18-22 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.

• Another major hurricane moves across the Caribbean -- Hurricane Emily, the second major hurricane of the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale), was moving west toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. As of early Saturday, the system was south of Jamaica after affecting some of the islands across the eastern Caribbean. [USA Today]. Earlier, as it passed over Granada, at least one fatality was attributed to the hurricane. [USA Today]
• More news on Hurricane Dennis -- Hurricane Dennis, which was the first hurricane to reach major hurricane status so early in the season, made landfall along the Gulf Coast near Pensacola, FL one week ago. More news on Hurricane Dennis include:
• NOAA posted more than 600 aerial images of the region affected by Hurricane Dennis collected by the agency's Remote Sensing Division. [NOAA News]
• Local residents in regions that lost power across the western Florida Panhandle following Hurricane Dennis have been treating utility workers helping restore power as celebrities. [USA Today]
• After touring the region hit by Hurricane Dennis, the Governor of Alabama has no regrets for ordering a mass evacuation of the city of Mobile and the neighboring coast last week as the approached. [USA Today]
• Bands of rainshowers continued to rotate around a weak area of low pressure that marked the remnants of former Hurricane Dennis for much of this past week. These bands contained some locally heavy rain that provided some much needed relief to regions in the mid Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions. [NOAA News] [USA Today]
• Hurricane Dennis helped point out the shortage in aluminum storm shutters that resulted following last year's record hurricane season. Some customers may have to wait up to one year for shutters. [USA Today]
• More hurricane activity foreseen -- With an unusually active series of tropical cyclones for the early North Atlantic hurricane season, hurricane expert Professor William Gray of Colorado State University recently warned that the current pattern of relatively warm water in the Atlantic could mean that the basin could continue to experience a more active season than normal. [USA Today]
• The Big Easy could be swamped -- A geography professor at Louisiana State University has recently authored a book that examines the efforts made by New Orleans to modify its environment and protect itself from possible inundation by a hurricane. [Louisiana State University]
• Wastewater treatment and electricity generation is packaged together -- An environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has recently patented a microbial fuel cell that uses wastewater to simultaneously purify the water and generate electricity; he claims that this device if used in a large food-processing plant could provide sufficient electricity to power 900 single family homes. [Washington University in St. Louis]
• A new proxy indicator of climatic change -- Researchers at Cambridge University have found that the shape of epiphytes ("air plants" that grow on other plants) can be used to assess the effects of climatic change upon rain forests over the last 50 years by monitoring the variations in the photosynthesis and evapotranspiration rates. [EurekAlert!]
• Proton "signatures" in water identified -- Chemists from Yale University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Georgia used infrared laser light to monitor the vibration profile changes when a proton is associated with two to eleven water molecules. [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.

• 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)
• 18-21 July 1996...Between six and twelve inches of rain fell on an already saturated Saguenay River Valley of Quebec, producing Canada's first billion-dollar disaster ($1.5 billion). Flooding destroyed or damaged 1718 houses and 900 cottages. Ten people were killed and 16,000 were evacuated. Roads and bridges disappeared. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor) (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)
• 19 July 1886...A hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico crossed Florida causing great damage from Cedar Keys to Jacksonville. This was the third hurricane in one month to cross the Florida peninsula. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 19 July 1955...The Yarkon Water Project was opened to supply water to Negev desert in Israel. The Yarkon "flows" through the most densely populated areas of the country to the Mediterranean. The river has deteriorated rapidly since the 1950's due to excessive draining for irrigation by the National Water Carrier; with marked decline in water quality, animal habitats, flora and fauna. The National Water Carrier (1964), which crosses Israel from north to south, is the 81-mile main artery connecting all regional water projects in the State. (Today in Science History)
• 19 July 1974...A severe thunderstorm with winds to 80 mph and up to two inches of rain washed out four to five foot deep sections of roadway in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Three persons in a station wagon died as it was carried 3000 feet down a wash by a ten foot wall of water. (The Weather Channel)
• 19 July 1977...Thunderstorms produced torrential rains over parts of southwestern Pennsylvania. Some places in the Johnstown area received more than twelve inches in a seven-hour period. The heavy rains cause flash flooding along streams resulting in widespread severe damage, representing the "second Johnstown flood", second to the more disastrous flood in May 1889. The cloudburst flooded Johnstown with up to ten feet of water resulting in 76 deaths, countless injuries, and 424 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 19 July 1994...Hurricane Emilia was the first of three Category-5 hurricanes to develop in the Central Pacific in 1994 as unusually warm sea temperatures prevailed south of Hawaii. Sustained winds reached 160 mph. (Intellicast)
• 21 July 1970...The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 18 years of work. This huge rockfill dam that lies just north of the border between Egypt and Sudan captures the world's longest river, the Nile, in the world's third largest reservoir, Lake Nasser. Built with Soviet aid at a cost of $1 billion, it now produces hydroelectricity meeting 50% of Egypt's power needs. It holds several years of irrigation reserves, assists multi-cropping, has increased productivity 20-50%, enormously increased Egypt's arable land, and overall, increased Egypt's agricultural income by 200%. The embankment is 111 meters high, with a width of near 1,000 meters. Lake Nasser is 480 km long and up to 16 km wide. (Today in Science History)
• 20 July 1965...The 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Show-Me State was set at Edgarton, MO as 18.18 inches of rain fell. (NCDC)
• 20 July 1989...Showers and thunderstorms in the Middle Atlantic Coast Region soaked Wilmington, DE with 2.28 inches of rain, pushing their total for the period May through July past the previous record of 22.43 inches. Heavy rain over that three-month period virtually wiped out a 16.82-inch deficit that had been building since drought conditions began in 1985. Thunderstorms in central Indiana deluged Lebanon with 6.50 inches of rain in twelve hours. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 21 July 1964...The runoff from a torrential three-inch rainfall in a relatively short time span caused a storm sewer to break under Tallmadge Parkway in Akron, OH. A 40-foot deep hole resulted. One person died when she drove her car into the unexpected hole. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 21 July 1970...The massive Aswan High Dam was across the Nile River in Egypt was completed after 11 years of construction. This dam, costing $1 billion, was designed to end the annual cycle of flood along the Nile and produce electric power to Egypt. A giant reservoir, named Lake Nasser, formed behind the dam and measured 300 miles in length and 10 miles in width. (The History Channel)
• 21 July 1997... A $100 million hailstorm ripped through the orchards of the OkanaganValley in British Columbia. Nearly 40% of the fruit crop was deemed unsuitable for fresh market. Winds gusting to 62 mph, accompanying the rain and hail, capsized boats in the interior lakes and caused power outages and traffic accidents. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 July 1972...Fort Ripley, MN received 10.84 inches of rain, to establish a new 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Gopher State. (NCDC)
• 22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
• 22 July 1987...Barrow, AK received 1.38 inches in 24 hours on the 21^st and 22^nd, an all-time record for that location. The previous record was the 1.00 inch water equivalent in a 15 inch all-time record snowfall of 26 October 1926. The average annual precipitation for Barrow is just 4.75 inches. Thunderstorms in Montana produced 4 to 6 inches of rain in Glacier County causing extensive flooding along Divide Creek. Missoula, MT received 1.71 inches of rain in 24 hours, a record for the month of July. (The National Weather Summary) (The Weather Channel) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 23 July 1788...A weather diary kept by George Washington recorded that the center of a hurricane passed directly over his Mount Vernon home. The hurricane crossed eastern North Carolina and Virginia before moving into the Central Appalachians. Norfolk, VA reported houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and crops leveled to the ground. (David Ludlum)
• 23 July 1898...A two-hour thunderstorm deluged Atlanta, GA with 4.32 inches of rain. More than a foot of water flooded Union Depot. Many streetcar motors burned out while trying to run through flooded streets. It grew so dark before the afternoon storm that gaslights were needed. (The Weather Channel)
• 23 July 1923...Sheridan, WY was drenched with 4.41 inches of rain, an all-time 24-hour record for that location. Associated flooding washed out 20 miles of railroad track. (22^nd-23^rd) (The Weather Channel)
• 23 July 1987...Thunderstorms produced a record ten inches of rain in six and a half-hours at Minneapolis, MN, including 5.26 inches in two hours. Flash flooding claimed two lives and caused 21.3 million dollars damage. Streets in Minneapolis became rushing rivers, parking lots became lakes, and storm sewers spouted like geysers. A tornado hit Maple Grove, MN causing five million dollars damage. Baseball size hail was reported at Olivia, MN. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 23 July 1997...Thunderstorms over Nevada's Shoshone Mountains produced flash flooding in washes under Nevada Highway 844. Sixteen miles northeast of Ione, a culvert and adjacent roadway that washed out earlier in the day were again washed out as repairs were being made. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 July 1609...A fleet of ships carrying colonists to the New World met with a hurricane near Bermuda, resulting in much loss of property but little loss of life. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
• 24 July 1886...Rain fell at Lawrence, KS for the first time in four weeks. Rain fell over much of the state of Kansas that day relieving a severe drought that began in May. The very dry weather ruined crops in Kansas. (David Ludlum)
• 24 July 1964...An eight to ten-foot wall of water roared through a picnic site six miles south of Buena Vista, CO. A car was washed into the Arkansas River, as mud and debris covered other vehicles. A downpour of rain in an unusually dry upper gulch caused the flash flood. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. On the 27^th, a van loaded with people on their way to a church camp stopped on Texas Highway 7 due to a flooded bridge just west of Centerville. A truck rammed the van, pushing it into the flooded creek, resulting in five people drowning. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 July 1989...Afternoon thunderstorms produced some flash flooding in New Mexico. Albuquerque was deluged with an inch and a half of rain in forty minutes. Evening thunderstorms soaked White Pine, PA with two inches of rain in one hour. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 24-26 July 1996...Although thousands of miles from southern California, an intense South Pacific storm south of Tahiti produced seven to ten foot surf with some sets up to 12 feet along the southern California coast. Lifeguards participated in more than 500 rescues along the beaches. (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, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.