26-30 April 2004

DataStreme Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2005 with new Water News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2005. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Publication examines nation's water and environmental issues -- The American Geological Institute in conjunction with several federal agencies recently released a publication entitled "Water and the Environment" that addresses issues concerning the need to provide safe and clean water to society. [EurekAlert!]
• Monitoring African drought from space -- Officials at the NOAA Satellite and Information Service have been using the agency's Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites to monitor and assess the magnitude and impact that a six-year drought has had upon the Horn of Africa. [NOAA News]
• Drought could affect the beer and wine supply -- Hops and grape growers in the Pacific Northwest are concerned that the current extreme drought conditions in the region could seriously affect the hops and wine grape crops, which could conceivably cause a shortage of ingredients for the nation's beer and wine industry. [USA Today]
• Microbial fuel cell could clean wastewater -- Environmental engineers at Penn State University have demonstrated that a new microbial fuel cell can efficiently produce hydrogen from biodegradable, dissolved organic matter, thereby serving as a cleaner of wastewater from human, agricultural and industrial sources. [EurekAlert!]
• Need for ecological standard in river restoration emphasized -- A group of river ecologists from the US is proposing international adoption of a set of five criteria for ecologically successful river restoration. [EurekAlert!]
• Glaciers on Antarctic Peninsula shrinking -- Researchers with the British Antarctic Survey and the US Geological Survey recently reported that 87 percent of the glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula have not only retreated in the last 50 years, but the average retreat rates have accelerated. The shrinking has been attributed to dramatic local warming. [EurekAlert!]
• A new hurricane forecast model unveiled -- Scientists at the University College London have unveiled a computer model that they say will improve the long-range forecasts of the strengths of hurricanes reaching the US. [EurekAlert!]
• Marshlands in Iraq to be restored -- The United Nations Environmental Programme has announced that six pilot sites will begin using environmentally sound techniques to restore the marshlands in southern Iraq together with sanitation facilities and clean water sources. [ENN]
• 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.

• 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 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)
• 28 April 1973...The all-time record crest of the Mississippi River at St. Louis, MO was recorded at 43.3 ft, exceeding the former 1884 mark by 1.9 ft. (Intellicast)
• 29 April 1905...A thunderstorm dumped 2 in. of rain in ten minutes on the town of Taylor, in southeastern Texas, with a total of 2.35 in. of rain in fifteen minutes. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
• 29 April 1910...North America's deadliest rock slide was caused by snowmelt followed by temperatures near zero degrees Fahrenheit that caused water in the rock joints under Turtle Mountain in the Canadian Rockies to freeze and expand. Ninety million tons of limestone fell some 3000 ft onto Frank, AB. As many as 70 people died as the result of the rockslide. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 29 April 1973...The Mississippi River reached a crest of 43.4 ft at St. Louis, MO, breaking the previous record of 42 ft established in 1785. (David Ludlum)
• 30 April 1888... World's deadliest hailstorm occurred at Moradabad, India as enormous hailstones killed 230 persons and many livestock. An additional 16 people died in another town. (The Weather Doctor)
• 30 April 1988...The Australian coast between Wollongong and Sydney received 9.8 inches of rain in a 24-hour period that caused landslides and washed out roads and rail tracks. (The Weather Doctor)
• 30 April 1991...Southeast Bangladesh was devastated by a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of approximately 150 mph during the early morning. A 20 foot storm surge inundated offshore islands south of Chittagong, taking water from the Bay of Bengal inland for miles. This cyclone resulted in up to 200,000 deaths and $1.4 billion damage. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 May 1986...Hailstones up to 11 pounds were reported in China, resulting in the deaths of 16 people and injuries to 125. (The Weather Doctor)
• 1 May 1854...After 66 hours of steady rain, the Connecticut River reached a level of nearly twenty-nine feet (28 feet 10.5 inches) at Hartford, CT (the highest level of record up until that time). The record height was reached in the midst of a great New England flood that followed sixty-six hours of steady rain. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 1 May 1883...At Cape Lookout, NC, a storm tide swept over the island drowning sheep and cattle. (Intellicast)

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URL: DS-WES/news.html

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