WEEKLY WATER NEWS

28 May-1 June 2007

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2007 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 27 August 2007. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Water in the News:

• National River Cleanup Week observed -- This coming week (2-10 June 2007) has been declared as National River Cleanup Week across the nation by American Rivers, a national non-profit conservation organization. [National River Cleanup Week]
• Hail sizes for severe weather reports reviewed -- NOAA's National Weather Service has clarified that the hail size criterion used to define a severe thunderstorm will be "penny sized" hail (0.75-inch diameter) or larger, while "dime-sized" hail will be logged on the Local Storm Report as 0.5-inch diameter hail. [NWSFO Milwaukee]
• Flood-producing thunderstorms seen across nation's midsection -- An enhanced infrared satellite image obtained from NOAA's GOES-12 satellite late last week shows the top of a mesoscale convective complex that produced as much as eight inches of rain in several hours across Kansas. [NOAA OSEI]
• Hurricane Forecasts --- With the onset of the hurricane seasons in both the North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific, NOAA forecasters have announced their seasonal outlooks for:
  • North Atlantic basin -- NOAA forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center foresee a 75 percent chance that the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will be more active than normal, with 13 to 17 named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms), including seven to ten hurricanes. Their Atlantic Hurricane Seasonal Outlook, which will be updated in August, also states that three to five of these hurricanes could reach major hurricane status (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). NOAA also recommends that people in hurricane-prone regions to begin their preparation plans. [NOAA News] For comparison, Dr. William Gray, Philip Klotzbach and their associates at Colorado State University issued an updated forecast in early April calling for 17 named tropical cyclones, 9 hurricanes and 5 intense hurricanes during the upcoming 2007 North Atlantic hurricane season. [The Tropical Meteorology Project] Long-term statistics indicate nearly 11 named cyclones, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
  • Eastern North Pacific basin -- Forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center issued their operational outlook for the Eastern North Pacific (east of 140 degrees W longitude), which began on 15 May 2007. They call for a 70 percent that this 2007 hurricane season will be a below average season, with 12 to 16 named tropical cyclones, including six to nine hurricanes and two to four 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 -- Forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, HI recently released their outlook for the 2007 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]
• Eye on the tropics -- The first tropical depression of the eastern North Pacific hurricane season formed early Saturday evening off the Mexican coast. As of Sunday evening, Tropical Depression 1-E was located nearly 700 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, moving slowly to the west with little change in intensity.
• Long-term Atlantic hurricane strike record reconstructed -- Geologists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have analyzed sediment cores from a Caribbean lagoon in Vieques, Puerto Rico and have used these data to reconstruct a 5000-year record of past storm surges from intense landfalling hurricanes. This reconstruction, which is the longest record of hurricane strikes in the Atlantic basin, also shows that El Niño events and the West African Monsoon have a strong influence upon the frequency of intense hurricanes. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
• Evacuation and traffic modeling studied -- Researchers at the Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center and the Los Alamos National Laboratory have been collaborating to develop large scale computer modeling systems that can simulate traffic patterns for New Orleans and that can be used to assist in emergency evacuations for the Big Easy such as when threatened by an approaching hurricane. [EurekAlert!]
• US coasts seen to be at higher risk for hurricanes -- A researcher at the University of Central Florida and his colleague from Georgia warned that large sections of the US coast lines along the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico appear to be at a substantially high risk for the upcoming 2007 North Atlantic hurricane season. They base their prediction upon analysis of over 155 years storm track data across the basin. [EurekAlert!]
• Tracking ice breakup on eastern Lake Erie -- Photographs taken by astronauts on the International Space Station during late March and April 2007 show the annual breakup of the ice on eastern Lake Erie and upstream of the ice boom placed at the entrance to the Niagara River. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• "Toolbox" approach used to pinpoint watershed contamination sources -- Scientists with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Cincinnati and the U.S. Geological Survey have collaborated to develop a "toolbox approach" that utilizes several methods to determine the origin of fecal pollution in Nebraska streams. [EurekAlert!]
• Olive stones help in sewage water treatment -- Researchers at the Universidad de Granada have demonstrated that chromium pollutants in industrial sewage water can be removed by the absorption of these pollutants by olive stones. [Universidad de Granada Science News]
• Water bill receives Senate approval -- The US Senate recently approved the Water Resources Development Act, a $14 billion water bill with hundreds of projects that would improve navigation on the upper Mississippi, help restore the Louisiana coast and authorize hundreds of projects senators sought for their states. [US Water News Online]
• Seawater from the depths sold as an exotic ingredient -- A Honolulu-based company has hired a crew of Alaska fishermen to pump 500,000 gallons of seawater per day up from depths of 3000 feet below the surface off the coast of Hawaiian islands and then desalinate the water so it can be marketed as an ingredient free of impurities. [US Water News Online]
• Congress advised on worldwide water deficit -- A water expert from the UN Development Program recently briefed a US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee that water and sanitation deficits could affect approximately half of the population in the developing nations, leading to the deaths of 1.8 million children annually. [US Water News Online]
• Inspecting the Amazon's Leaf Area Index -- A team of scientists from Boston University's Climate and Vegetation Research Group who have been analyzing data collected from the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Terra satellite have developed an index for the Amazon rainforest that represents the ratio between leaf surface area and ground surface area. They have prepared a multi-year average of the leaf area index. [NASA Earth Observatory] They have also found that this index undergoes a large seasonal swing between wet and dry seasons. [NASA Earth Observatory] A more detailed description of the project is available. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• 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:

• 28 May 1963...A cyclone killed about 22,000 people along the coast of East Pakistan.
• 28 May 1990...Two to five inches of rain over southeastern Ohio on the 28^th and 29^th capped an exceptionally wet month of May, and triggered widespread flooding. Flooding that resulted claimed three lives, and caused millions of dollars in damage. Numerous roads in southeast Ohio were flooded and made impassable, and many other roads were blocked by landslides. (Storm Data)
• 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 $50 million 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)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2007, The American Meteorological Society.