WEEKLY WATER NEWS

THANKSGIVING WEEK: 21-25 November 2005

Water in the News:

Eye on the tropics --
- In the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Sergio formed off the Mexican coast last week intensified to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, moved northward and then westward before weakening to a tropical depression by Sunday evening. The hurricane did bring up to six inches of rain along the Mexican coast last Friday. [USA Today] A visible image from the NOAA GOES-12 satellite shows Hurricane Sergio off the Mexican coast. [NOAA OSEI]
- In the western North Pacific, Typhoon Chebi moved to the northwest toward southeastern China and dissipated early last week. Earlier during the previous week, this category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale had moved across the northern Philippines. An image from the NOAA-17 satellite shows a weakened Tropical Storm Chebi approaching China's Hainan Island. [NOAA OSEI]
Catastrophe bondholders could profit from quiet hurricane season -- Investors who purchased "catastrophe bonds" as a hedge against damage from hurricanes before the beginning of this hurricane season could stand to profit from a relatively mild season. [USA Today]
Pilgrims weathered a major hurricane -- A geology professor at Queens College collected information August 1635 "The Great Colonial Hurricane" from historic colonial journals, which was used in conjunction with the SLOSH (Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) computer model to determine that the residents of Plymouth Colony experienced a major Category 3 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) with winds to 130 mph and a storm surge of up to 21 feet high. [USA Today]
A space-age view of the birth of a Pacific Island volcano -- While a yacht crew was an eyewitness to the emergence of a volcanic island in the nation of Tonga in the southwest Pacific Ocean when the sailors spotted a floating pumice in August, recent satellite imagery shows the newly emerged islands along with floating pumice. An image obtained from the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite shows the newly emerged Home Reef Home Reef. [NASA Earth Observatory] Two images made a little more than a month apart by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows the development of the island and the pumice rafts. [NASA Earth Observatory]
A review of October's weather -- Scientists at the National Climatic Data Center reported that the nationally averaged temperature for October 2006 was nearly one Fahrenheit degree below the long term monthly average, marking the second month in a row that the continental US experienced below average temperatures. While Texas was the only state to have an above average statewide temperature, nearly two dozen states had below average temperatures. October 2006 was the twelfth wettest October since reliable climate records began in 1895, as much above average precipitation was reported along much of the Eastern Seaboard, the Midwest and the Southwest. [NOAA News]
A final official US winter forecast is issued -- Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center released their final US winter outlook for the winter season (the three months of December 2006 through February 2007). The forecasters are basing their outlook on what they see is a strengthening El Niño event in the planetary scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes. Once again, they foresee a higher than average probability that a large section of the nation will experience a winter that would have above average temperatures, with only Hawaii having a better than even chance of below average temperatures, while the Southeast had a better than even chance of near "normal" winter temperatures. The forecasters also anticipate high probabilities of drier than average conditions across the northern Rockies, sections of the Midwest and the Hawaiian Islands, while better than even changes of a wetter than average winter across the Southern States, stretching from southern California eastward to southern Texas and the Florida Peninsula. [NOAA News]
NOAA's role in monitoring the current El Niño event highlighted -- The roles that the various organizations within NOAA are taking in the research, monitoring and prediction of the current El Niño episode is featured in the NOAA Magazine. [NOAA Magazine]
Australian wildfires seen from space -- The MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite shows active wildfires burning across northwestern Australia last week. The region is experiencing dry conditions, which are typical across the region in an El Niño episode. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New Gulf Institute announced -- NOAA officials and those from a consortium of universities have announced the creation of a new cooperative institute called the Northern Gulf Institute to be located at Stennis Space Center, MS that will address regional issues across the Gulf of Mexico associated with coastal hazards, climate change, water quality, ecosystem management, coastal wetlands and pollution. [NOAA News]
Uncharted Antarctic seafloor to be explored by ice-breaker -- The Polarstern, the double-hulled ice-breaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, will depart from this coming week from South Africa for the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula to conduct a biological and geophysical research in a relatively unknown region of the waters off Antarctica. [EurekAlert!]
Deadly floods strike Kenya as Climate Change Conference meets -- As the U.N. Climate Change conference met in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, heavy rain caused flooding that resulted in the deaths of over twenty people in northern and coastal sections of Kenya. [Voice of America]
Afghan flash floods were deadly -- Torrential rain in Afghanistan late last week caused flash flooding in a remote northwestern province that resulted in the deaths of 15 people and the stranding of several thousand people. [USA Today]
Snowmaking turns green this season -- Ski resorts preparing for the upcoming ski season are following a national trend of going "green" by purchasing wind-generated electricity to power their snowmaking operations [USA Today]
Missouri River has undergone change since Lewis and Clark -- Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and Oxford University claim that based on their analysis of data collected by Lewis and Clark during their 1804-06 expedition, the Missouri River had become experienced channeling (or narrowing) and water levels have become more variable in the subsequent two hundred years, the result of human activity. [EurekAlert!]
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]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

21 November 1967...Excessive rains in southern California caused the most severe flooding and the most damaging mudslides in 33 years. Downtown Los Angeles received 7.96 in. of rain, and 14 in. fell in the mountains. (David Ludlum)
21 November 1987...Truk Island (Federated States of Micronesia at 7.4 degrees N, 151.7 degrees E) was struck by the rapidly intensifying Tropical Storm Nina, as winds gusted to 95 mph. Five died and most buildings were destroyed. A storm of such intensity so close to the equator is somewhat unusual. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
24 November 1981...Typhoon Irma, the worst typhoon in a decade hit the Philippines leaving 236 people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
24 November 1982...Hurricane Iwa lashed the Hawaiian Islands of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu with high winds and surf. Winds gusting to 120 mph caused extensive shoreline damage. Winds at Honolulu gusted to 81 mph. Damage totaled 150 million dollars on Kauai, and fifty million dollars on Oahu. The peak storm surge on the south shore was six to eight feet. It marked the first time in 25 years that Hawaii had been affected by a hurricane. (The Weather Channel)
26 November 1888...A late season hurricane brushed the East Coast with heavy rain and gale force winds. The hurricane passed inside Nantucket and over Cape Cod, then crossed Nova Scotia. (David Ludlum)
26-28 November 1898...The "Portland" storm raged across New England producing gale force winds along the coast and heavy snow inland. A foot of snow blanketed Boston, MA, and 27 inches fell at New London, CT. Winds at Boston gusted to 72 mph, and wind gusts to 98 mph were estimated at Block Island, RI. A passenger ship, the S.S. Portland, sank off Cape Cod with the loss of all 191 persons aboard, and Boston Harbor was filled with wrecked ships. The storm wrecked 56 vessels resulting in a total of 456 casualties. (26^th- 28^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)