25-29 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.

• Earthquake leads to tsunami warning -- An earthquake with a magnitude of approximately 7.3 near India's Nicobar Islands on Sunday prompted Thailand's National Disaster Center to issue a tsunami warning for portions of the west coast of Thailand. However, the International Tsunami Information Center in Hawaii stated that the earthquake was too weak to generate a major tsunami. [CNN]
• Tropics remain active --
• At the beginning of last week Hurricane Emily moved across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, then by mid week made a second landfall along the Gulf coast of Mexico south of Brownsville, TX. As Hurricane Emily crossed Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the winds accompanying this tropical system appears to have destroyed most of the turtle eggs laid by a endangered sea turtles on a beach south of Cancun. [USA Today]
• By the weekend, two more named tropical cyclones had formed, one was Tropical Storm Franklin over the Bahamas and the other, Tropical Storm Gert over the western Gulf of Mexico. Franklin was weakening as it moved off to the northeast toward Bermuda. Gert was heading toward Mexico, where a tropical storm warning was issued. [USA Today]
• Drought creating water woes across the Midwest -- The lack of adequate rainfall across the Midwest during this spring and early summer has resulted in dry soils, projected diminished crop yields and reduced water levels in the region's lakes. Some communities have either instituted water restrictions or encouraged water conservation. [USA Today]
• New methods are being developed for managing irrigation -- A new type of sensor is being tested in the arid regions of central Spain that would be used on a new European Space Agency's Earth Observation Mission satellite for monitoring energy and water fluxes from vegetation, as well as monitoring soil moisture and the flow of water in the soil. [ESA]
• Groundwater in Northeast contaminated -- Researchers with the US Geological Survey have detected high levels of methyl tert-butyl ether in groundwater across the Northeastern States, especially near urban areas. This organic compound has been added to gasoline to help meet Clean Air Act standards. [EurekAlert!]
• Sediments from Venice lagoon studied -- Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are collaborating with the Venice Water Authority and other groups in Italy in an effort to study the sediment flows in the Venice lagoon and help safeguard the sites in historic Venice. [Scripps Institution of Oceanography]
• New England's hazardous algae bloom running its course -- The hazardous algae bloom (misnamed "red tide") that forced the closing of nearly all commercial fisheries along the New England coast earlier this summer appears to be ending, thereby allowing officials to reopen a few shellfish beds. [USA Today]
• Listening to the rumble of a major earthquake -- A scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has been analyzing the recordings of the underwater sounds produced last December by the magnitude 9.3 earthquake on the Sumatra-Andaman Fault that resulted in the major tsunami which traveled across the Indian Ocean. [The Earth Institute at Columbia University]
• Testing the water while on a ferry -- Marine scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University have developed an automated project called FerryMon that continuously monitors water quality in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound from the state ferries that operate across the nation's second largest sound. [The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]
• 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 July 1956...The Italian ship Andrea Doria sank in dense fog near Nantucket Lightship, MA. Ten hours earlier, the ship was rammed by the Swedish-American liner, Stockholm, forty-five miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two persons drowned, or were killed by the impact. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 25 July 1986...Tremendous hailstones pounded parts of South Dakota damaging crops, buildings and vehicles. Hail piled two feet deep at Black Hawk and northern Rapid City. Hail an inch and a quarter in diameter fell for 85 minutes near Miller and Huron, piling up to depths of two feet. (The Weather Channel)
• 25 July 1994...Hurricane Gilma, like Emilia a week earlier, reached Category 5 strength in the Central Pacific. (Intellicast)
• 26-27 July 1819...Twin cloudbursts of fifteen inches struck almost simultaneously at Catskill, NY and Westfield, MA. Flash flooding resulted in enormous erosion. (David Ludlum)
• 27 July 1926...A hurricane came inland near Daytona Beach, FL. The hurricane caused 2.5 million dollars damage in eastern Florida, including the Jacksonville area. (David Ludlum)
• 27 July 1989...Thunderstorms produced locally heavy rains in the southwestern U.S. Yuma, AZ experienced their most severe thunderstorm of record. Strong thunderstorm winds, with unofficial gusts as high as 95 mph, reduced visibility to near zero in blowing dust and sand. Yuma got nearly as much rain in one hour as is normally received in an entire year. The storm total of 2.55 inches of rain was a record 24-hour total for July. Property damage due to flash flooding and high winds was in the millions. (Storm Data)
• 27-28 July 1984...Unprecedented rainfall fell at Alvsbyn in Sweden (approximately 62 miles south of the Arctic Circle), which was remarkable for such a northern location that is at about the same latitude as Fort Yukon, AK. On the 26^th, 5.51 inches fell and on the 27^th, an additional 5.63 inches were recorded. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28 July 1819...A small but intense hurricane passed over Bay Saint Louis, MS. The hurricane was considered the worst in fifty years. Few houses were left standing either at Bay Saint Louis or at Pass Christian and much of the Mississippi coast was desolate following the storm. An U.S. cutter was lost along with its thirty-nine crewmembers. The storm struck the same area that was hit 150 years later by Hurricane Camille. (David Ludlum)
• 28 July 1952...A severe storm with hail up to an inch and a half in diameter broke windows, ruined roofs, and stripped trees of leaves near Benson, AZ. The temperature dropped to 37 degrees, as hail was three to four inches deep, with drifts 46 inches high. (The Weather Channel)
• 28 July 1988...Thunderstorms drenched Wilmington, NC with 3.33 inches of rain, bringing their monthly total 14.46 inches. Seven cities in Michigan and Minnesota reported record high temperatures for the date. Marquette, MI hit 99 degrees, and the record high of 94 degrees at Flint, MI was their tenth of the month. (The National Weather Summary)
• 28 July 1989...Afternoon thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds in Massachusetts. Early evening thunderstorms over Florida produced wind gusts to 68 mph at Fort Myers, and evening thunderstorms in South Dakota produced nearly two inches of rain in twenty minutes at Pierpoint. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 28 July 1997...An excessive rain event, with 14.5 inches of rain falling in a 31-hour span ending at 10 PM, led to a 10 to 15 foot wall of water that destroyed 108 homes and damaged 481 in a model home park in Fort Collins, CO. Five people were killed and 40 were injured. Floodwaters flowed through the library at Colorado State University, resulting in 500,000 books being ruined or damaged. At one point during the evening, more than 10 inches fell in less than a five-hour span. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 29 July 1905...Heavy rain in southwestern Connecticut caused a dam break, and the resulting flood caused a quarter of a million dollars damage at Bridgeport. As much as eleven inches of rain fell prior to the flood. (David Ludlum)
• 29 July 1986...Intense thunderstorm belted Rhode Island with 5.57 inches of rain at T.F. Green Airport in Providence, RI along with one-half inch hail. Hail accumulated to 4 inches at Narragansett with 6.03 inches of rain to boot. (Intellicast)
• 29 July 1989...Morning thunderstorms in the Upper Midwest produced more than five inches of rain west of Virgil, SD. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms deluged the foothills and adjacent plains of Colorado with heavy rain. Rains of six to seven and a half inches fell in eight hours north of Greeley. Hail and heavy rain caused several million dollars damage in Weld County. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 30 July 1979...A forty-minute hailstorm bombed Fort Collins, CO with baseball to softball size hail. Two thousand homes and 2500 automobiles were damaged, and about 25 persons were injured, mainly when hit on the head by the huge stones. A three-month-old baby died later of injuries. (The Weather Channel)
• 30 July 1989...Morning thunderstorms over central Missouri deluged Columbia with 5.98 inches of rain causing flash flooding. Daytime thunderstorms in Kentucky drenched Paducah with 1.73 inches of rain in less than half an hour. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 30 July 2001...For the fifth time in six weeks, a significant flash flood occurred in Madison County, NC. Floodwaters on Big Laurel Creek swept a bridge away and again washed out roads. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 July 1769...Hail fell 12 inches deep and lasted for 30 hours at Scituate, MA. (Intellicast)
• 31 July 1861...Numerous world rainfall records were set at Cherrapunji, India as of this last day of July. These records include: 366.1 inches for a single 31-day month (during July 1861); 502.63 inches for two months (June-July 1861); 644.44 inches for three months (May-July 1861); 737.72 inches for four months (April-July 1861) and 1041.78 inches for 12 months (Aug. 1860-July 1861). (WMO, NWS)
• 31 July 1976...A stationary thunderstorm produced more than ten inches of rain in just four and one half-hours that funneled into the narrow Thompson River Canyon of northeastern Colorado. A wall of water six to eight feet high wreaked a twenty-five mile path of destruction from Estes Park to Loveland killing 156 persons. The flash flood caught campers, and caused extensive structural and highway damage. Total damage was $35.5 million. Ten miles of U.S. Highway 34 were totally destroyed as the river was twenty feet higher than normal at times. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 31 July 1978...A 50-yard wide waterspout came onshore at Kill Devil Hills, NC and destroyed a small house. One person died and four were hurt. Waterspouts are typically considered to be relatively benign. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 July 1982...Flash floods resulting from more than six inches that fell on Knoxville, TN caused three million dollars in damage. The World's Fair in Knoxville was hard hit by floodwaters on Second Creek. Water was waist deep at the Fair's north gate. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 July 1991...Roswell, NM closed out the month with a total of 6.68 inches of rain to set a new record for the month. (Intellicast)
• June-August 1998...Flooding that occurred along the Yangtze River basin of south central China, the Gulf of Tonkin area and far northern China along the Russian border killed more than 3656 people, destroyed five million homes and left 14 million homeless. Up to 66.28 inches of rain fell in June and July at Quinzhou. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

Return to WES Homepage

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.