of rain in 15 minutes, which set a world record. (The Weather Doctor)
13 May 1930...A man was killed when caught in an open field during a hailstorm 36 miles northwest of Lubbock, TX. This event was the first, and perhaps the only, authentic death by hail in U.S. weather records. (David Ludlum)
13 May 1992...Record late season snow ended over the Tanana Valley and Yukon Uplands in Alaska. This storm set two records at Fairbanks. The 9.4 inches of snow from the storm was by far the greatest May snow on record, shattering the previous record of 4.5 inches set on 13 May 1964. The total water content of the melted snow and rain was also a new one-day record for May (0.78 Inches). Snowfall in excess of two feet occurred at elevations above 2000 feet. (Intellicast)
14 May 1834...The greatest snowstorm ever to occur in May hit the Northern Atlantic coastal states. The hills around Newbury, VT were covered with up to 24 inches of snow and the higher elevations around Haverhill, NH received up to three feet. (Intellicast)
14 May 1896...The mercury plunged to 10 degrees below zero at Climax, CO, the lowest reading of record for the U.S. during the month of May. (David Ludlum) This record has since been broken in May 1964 by a reading of 15 degrees below zero at White Mountain in California. (NCDC)
14 May 2001...A storm stalled south of Nova Scotia drenching Halifax with 3.89 inches of rain, the greatest daily May rainfall since records began in 1871. (The Weather Doctor)
15 May 1968...Only tornado of record to have ever touched down in Alaska was spotted near Anchorage. (The Weather Doctor)
16 May 1917...Marquette, MI had its latest opening of navigation on Lake Superior in history. (Intellicast)
16 May 1924...The temperature at Blitzen, OR soared to 108 degrees to set a state record for the month of May. The record was later tied at Pelton Dam on the 31 May 1986. (The Weather Channel)
17 May 1997...Two inches of snow fell at Herman, MI, marking the last measurable snow for the 1996-1997 snow season. The 384.0 inches for this just concluded snow season broke a state snowfall record that was set the previous 1995-1996 season of 347.0 inches. The average snowfall at Herman is 239.7 inches. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
17 May 1979...A reading of 12 degrees at Mauna Kea Observatory (elevation 13,770 feet) established an all-time record low temperature for the state of Hawaii. (The Weather Channel)

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