WEEKLY WATER NEWS

29 May-2 June 2006

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2006 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 28 August 2006. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Water in the News:

• A new environmental satellite launched into geosynchronous orbit -- NOAA and NASA officials reported that a satellite, initially identified as GOES-N, was launched and successfully reached geosynchronous orbit (approximately 23,000 miles above the earth's equator) last Wednesday night (25 May 2006). This new satellite (to be designated GOES-13 following attainment of final orbit) is intended to be a more stable pointing platform that should increase the performance of imaging and sounder instruments, thereby supply data critical for fast, accurate forecasts and warnings of severe weather, including tornadoes, winter storms and hurricanes. Other instruments will monitor space and solar environments, thus providing information on solar storm activity. In addition, the satellite will have a new dedicated broadcast capability to be used by the Emergency Managers Weather Information Network and a new digital weather facsimile capability for higher quality transmissions of data and products. [NOAA News]
• Satellites help save lives -- At a recently-held American Geophysical Union meeting, NASA scientists reported on their involvement with several projects that have developed early detection systems whereby data collected from NASA earth-observing satellites can help protect thousands of people from floods and landslides. Some of the projects have used data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, Aqua, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, QuikSCAT and Earth Observing-1 satellites, along with NOAA's GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental) satellites. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Effects of Chinese drought seen from satellite -- Vegetation health data collected by the MODIS instrument (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) onboard NASA’s Terra satellite during the last week of April and the first week of May show that crops across China's Yellow River Basin and portions of the North China Plain are going more slowly than normal, the result of a mild drought across the region during the first third of 2006. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Monitoring of a volcanic eruption continued from space -- NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been monitoring the westward dispersion of the plume of sulfur dioxide and other material from the 20 May 2006 eruption of Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat Island in the Caribbean. They have being using data collected from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The sulfur dioxide can oxidize and hydrolyze to form sulfuric acid droplets that can result in a long-lasting veil in the stratosphere (at altitudes near 55,000 feet). [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Atlantic Hurricane Season begins -- The official 2006 hurricane season for the North Atlantic Basin begins on Thursday, 1 June 2006. The National Hurricane Center maintains a hurricane preparedness website that provides information and educational material for the various hurricane hazards including storm surge, high winds, tornadoes and flooding. (A Spanish version of this website is also available.) In the Eastern North Pacific basin, the hurricane season began on 15 May 2006. The official hurricane season will run until 30 November in both basins. Although last week (21-27 May) was National Hurricane Awareness Week, South Carolina and Georgia will observe hurricane awareness week from 29 May to 2 June 2006. The National Weather Service Forecast Office at Houston-Galveston, TX will host the 2006 Houston/Galveston Hurricane Workshop on Tuesday afternoon, 30 May, in downtown Houston.
• Hurricane Forecast Updates...
  • North Atlantic basin -- Last Monday, NOAA forecasters at the National Hurricane Center announced their seasonal outlooks for the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, along with a plea for individuals to make early hurricane preparations for safety. They foresee a "very active hurricane season" with 13 to 16 named tropical cyclones (including hurricanes and tropical storms), including eight to ten systems becoming hurricanes. Four to six of these hurricanes could reach major hurricane status (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). [NOAA News] For comparison, Dr. William Gray and his associates at Colorado State University issued an updated forecast in early April of 17 named tropical cyclones, 9 hurricanes and 5 intense hurricanes for the upcoming 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season. [The Tropical Meteorology Project] Long-term statistics indicate nearly 11 named cyclones, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.
  • Eastern North Pacific basin -- NOAA forecasters issued their operational outlook for the 2006 season in Eastern North Pacific (east of 140 degrees W longitude), which began on 15 May 2006. They call a for below average season, with 12 to 16 named tropical cyclones, including nine hurricanes and one to three major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). For comparison, the long-term averages for the eastern Pacific basin include 15 to 16 tropical named cyclones, nine hurricanes and four to five major hurricanes. [NOAA Public Affairs Press Release]
  • Central Pacific basin -- NOAA forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, HI recently released their outlook for the 2006 hurricane season in the Central Pacific (from 140 degrees West to the Dateline). They are anticipating a slightly below average season, with the possibility of two to three tropical cyclones, as compared with a long-term average of between four to five tropical cyclones that includes nearly two hurricanes, two tropical storms and one or two tropical depressions. [NOAA Public Affairs Press Release]
• First tropical storm of season forms in eastern Pacific -- Tropical Storm Aletta formed off the west coast of Mexico early Saturday and intensified to a minimal tropical storm system, the first of the 2006 Eastern Pacific hurricane season. [Weather Underground]
• Fifty years of NOAA hurricane research heralded -- Scientists and officials with the NOAA Hurricane Research Division, a part of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami, FL, are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their division and the half-century of contributions to hurricane research. [NOAA Magazine]
• Big Easy could have a 30 percent chance of hurricane winds -- A statistics professor at the University of Central Florida and a consultant on hazard modeling from Savannah, GA have determined the probability of hurricane-force winds along the entire Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico coasts during the upcoming 2006 hurricane season, based upon They said that the Louisiana Gulf Coast, including New Orleans could experience a 3-in-10 chance of experiencing hurricane-force winds during 2006, the highest probability of any coastal section in the nation. [EurekAlert!]
• Draft report released on New Orleans levees -- The findings of an independent field investigation of the performance of the New Orleans levee systems following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been detailed in a 700-page draft final report prepared by a team of researchers led by two engineering professors at the University of California, Berkeley. [EurekAlert!]
• Warming seen to shift jet stream, expanding tropics and deserts -- Scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Utah report that satellite data collected from 1979 through 2005 indicates a warming of the atmosphere in the subtropical regions of the northern and southern hemisphere, resulting in an expansion of the subtropical region and its deserts, along with a 70-mile poleward displacement of the subtropical jet streams in the upper troposphere (at altitudes above 50,000 feet). [EurekAlert!]
• Temperature trend could be underestimated -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, researchers claim that their analysis of the 360,000-year record of global temperature and atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and methane extracted from Antarctic ice cores indicates that the role of carbon dioxide in affecting global climate may be greater than previously thought, resulting in temperatures by 2100 that would be several Celsius degrees higher than earlier modeled. [University of California, Berkeley News]
• World Fire Atlas online -- Data on wildfires around the world collected by instruments onboard the European Space Agency's satellites have been assembled into a multi-year World Fire Atlas that has been posted in near-real time status on the web. This atlas, based upon data from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR-2) on the ERS-2 satellite and the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) on the Envisat satellite, can be used by users around the world for research in atmospheric chemistry, land use change, global change ecology, fire prevention and management and meteorology. [ESA]
• Glee could be short-lived in Wyoming -- The impressive snowpack across the mountain ranges in Wyoming to build that made ranchers and water managers optimistic following heavy winter snows appears to be melting fast due to warm and dry air mass that has been anchored over the West during late spring. [USA Today]
• Reconstructing a 500-year river streamflow record from tree rings -- A team of researchers that includes a dendrochronologist from the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and a physical scientist at the National Climatic Data Center's Paleoclimatology Branch have developed a 508-year long record of Colorado River streamflow at Lee's Ferry, AZ from tree-ring data collected across the Southwest. [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.

Historical Events:

• 29 May 1914...Shallow river fog along the St. Lawrence River approximately 185 miles from Quebec City, Quebec contributed to the collision of the CP Liner Empress of Ireland and a Norwegian coal ship, The Storstad. The liner sank in 25 minutes drowning 1024 passengers. (The Weather Doctor)
• 29 May 1986...Hailstones up to 3.2 inches in diameter pounded South Shore in Montreal, Quebec, causing over $65 million in damage. (The Weather Doctor)
• 29 May 1987...Thunderstorms deluged the Texas Hill Country with up to eleven inches of rain. Severe flooding along the Medino, Hondo, Seco, Sabinal and Frio rivers caused more than fifty million dollars in damage. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 30 May 1948...The Columbia River swollen from snowmelt reached its highest stage since 1894. A railroad bed acting as a dam gave way during a flood along the Columbia River destroying the city of Vanport, which had been Oregon's second largest city during World War II. The nearly 18,700 residents escaped with little more than the clothes on their backs, as the river put the city under 15 feet of water in two hours. Damage was estimated at $101 million and 75 people lost their lives. The city died that day. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 30 May 1961...Thunderstorms dropped over 10 inches of rain in less than an hour at Buffalo Gap, Saskatchewan, breaking a long drought. (The Weather Doctor)
• 30 May 1983...Unusually high temperatures throughout the western United States caused great runoff from snowpack in Rocky Mountains. The flooding washed out bridges and caused mudslides in Nevada. (Intellicast)
• 30 May 1991...Three thunderstorms produced 5.65 inches of rain in a 3-hour period across New Marlboro and Sheffield, MA resulting in severe flooding. Many roads and several bridges were washed out eventually isolating the two towns. About 89 miles of road were damaged. Typical washouts ranged up to 8 feet deep and roads that were 25 feet wide were reduced to only 10 feet. Power outages were widespread and a state of emergency was declared. The flooding was the worst since 1955 for the area and total damage was estimated near $10 million. (Intellicast)
• 30-31 May 1997...As many as 140 people had to be rescued from rip currents off Dayton Beach Shores, FL. One man died in a rip current while trying to save his wife. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 May 1889...The Johnstown, PA disaster occurred, the worst flood tragedy in U.S. history. Heavy rains totaling 4 to 10 inches over the previous 36 hours collapsed the South Fork Dam sending a thirty-foot wall of water rushing down the already flooded Conemaugh Valley. The wall of water, traveling as fast as twenty-two feet per second, swept away all structures, objects, and people, practically wiping out Johnstown. About 2100 persons perished in the flood. (David Ludlum)
• 31 May 1911...Violent Derby Day thunderstorms killed four horses on Epsom Downs in Southeastern England. Local flooding/landslides, lightning, and wind gusts inflicted damage across lowland England. Seventeen people were killed in the London area. (The Weather Doctor)
• 31 May-1 June 1941...Thunderstorms deluged Burlington, KS with 12.59 inches of rain to establish a 24-hour rainfall record for the Jayhawk State. (The Weather Channel)
• 1-17 June 2001...The deadliest and costliest tropical storm in US history, Tropical Storm Allison, wandered westward across the tropical Atlantic and crossed over into the Pacific before reversing and moving back into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. On 1 June the tropical wave, which eventually evolved into TS Allison, moved into the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific coast of Mexico after moving westward across the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean from the west coast of Africa on 21 May. On the 2^nd, a cyclonic (counterclockwise) circulation developed to the south-southeast of Salma Cruz, Mexico, but the low-level circulation became ill-defined as the system moved inland on the 3^rd over southeastern Mexico and western Guatemala. This system intensified again and eventually moved northward to the Texas Gulf Coast and then eastward to the Atlantic before turning into an extratropical storm in mid-June. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 2 June 1889...A great flood on the Potomac River in Washington, DC took out a span of Long Bridge, and flooded streets near the river. The flood stage was not again equaled until 1936. (David Ludlum)
• 2-4 June 1986...A tropical disturbance brought flooding rains to parts of the Greater Antilles. The flooding caused 59 deaths in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba. As many as 240,000 people lost their homes to this disturbance. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 3 June 1905...Seattle, WA received its heaviest ever 24-hour June rainstorm with 1.42 inches falling. (Intellicast)
• 3 June 1921...A cloudburst near Pikes Peak, CO killed 120 people. A twenty-five foot crest of the Arkansas River flooded Pueblo, CO and killed 70 persons. Fourteen inches of rain was reported at Boggs Flat, where a hard surface road through nearly level country was washed out to a depth of seven feet. (The Weather Channel)
• 3 June 1959...Thunderstorms in northwestern Kansas produced up to eighteen inches of hail near Salden during the early evening. Crops were completely destroyed, and total damage from the storm was about half a million dollars. Hail fell for a record eighty-five minutes. The temperature dropped from near 80 degrees prior to the storm to 38 degrees at the height of the storm. (David Ludlum)
• 3 June 1987...Six days of flooding in South Texas culminated with five to six inch rains from Bexar County to Bandera County, and five to nine inches of rain in Gonzalez and Wilson Counties. Total crop damage was estimated at $500 million. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 4 June 1825...A hurricane struck Long Island, NY leveling trees and causing damage to ships. The early season hurricane, which originated near Cuba, caused major damage along the Atlantic coast from Charleston, SC to New York City. Many were lost at sea. (David Ludlum)
• 4 June 1976...Forty-foot waves from a tropical cyclone smashed Gogha (port), India. Excellent warnings limited the death toll to approximately 70. Dredging of the harbor at Bhavnnagar ceased for several years as storm runoff from the Kansa River washed away accumulated sand and silt. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 4 June 1982...A four-day storm began over New England which produced up to 14 inches of rain in southern Connecticut breaching twenty-three dams and breaking two others. Damage was estimated at more than $276 million. (David Ludlum)
• 4 June 1991...Up to six feet of water raced through parts of Howells, NE as the result of nearly five inches of rain. An elderly man who ignored evacuation orders drowned when the water collapsed his basement wall after he had taken shelter because of a tornado warning. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

Return to DataStreme WES website

Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2006, The American Meteorological Society.