DATASTREME WES WEEK THREE: 9-13 February 2004

• Recent snows in Sierras provide little relief to drought -- After making their snow survey of the snowpack in the high Sierra, hydrologists concluded that the while the snowpack is slightly above average as a result of recent snow, much more snow would be needed to ease the impact of at least four years of drought in California and Nevada. [USA Today]
• Splitting of water by plants studied -- An international team of researchers have been using high-resolution x-ray crystallography to study the processes by which plants split the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen atoms . The hope is that this research will help in finding a cheaper means for producing hydrogen fuel. [ENN]
• Cockle picking turns deadly from ocean waves-- At least 18 people were killed when rapidly rising tides trapped them as they collected cockles along the tidal flats of Morecambe Bay in northwest England. These victims may have been illegal immigrants from China. [CNN] In a related article, British police were conducting a hunt for the work-gang operators who appear to be involved with having the workers out on the tidal flats. [CNN]
• Airborne lidar used to study damage from Isabel -- NASA and USGS scientists have mapped the North Carolina coastline before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel last September using the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) system mounted on a low flying aircraft. This system, which contains a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument, has been used to study the new inlet made on Hatteras Island by Isabel. [NASA]
• Monitoring glacial retreat from space -- NASA recently released photographs taken by crews onboard the International Space Station that document the retreat in the Patagonian Ice Fields and glaciers in the southern Andes over a span of three years. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Satellites aid in landslide warnings -- Radar images obtained from the European Space Agency's orbiting satellites are being used by governmental agencies in Italy and Switzerland to monitor those small changes in the mountainous landscape following heavy rains that could lead to potentially disastrous landslides. [ESA]
• Help for an estuary funded -- A coastline protection project designed to help protect the Severn Estuary, one of Britain's largest and most dynamic estuaries, has received funding . [EurekAlert!]
• Ocean-bound pollutants hidden by clouds -- Scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center have analyzed the data obtained from the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) field experiment and estimated that approximately two-thirds of the pollutants flowing into the North Pacific Ocean from Asian countries along the Pacific Rim occur under cloudy skies. Therefore, they conclude that satellite-based pollution data may be underestimates. [EurekAlert!]
• Rules for washing machines approved -- After a freeze on state regulations proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger, regulators with the California Energy Commission recently adopted water efficiency rules for washing machines that are more stringent than federal appliance efficiency statutes. [ENN]
• Irish wells are polluted -- Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency recently reported that more than 25% of the drinking water drawn from rural wells in Ireland contain traces of human or animal feces from untreated sewage. [ENN]
• Budget request includes increased funding for coastal and ocean ecosystems work -- The NOAA Administrator, Conrad C. Lautenbacher, recently released the proposed 2005 budget for NOAA, which includes $1.158 billion (or a $145.3 million increase over current funding) to protect, restore and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through ecosystem approach to management. Additional increases in funding for hydrographic surveying and mapping of harbors and coastal waterways to provide better information to mariners were also proposed. [NOAA News]
• 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.

In recent years Great Lakes water levels declined significantly to near historic lows. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie experienced their lowest water levels in 35 years with serious implications for lake-based activities. Over the past year or so, however, changes in weather conditions in the Great Lakes watershed appear to have somewhat reversed the decline in water levels.

From 1997 to 2001, Lakes Michigan and Huron dropped by 104 cm (40.8 in.) and Lake Erie dropped by 96 cm (37.6 in.), encompassing the greatest three-year drop in lake levels since continuous records began in 1860. This dramatic decline in lake level was due to a combination of weather conditions in the Great Lakes watershed. Rainfall, snowfall, and air temperature during winter and spring govern water levels of the Great Lakes in spring and summer. Spring melting of the winter snow pack in the watershed is an important contributing factor as is air temperature that ultimately governs evaporation rates. During 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000, lower than normal precipitation and higher than normal temperatures reduced the winter snow pack, decreased discharge on rivers flowing into the lakes, and accelerated lake evaporation. Although input of water into the Great Lakes was above the long-term average in Fall 2001, lake levels remained well below average because of less than the usual snow melt in the Spring of 2001 and less than normal winter ice-cover in 2001-02. (More open water translates into greater winter evaporation.)

Great Lakes water levels showed signs of recovery during 2002, but in early 2003 all the lakes were lower than the long-term average for that time of year. A cool wet summer in the eastern Lakes region, but dry summer weather across the west meant that lake levels for the upper lakes continued to remain below average, while the lower lakes had levels that returned to near average. By late September 2003, only Lake Ontario had a water level that was above the long-term monthly average. At the beginning of February 2004, the level of Lake Superior was slightly below the level from last year, but was 10 cm (4 in) below the long-term February average level. The water level for Lakes Michigan and Huron remained well below average as they were nearly the same as in February 2003, or 48 cm (19 in) below the February average. (The Straits of Mackinac that link Lakes Michigan and Huron are so wide and deep that the levels of these two lakes are essentially the same.) The level of Lake Erie was slightly above the February 2003 level or 7 cm (3 in) below the long-term average. On the other hand, Lake Ontario had a level above that of one year ago, which was 24 cm (9 in) above the monthly average.

Low lake levels adversely impacted commercial navigation, marinas, recreational boaters, and electric power facilities. Shallower than usual water requires expensive and environmentally damaging dredging to keep shipping channels navigable and ports open. Even with more dredging some channels cannot accommodate the draft of heavily laden freighters. Reduced carrying capacity impedes transport of grain, coal, ore, and other raw materials to processing facilities and markets. In 2000, Lake Carriers transported 5% to 8% less cargo, sending prices higher. If storm winds cause near-shore water levels to fall, marinas, docks, and boat ramps may be temporarily inaccessible. The Great Lakes supply most of the potable water for communities and cooling water for coal-fired and nuclear electric power plants located along their shores. A drop in water level may require costly repositioning of intake pipes. On the positive side, lower lake levels translate into broader beaches and wetland habitats and a respite from shoreline erosion.

For more information on past, current, and anticipated Great Lakes water levels, go to http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now/wlevels/, a web page maintained by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). Records of Great Lakes water levels constitute one of the longest high quality hydrometeorological data sets in North America, dating back to about 1860. Lake level measurements are collected and archived by NOAA's National Ocean Service.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. With rising temperatures, the rate of evaporation of water [(increases)(decreases)].
2. A trend toward snowier and colder winters and springs is likely to cause levels of the Great Lakes to [(rise)(fall)].

• 9 February 1994...A long duration overrunning snowstorm combined with ocean effect snow resulted in big snowfall accumulations across east-coastal Massachusetts. Boston checked in with a two-day total of 18.7 inches for its greatest single storm snowfall since the great blizzard of 1978. 27.7 inches were recorded at Manchester-by-the-Sea and 24 inches fell at South Weymouth. Farther to the southwest, a foot of snow blanketed Newark, NJ. (Intellicast)
• 10 February 1940...USCGC Bibb and Duane made first transmissions as weather stations. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 11-22 February 1986...A series of storms dropped heavy snow on northern and central California; Bucks Lake had a storm total of 49.6 inches. The resultant flooding and mudslides killed 13, injured 67 and caused 50,000 people to evacuate. Property damage was an estimated $400 million. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 12 February 1997...A combination of heavy surf and high winds contributed to the overturning of a U.S. Coast Guard motor life boat (MLB 44363) on a search and rescue mission when responding to a distress call from the sailing vessel Gale Runner in the stormy North Pacific Ocean off Washington State's Quillayute River Bar. Three of four crewmembers lost their lives in the first fatal sinking of this type of ship in its 35-year history. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (USCG Historian's Office)
• 13 February 1784...Ice floes blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans, then passed into the Gulf of Mexico. The only other time this occurred was during the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of 1899. (David Ludlum)
• 13 February 1885...The "Friday the 13th" avalanche at Alva, UT killed sixteen persons, and left thirteen others buried for twelve hours before being rescued. (David Ludlum)
• 13 February 1989...Showers and thunderstorms produced locally heavy rain and flash flooding from central Texas to western Pennsylvania. Up to ten inches of rain deluged western Kentucky in two days, with five-day totals ranging up to 13.16 inches at Gilbertsville Dam, KY. Flooding caused tens of millions of dollars damage, including 18 million dollars damage at Frankfort, KY. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 13 February 1997...Ocean swells generated by a storm well to the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands generated surf with heights to 20 feet and some sets to 25 feet along the northern shores of the islands. A professional surfer was killed by 25-foot surf at Alligator Rock on Oahu's North Shore. Lifeguards aided more than thirty people. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 15 February 1982...An intense cyclone (low pressure system) off the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland capsized the Ocean Ranger, a drilling rig, killing 84 persons, and sank a Soviet freighter resulting in 33 more deaths. The cyclone produced 80 mph winds that whipped the water into waves fifty feet high. (David Ludlum)
• 15 February 1998...A "rogue" wave from the Pacific Ocean swept into the harbor at Port Arena, CA. This wave continued through a harbor parking lot, depositing sand, debris and logs, as well as moving thirty parked vehicles. No injuries were sustained. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.