WEEKLY WATER NEWS

THANKSGIVING WEEK: 19-23 November 2007

Water in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- With two weeks remaining in the official hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea) and the eastern North Pacific, no tropical cyclone activity was detected this past week. However, tropical cyclone activity was reported in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific this past week. Interestingly, several tropical cyclones developed in the southern hemisphere, which is somewhat unusual as this hemisphere is currently experiencing spring.
- In the North Indian Ocean, a major tropical cyclone (category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) called Tropical Cyclone Sidr moved northward across the Bay of Bengal early last week before making landfall along the coast of Bangladesh last Thursday. Torrential rain, 150-mph winds and a four-foot storm surge accompanying this cyclone killed at least 1860 people, displaced 650,000 people and caused significant damage across Bangladesh. Rescue efforts were continuing as of Sunday. [USA Today] An image obtained from the Japanese MTSAT satellite shows clouds surrounding Sidr prior to landfall. [NOAA OSEI] A MODIS image from NASA's Terra satellite of the cyclone after it made landfall the following day shows how the system became disorganized. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional images, maps and discussion of former Tropical Cyclone Sidir are available on the NASA Hurricane Website. [NASA]
- In the South Indian Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone Lee-Ariel formed at midweek well to the southeast of the Chagos Archipelago and traveled to the southwest. As of late Sunday (local time) this cyclone was continuing to the southwest. A tropical storm identified as Tropical Cyclone 4S had formed on Sunday (local time) near the Chagos Archipelago and was moving southward.
- In the western South Pacific basin, Tropical Cyclone Guba, a category 1 tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale), formed during the middle of last week south of Papua New Guinea and traveled initially westward before taking an erratic path to the southeast and then southwest by Sunday (local time). A satellite image obtained by the sensors on the Japanese MTSAT satellite shows the clouds surrounding Guba. [Editor's note: Notice that the cloud swirl around the central eye is clockwise, since this cyclone is in the Southern Hemisphere. EJH] [NOAA OSEI] Additional images, maps and discussion of Tropical Cyclone Guba are available on the NASA Hurricane Website. [NASA]
- In the western North Pacific basin, the tropical depression that formed west of the Mariannas became short-lived Tropical Storm Tapah as it moved to the northeast before dissipating on Monday.
Potent storm strikes the Sea of Azov -- A MODIS image obtained from NASA's Aqua satellite shows a large comma-shaped cloud pattern that was accompanying a major midlatitude storm system that struck the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in southern Russia at the beginning of last week. Winds of up to 67-mph caused ten ships on these water bodies to either sink or run aground. Fuel oil leaked from a Russian tanker that broke apart in the Kerch Strait. [NASA Earth Observatory]
A review of October's weather -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center recently reported that October 2007 was the ninth warmest October on record for the 48 coterminous United States. The Northeast was unseasonably warm, with Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island having their warmest October in the 113-year period of record that began in 1895 when a sufficiently dense nationwide climate observation network was formed. However, statewide temperatures across Washington, Oregon and California were below the 113-year average for October. The Southwest, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, had below average precipitation totals for October, while the upper Midwest and the northern Plains, as well as Kentucky and Vermont reported much above average October precipitation. Unfortunately, 35 percent of the contiguous U.S. remained in moderate-to-exceptional drought at the end of the month. The 2007 fire season was the second worst on record according to the National Interagency Fire Center, exceeded only by last year's record fire season [NOAA News]
The National Climatic Data Center has posted a listing of some of the notable extremes in temperature, precipitation and other weather elements across the nation for the recently completed month of October 2007. Some additions to this list may be made in subsequent weeks.
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 2007 through February 2008). These forecasters continue to foresee a higher than average probability that much of the nation should experience above average winter temperatures, except for sections of the West and northern New England. Southern Texas appeared to have the highest probability of an unseasonably warm winter. The West, which included the Pacific Coast, the northern tier of states from the interior Northwest to the Dakotas, along with northern New England, could have equal chances for above or below average temperatures. The forecasters also anticipate high probabilities of drier than average conditions across the southern tier of states, extending from southern California to the Southeast, regions that are currently experiencing severe to exceptional drought conditions. On the other hand, the Pacific Northwest and sections of the Midwest should have better than even changes of a wetter than average winter. The forecasters are basing their outlook on what they see as a continuation of the current La Niña event in the planetary scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes into early 2008. [NOAA News]
An update on Bay-area spill response efforts -- Several NOAA organizations were continuing to assist other local, state and federal agencies in the damage assessment and cleanup efforts underway in the San Francisco Bay area following the oil spill that resulted when a tanker collided with one of the supporting towers of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge more than a week earlier. [NOAA News]
Hurricane Katrina blamed as a carbon source -- Scientists from the Tulane University and the University of New Hampshire used Landsat 5 satellite data from before and after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina along the Louisiana Gulf coast to assess the extent of the damage incurred by the forests because of the hurricane and to determine the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of the diminished role that these destroyed forests now play in storing carbon. [NASA Hurricane]
Public comment solicited on aquaculture feeds -- The NOAA's Fisheries Service and the US Department of Agriculture are soliciting public comment on ways to reduced the dependence on fish-based feeds in the nation's aquaculture industry as part of a year-long research program. [NOAA News]
A complex river delta system depicted -- A photograph taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows the detail of the Saskatchewan River delta that extends into Cedar Lake in Manitoba. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Studying the workings of a "tsunami factory" -- Using seismic data collected from the western Pacific off the southwest Japanese coast, US and Japanese geoscientists have developed a three-dimensional view of the structure of the earth's crust below the seafloor in the Nankai Trough, a subduction zone capable of generating major tsunamis. [EurekAlert!]
Locusts feast on lush vegetation -- An image of the vegetation anomaly generated from data collected by SPOT satellite during the first ten days of November across Sudan shows the large areas that had developed lush vegetation following recent heavy rain; these lush vegetation was highly susceptible to swarms of locusts. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Dust storm over central Asia -- A photograph made by an astronaut on the International Space Station last spring captured a major dust storm that developed over Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea, a body of which has been shrinking over the last half century from its rank as the fourth largest body of inland water. [NASA Earth Observatory]
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:

19 November 1978...A waterspout came onshore to become a tornado near Muhio Wharf in Hilo Harbor on Hawaii's Big Island. Some industrial buildings lost their roofs. The proximity of the waterspout-tornado caused an airliner to change its landing approach to Hilo's airport. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
19 November 1996...A 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state of Oregon was established when 11.65 in. of rain fell at Port Orford. (NCDC)
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)