4-8 July 2005

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.

• Close, but no record -- The National Weather Service Office in Oxnard, CA reported that downtown Los Angeles received 37.25 inches of rain during the just-concluded rainy season that ended on Thursday, making it the second wettest year, only 0.93 inches shy of the all-time record set in 1883-84. Heavy rains during this past January caused floods, mudslides and sinkholes in southern California. [USA Today]
• An interview with a "hurricane hunter" -- A young meteorologist and US Air Force officer recently described her experiences with a unit that flies into hurricanes. [USA Today]
• Tropical storm made landfall in Mexico -- Tropical Storm Bret, the second named tropical cyclone (to include tropical storms and hurricanes) of the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season, developed over the southern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall along the northern Mexico coast by midweek. [USA Today]
• Illinois counties file drought reports -- Following the third driest four-month March to June interval since 1895 across Illinois, nearly 50 counties have filed drought reports intended to initiate a government disaster declaration that would help farmers qualify for federal crop insurance. [Illinois Farm Bureau]
• Connection between aerosols, coastal drizzle and cloud cover studied -- Scientists conducting a six-month research campaign at Point Reyes National Seashore, near San Francisco, CA as part of the US Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program are attempting to understand how natural and anthropogenic aerosols appear to reduce coastal drizzle while increasing cloud cover along the central California coast. [EurekAlert!]
• Is it a lake on Titan? Scientists studying images of Saturn's moon Titan obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft are focusing on a dark, lake-shaped feature, which may be a liquid hydrocarbon lake. [EurekAlert!]
• Fast growing lakes on Alaska's North Slope studied -- A scientist at the University of Arizona has proposed a thaw-slumping explanation for the rapid growth of thousands of lakes on the North Slope of Alaska. [EurekAlert!]
• Homeowners cautioned about a vigorous hurricane season -- Representatives from a well-known national window and door manufacturer are reminding residents in regions affected by tropical storms and hurricanes of the need for preparing the windows and doors in their homes before the beginning of what some have forecasted to be another intense hurricane season. [EurekAlert!]
• Increased Antarctic sea ice cover could be due to warmer air -- Using satellite data collected from NASA's Special Sensor Microwave/Imager, a scientist at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County has found that the increased sea ice volume in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica appears to be associated with in the increases in precipitation caused by higher air temperatures associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions. [EurekAlert!]
• Historic schooner to help monitor New York Harbor -- The schooner, The Pioneer, built in 1885, will be used as part of the Urban Ocean Observatory at Stevens Institute of Technology to measure water conditions in New York Harbor, a major estuary on the East Coast. [EurekAlert!]
• 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.

• Month of July 1861...The greatest one-month of precipitation ever measured globally (366 inches) was recorded at Cherrapunji, India. Total rainfall for the period 1 August 1860 to 31 July 1861 was the greatest rainfall in one year ever recorded (1,041.78 inches). (The Weather Doctor)
• Month of July 1931...The July- August 1931 flood in the Yangtze basin of China affected over 51 million people or one-quarter of China's population. As many as 3.7 million people perished from this great 20^th century disaster due to disease, starvation or drowning. (The Weather Doctor)
• 4 July 1876...Severe thunderstorms hit the Midwest and a dam failed at Rockdale, IL. Flood destroyed a railroad bridge and swept through the town. Forty-two people perished. (Intellicast)
• 4 July 1956...A world record for the most rain in one minute was set at Unionville, MD with a downpour of 1.23 inches. (The Weather Channel) (The National Severe Storms Forecast Center)
• 4 July 1969...Severe thunderstorms produced winds to over 100 mph and very heavy rains across northern Ohio. From 4 to 15 inches of rain fell from late evening into the next morning producing major flash flooding. Forty-one were killed, 559 injuries and damage exceeded $66 million. (Intellicast)
• 5 July 1916...An early season hurricane produced 82 mph winds, an 11.6 foot tide, and a barometric pressure of 28.92 inches at Mobile, AL. (David Ludlum)
• 5 July 1989...Moisture from what once was Tropical Storm Allison triggered thunderstorms over the Middle Atlantic Coast Region, which deluged Wilmington, DE with a record 6.83 inches of rain in 24 hours, including 6.37 inches in just six hours. Up to ten inches of rain was reported at Claymont, northeast of Wilmington. July 1989 was thus the wettest month in seventy years for Wilmington, with a total of 12.63 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
• 5 July 1993...Heavy rains deluged the Central Plains as one of the greatest floods in U.S. history began to unfold. Twenty-four hour totals included 5.90 inches at Columbia, IA, 5.15 inches at Centralia, KS and 4.80 inches at Haddam, KS. (Intellicast)
• 6 July 1986...Thunderstorm rains during the mid morning hours, and again during the evening, produced major flash flooding at Leavenworth, KS. The official rainfall total was 10.37 inches, but unofficial totals exceeded twelve inches. At nearby Kansas City, the rainfall total of 5.08 inches was a daily record for July. (Storm Data)
• 7 July 2001...Six people were injured by lightning in Rogaland, Norway, disproving the myth that polar latitudes have few lightning hazards. (NWS and 45th Weather Squadron, USAF).
• 8 July 1788...Hail fell at Canterbury, CT to a depth of 34 inches. Serious flooding resulted when it melted. (Intellicast)
• 8 July 1935...Ten inches of rain at Cortland, NY in 48 hours caused damaging floods on the Susquehanna and Hudson River Valleys. (Intellicast)
• 8 July 2001...Flash flooding produced 5 to 9 foot deep water that eventually wiped out most of downtown Mullens, WV. People trapped in their homes by the flooding saw caskets from the local funeral home floating down various streets. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 9 July 1950...The town of York, NE was deluged with 13.15 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a record for the Cornhusker State. (The Weather Channel)
• 9 July 1968...Columbus, MS received 15.68 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record. (The Weather Channel)
• 9 July 1988...The percentage of total area in the country in the grips of severe to extreme drought reached 43 percent, the fourth highest total of record. The record of 61 percent occurred during the summer of 1934. (The National Weather Summary)

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URL: WES/news.html

Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.