12-16 July 2004

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2004 with new Water News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 30 August 2004. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Hurricane Awareness -- As the 2004 hurricane season in the North Atlantic Basin approaches its peak, the New England States of Maine and New Hampshire will observe this coming week (12-16 July) as Hurricane Awareness Week. Other coastal states from Texas to New York State had participated in hurricane awareness activities earlier in the season. Additional hurricane awareness information can be found at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurricane/index.shtml.
• Track hurricanes back through the years -- NOAA officials are inviting anyone to their updated NOAA "Historical Hurricane Tracks" Web database. The tracks of tropical cyclones (to include hurricanes and tropical storms) that moved across the Atlantic basin during the last 150 years, along with those tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific basins during the last 50 years can be accessed. [NOAA News]
• A deadly anniversary noted -- NOAA officials recently noted the 10th anniversary of the landfall of Tropical Storm Alberto on the Florida Panhandle on 3 July 1994. While minimal damage was associated with the winds which only reached 65 mph, the inland flooding from more than 24 inches of rain that fell as this tropical system remained stalled for four days resulted in 33 deaths in Georgia and Alabama. [NOAA News]
• Improved forecasts of dangerous surf conditions foreseen -- Forecasters with the National Weather Service now have an improved numerical ocean-wave prediction computer model called WAVEWATCH III that should allow them to alert the public about possible unsafe surf conditions along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. [NOAA News]
• Searching for lost warbirds in Lake Michigan -- NOAA recently helped the US Navy locate historic World War II aircraft in southern Lake Michigan that sunk during training exercises that included taking off and landing on one of two "inland" aircraft carriers. Side-scan sonar is being used to locate the planes. [NOAA News]
• An injured seal returned to the wild -- An endangered Hawaiian monk seal was returned to its natural habitat in waters off the Aloha State after veterinarians removed a large fish hook caught in its esophagus. [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.

• 12 July 1951...The Kaw River flood occurred. The month of June that year was the wettest of record for the state of Kansas, and during the four days preceding the flood much of eastern Kansas and western Missouri received more than ten inches of rain. Flooding in the Midwest claimed 41 lives, left 200 thousand persons homeless, and caused a billion dollars property damage. Kansas City was hardest hit. The central industrial district sustained 870 million dollars property damage. (The Kansas City Weather Almanac)
• 12 July 1988...Evening thunderstorms produced severe weather over the Dakotas, including baseball size hail at Aberdeen, SD and softball size hail near Monango and Fullerton, ND. Thunderstorms produced heavy rain in Arkansas and northeastern Texas, with 6.59 inches reported at Mesquite, TX in just an hour and fifteen minutes. Garland, TX reported water up to the tops of cars following a torrential downpour. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 12 July 1989...Early morning thunderstorms over eastern Kansas deluged McFarland with more than six inches of rain. Afternoon thunderstorms in Wyoming produced up to eighteen inches of dime size hail near Rock Springs, along with torrential rains, and a three foot high wall of mud and water swept into the town causing one death and more than 1.5 million dollars damage. Evening thunderstorms produced severe weather in Oklahoma and Arkansas, deluging Dardanelle, AR with 3.50 inches of rain in less than twenty minutes. About seventy cows were killed when lightning struck a tree in Jones County, TX. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
• 12 July 1996...Up to three inches of rain fell in one hour near Buffalo Creek, CO on forestland denuded by a May wildfire. The resulting 20 foot high wall of water uprooted trees and utility poles, buildings were moved from their foundations and bridges destroyed. Two people were killed when vehicles were washed away. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 12 July 2001...A nearly stationary supercell thunderstorm dropped large hail and between 3 and 6 inches of rain during one hour southeast of Cohagen, MT. Hail drifts up to ten feet deep were measured in coulees. Four days later, golf ball sized hail was still embedded in the mud and straw, along with drifts to four feet deep. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 July 1975...Dover, DE was deluged with 8.50 inches of rain to establish a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state. (The Weather Channel)
• 14 July 1886...Los Angeles had its greatest 24-hour July rainfall with 0.24 inches. (Intellicast)
• 14-15 July 1911...Baguio, Luzon, Philippines reported 46 inches of rain, which represents Asia's greatest 24-hour rainfall: (The Weather Doctor).
• 15-16 July 1916...A dying South Atlantic Coast storm produced torrential rains in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Altapass, NC was drenched with 22.22 inches of rain, a 24-hour rainfall record for the Tarheel State, and at the time, a 24-hour record for the U.S. (The current 24-hour rainfall record for the US is 43 inches set 25-25 July 1979 at Alvin, TX). Flooding resulted in considerable damage, particularly to railroads. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) (NCDC)
• 15 July 1983...The Big Thompson Creek in Colorado flooded for the second time in seven years, claiming three lives, and filling the town of Estes Park with eight to ten feet of water. (The Weather Channel)
• 15 July 1989...Thunderstorms drenched Kansas City, MO with 4.16 inches of rain, a record for the date. Two and a half inches of rain deluged the city between noon and 1 PM. Afternoon thunderstorms in South Carolina deluged Williamstown with six inches of rain in ninety minutes, including four inches in little more than half an hour. (The National Weather Summary)(Storm Data)
• 15 July 1993...Four-inch diameter hail fell at Hot Springs, SD. In North Dakota, Jamestown recorded 6.40 inches of rain, Fargo 5.09 inches and Bismarck 4.08 inches. (Intellicast)
• 15 July 2001...Rain fell at 3.91 inches per hour in Seoul, South Korea, the heaviest amount since 1964. In total, 12.2 inches of rain fell in Seoul and Kyonggi. The rain was responsible for 40 reported fatalities. (The Weather Doctor)
• 17 July 1987...Slow-moving thunderstorms caused flooding on the Guadalupe River in Texas resulting in tragic loss of life. A bus and van leaving a summer youth camp stalled near the rapidly rising river, just west of the town of Comfort, and a powerful surge of water swept away 43 persons, mostly teenagers. Ten drowned in the floodwaters. Most of the others were rescued from treetops by helicopter. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 17-18 July 1996...Heavy rains were responsible for unprecedented flooding across north central and northeast Illinois, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Aurora, IL received 16.91 inches of rain, which established a new 24-hour precipitation record for the Prairie State. Approximately 60 percent of the city's homes were affected by flooding. At Romeoville, 10.36 inches of rain fell. Interstates were closed and some towns were isolated. Rampaging floodwaters scoured out roads near Dayton, leaving gravel and sand deposits to twenty feet high. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 18 July 1889...A cloudburst in West Virginia along the small creeks in Wirt County, Jackson County and Wood County claimed twenty lives. Rockport, WV reported 19.00 inches of rain in two hours and ten minutes that Thursday evening, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Mountain State. Tygart Creek rose 22 feet in one hour, and villages were swept away on Tygart, Slate, Tucker, and Sandy Creeks. (The Weather Channel) (NCDC)
• 18 July 1942...A record deluge occurred at Smethport in northern Pennsylvania, with 30.70 inches in just six hours. The 24-hour rainfall total for the day was 34.50 inches, which set a maximum 24-hour precipitation for the Keystone State. The downpours and resultant flooding in Pennsylvania were devastating. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) (NCDC)
• 18 July 1955...In Martinstown, England, eleven inches of rain fell in a 15-hour period on this day believed to be the 24-hour greatest rainfall for the United Kingdom. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18-19 July 1979...A 30-foot high tsunami wave leveled four Indonesian villages on the Sunda Islands during the night. The wave swept 1500 feet inland, causing 589 deaths among the sleeping villagers. A landslide from Mount Werung (Lomblen Island) caused the tsunami. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 18 July 1996... Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec, beginning one of Canada's costliest natural disasters. (Wikipedia)
• 18-22 July 1997...Hurricane Danny, the only hurricane that made landfall in the continental US in 1997, moved inland into coastal Alabama at a snails pace. Radar storm total estimates of 43 inches over Mobile Bay. A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell on 19-20 July at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC) (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
ã Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.