WEEKLY WATER NEWS

21-25 April 2008

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2008 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2008. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Water in the News:

• Eye on the Tropics -- In western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Neoguri formed at the start of last week over the Sulu Sea southwest of the Philippines. During the week, it moved westward and then intensified to become a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale as it traveled northwestward across South China Sea toward China. On Saturday morning (local time), this typhoon made landfall along the coast of China near Hong Kong as a tropical storm. On Sunday, this system was traveling northeastward across southern China. An image from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows the characteristic central eye and swirl of clouds surrounding Typhoon Neoguri last week. [NASA Earth Observatory] An image of the rainfall rate from this tropical system was generated from data collected by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
  In western South Pacific, a tropical cyclone identified as Tropical Cyclone 27 P formed late last week over Coral Sea and traveled southeastward passing to the north of New Caledonia before weakening after one day.
  In the South Indian Ocean, an area of convective activity to the east of Diego Garcia on Sunday could develop into a tropical system.
• March 2008 weather reviewed -- Scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center recently reported that their analysis of preliminary data indicates the monthly temperature averaged across the coterminous US for March 2008 was close to the 113-year average March temperatures. Many of the northern tier of states had below average temperatures, while only Rhode Island, Arizona and New Mexico had above average statewide temperature for the period when detailed records with sufficient density began in 1895. With numerous storms traveling northeastward from the Plains to New England, most of the states in a band from Oklahoma to Vermont reported much above average precipitation in March. California, Arizona and New Mexico reported much below average March precipitation. Below average precipitation was also reported across the northern Plains, the Great Basin and the Southeast. While snowpack was diminishing over many of the western mountains, the western snowpack was deemed the healthiest in more than a decade.
  The March monthly average land temperatures from around the global were the warmest since global records commenced in 1880, while the month's ocean surface temperatures were the thirteenth warmest, due in part to a continued La Nina episode. Thus the globally averaged March temperature was the second highest since 1880. [NOAA News]
• New ocean wind atlases are available -- Researchers at the University of Hawaii and Oregon State University have assembled seven years of scatterometer data from NASA's QuikScat satellite and developed several atlases that depict the global ocean wind patterns, including those that identify the location and frequency of the highest winds. [NASA]
• Fuzzy logic applied to water quality analysis -- Researchers at the University of Malaya claim that the "fuzzy logic" approach, which involves use of approximations in calculations, can be used effectively to water quality assessment used. [EurekAlert!]
• Big Apple must test for drugs in its drinking water -- In an emergency hearing, the members of the City Council of New York City have called for testing of the city's drinking water for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, following an investigation by the Associated Press. [US Water News Online]
• Microseisms show increased ocean storm frequency -- A geophysicist at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology reports that seismographic stations around the world have noted an increase in the faint earth tremors or microseisms that have been caused by wind-driven ocean waves. He claims that this increase is caused by more frequent extreme ocean storms due to increased sea surface temperatures. [EurekAlert!]
• Electrical activity in thunderstorms triggered by lasers -- Researchers from Europe used a laser to deliberately trigger electrical discharges in the parent convective cloud for a thunderstorm passing across New Mexico, marking the first such deliberate triggering attempt. [EurekAlert!]
• Meltwater lake helps grease Greenland ice cap -- Scientists from the University of Washington and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who have been studying a glacial lake and surrounding ice in Greenland have found that the summertime meltwater contributes to a seasonal acceleration of ice loss as this water cuts through cracks in the ice and helps lubricate the bottom of the ice. The researches used data from a variety of NASA satellites and Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to measure ice movement. [NASA] [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
• Monitoring ancient methane sources from ice cores -- Scientists participating in the European Project for Ice Coring In Antarctica (EPICA) have been analyzing ice cores collected from the ice cap on Antarctica to determine the changes in the atmospheric concentration of methane over the last 30,000 years and to ascertain the sources of this greenhouse gas. [EurekAlert!]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include 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:

• 24 April 1987...Showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain in the Middle Atlantic Coast Region. Up to 7 in. of rain drenched Virginia in three days. Morgantown, WV received 4.27 in. in 24 hrs, and flooding was reported in south central West Virginia. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 24 April 1990...The Bogan River forced many residents to the second floors of two story buildings as the river topped sandbags protecting Nyngan, New South Wales, Australia. All of Nyngan was flooded to a depth of up to 20 ft. in 4 to 6 hours and all 2500 residents were evacuated by helicopter or bus on the 25^th. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 April 1995...Up to 6 in. of snow fell on the summits of Mauna Kea (13,796 ft elevation) and Mauna Loa (13,680 ft) on Hawaii's Big Island. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 25 April 1984...A late season snowstorm struck the Northern Rockies and the Northern Plains. The four-day storm that ended on the 28^th produced some unusually heavy snowfall totals. The town of Lead, located in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, was buried under 67 in. of snow. Red Lodge, located in the mountains of southern Montana, reported 72 in. of snow. Up to 60 in. blanketed the mountains of northern Wyoming. This storm was rated the worst late season storm of record for much of the affected area. (25^th-28^th) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel)
• 27 April 1968...Hail and winds badly damaged homes and trailers at Prescott, AZ. As many as 200 telephone lines were knocked out of service. The cooperative weather observer noted the hail was "icicle" in shape, with a one-inch diameters and lengths to six inches. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 27 April 1988...Mount Washington, NH reported seven ft of snow in ten days, pushing their snowfall total for the month to 89.9 in., surpassing the previous record of 89.3 in. set in 1975. Records have been kept at the Observatory on the summit since December 1932. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)
• 27 April 1989...Thunderstorms produced severe weather from the Lower and Middle Mississippi Valley to Virginia and the Carolinas. Hail up to 4.5 in. in diameter caused $5 million damage around Omaha, NE. Three inches of rain in a relatively short period of time caused flooding of streets with 3 ft of water reported at some intersections. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2008, The American Meteorological Society.