18-22 August 2008

• Weather and climate around the globe in July -- Scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center recently announced that based on preliminary data, the globally averaged land and ocean surface temperature for July 2008 ties this month with the fifth warmest July since worldwide records began in 1880. Neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation conditions returned to the tropical Pacific Ocean following an extended La Niña event. The sea ice across the Northern Hemisphere during the month of July was the fourth smallest since 1979. [NOAA News]
• Drought in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles -- An image of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for June and July 2008 obtained from data collected by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite shows how the driest year across the Oklahoma Panhandle in more than 85 years has resulted in extensive damage to the vegetation of the crop and pasture lands. [NASA Earth Observatory] An animation of drought status maps generated by the National Drought Mitigation Center shows the evolution of the drought across the region commencing in July 2007. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Evidence of desertification in Africa -- A comparison of the Landsat images made of Mali's Lake Faguibine in the 1970s and in 2005 and 2006 shows the decrease in the size of the lake due to the prolonged drought across the section of Mali located between the Sahara Desert and the Sahel. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Locusts could hit West Africa -- A recent image of the Vegetation Anomaly, an index that shows the health of vegetation derived from data collected by a sensor on the French SPOT Vegetation satellite, reveals several clusters of locusts across sections of West Africa. Environmental conditions during July and August 2008 suggest the possibility of another major locust threat, resulting in potentially serious food shortages. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Sulfur dioxide emanates from Alaskan volcano-- Three explosive eruptions during the first week of August from the Kasatochi Volcano in Alaska's eastern Aleutian Island chain sent plume of ash to altitudes of 35,000 feet along with a large cloud of sulfur dioxide, one of the largest in over 15 years. An image of the sulfur dioxide emitted from this volcano across the Gulf of Alaska and the Alaska Panhandle was produced from data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory] A vertical view of the volcano can be seen from an image produced by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite approximately five years ago. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Studying possible effects of aerosols upon cloud cover --Scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Israel's Weizmann Institute are studying anthropogenically generated aerosols and their effect upon cloud cover and climate. They used aerosol and cloud observations from NASA's Terra satellite. [NASA GSFC]
• Balloons used to study volcanoes -- Researchers from Michigan Technological University and colleagues have been using remotely controlled meteorological balloons to obtain measurements of the temperature, water content and chemical composition of volcanic gases emanating from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano. [Michigan Tech News]
• Mass extinctions in the oceans foreseen -- An oceanographer from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the oceans could experience mass extinctions and the "rise of slime" because of the threats to marine ecosystems presented by a variety of factors including overfishing, pollution and climate change. [Scripps News]
• Rainfall in Middle East could increase due to climate change -- A researcher from Australia's University of New South Wales reports that his research indicates that the projected changes in the global climate would result in increased rainfall across sections of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East at certain times of the year. While much of the Middle East could see a longer dry season, changes in maximum rainfall locally could affect the region's agriculture. [EurekAlert!]
• Variations in Antarctic climate linked to tropical Pacific -- A new analysis of Antarctic ice cores by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Washington indicates that the interannual variations in temperature and the century-long temperature increase across West Antarctica appear to be linked with the conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, including periodic events such as El Niño episodes. [UCAR/NCAR]
• Countdown begins for upcoming Earth Explorers satellite -- The European Space Agency is preparing for next month's launch from Russia of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, the first satellite in the Agency's Earth Explorers series that will be placed into low earth-orbit to map the Earth's gravitation field with unprecedented accuracy. This satellite is expected to contribute to oceanography and to climate change studies. [ESA]
• Another view of hurricanes and climate change -- Recent research conducted at the University of Miami using a new method for evaluating the frequency of hurricane formation indicates that while projected increases in sea surface temperature could cause hurricanes to form more easily and more rapidly, increased wind shear would serve to suppress hurricane formation. [EurekAlert!]
• Seals dive for climate data -- An international team of French, Australian, US and British scientists have been analyzing ocean data across data sparse sections of the Southern Ocean collected from oceanographic sensors that have been attached to deep diving elephant seals. [CSIRO]
• Not all green roofs are the same -- A recent study conducted at the University of Texas at Austin warns that different types of green roofs will have differences in the cooling the building and handling the rainwater falling on it. [University of Texas at Austin]
• Mass extinction of amphibians documented -- Researchers at San Francisco State University and the University of California claim that large numbers of amphibians around the world have been lost and that human activity has been a contributor to the extinction through changes in climate and through deadly infectious disease being transmitted between species. [EurekAlert!]
• Changes in climate killing trees -- Scientists at the University of California, Irvine report that higher temperatures and longer dry spells have resulted in the deaths of thousands of trees and shrubs in the Santa Rosa Mountains of southern California as the habitat of the plants has moved upward along the mountain slopes by an average of 213 feet in the last three decades. [EurekAlert!]
• US cities to report carbon emissions -- At least 30 cities across the US have agreed to voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions and other relevant climate change data as part of the joint Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability effort. [EurekAlert!]
• 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• 18-19 August 2007…A cooperative observer near Hokah in southeastern Minnesota recorded 15.10 inches of rain, establishing a new 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Gopher State. (NCDC)
• 18 August 1936...Iowa had its hottest ever August day with the average high temperature for 113 stations being 106.5 degrees Fahrenheit. (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1939...Tuckerton, NJ received 14.81 inches of rain, which established a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Garden State. (NCDC)
• 19 August 1955...Rains from tropical Storm Diane fell on ground saturated from Tropical Storm Connie a week before. Westfield, MA recorded 18.15 inches in 24 hours, to set a statewide record for the Bay State, while the 24-hour precipitation record for the Nutmeg State was set at Burlington, CT with 12.77 inches. Extreme flooding occurred in all of New England. (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1960...The heaviest recorded 24-hour precipitation accumulation to date for the Arctic drenched Mould Bay, Northwest Territories with 1.88 inches of rain. (The Weather Doctor)
• 19 August 1969...'Never say die' Camille let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides which killed 151 persons and cause 140 million dollars damage. Massies Hill in Nelson County, Virginia received an estimated 27 inches of rain in 24 hours. This amount is an unofficial record for the state, while the official 24-hour maximum precipitation record is 14.28 inches at Williamsburg on 16 September 1999. (David Ludlum) (NCDC)
• 19 August 1986...The temperature at San Antonio, TX soared to an all-time record high of 108 degrees. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders 1987)
• 21 August 1983...The temperature at Fayetteville, NC soared to 110 degrees to establish a state high temperature record. (The Weather Channel)
• 21 August 2007…Hail with diameters of up to 5.25 inches fell in southeastern South Dakota, resulting in considerable damage to roofs of buildings. The largest hailstone had a circumference of 18.00 inches and weighed 1.0 pound, which represents the largest documented hailstone in South Dakota since records began in 1950. (NCDC)
• 22 August 1816...The growing season for corn was cut short as damaging frosts were reported from North Carolina to interior New England in the "Year-without-a-Summer". (David Ludlum)

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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2008, The American Meteorological Society.