WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

13-17 January 2014

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2014 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 20 January 2014. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Items of Interest:

Approaching coldest time of the year -- This upcoming week is the third week of January, which for many locations across the nation typically marks the coldest week of the year, as indicated by the daily normal high and low temperatures. Usually, those stations located away from the moderating influences of the oceans reach their lowest temperatures during the third week of January, or a roughly one month after the winter solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere receives the fewest hours of daylight and the smallest amounts of solar radiation. During that month, temperatures continue to fall to their lowest typical values as cooling continues. However, the increased length of daylight and increased sunshine during this month begins to warm the ground and overlying atmosphere as normal daily temperatures begin to rise toward their highest levels in mid to late July.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Tropical cyclone activity was found in the South Indian and South Pacific Basins during the last week:
In the South Indian Ocean Basin, Tropical Cyclone Colin formed late last week from a tropical storm that was located nearly 1000 miles to the east-southeast of Diego Garcia. Colin intensified as it traveled toward the southwest, becoming a category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale over this past weekend. Forecasts indicate that Colin should weaken as it curves toward the south and then to the southeast early this upcoming week, presenting no threat to any land masses. Additional information and a satellite image on Tropical Cyclone Colin can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the South Pacific Ocean basin, Cyclone Ian formed at the start of last week as a tropical storm to the east of Fiji. This tropical storm initially traveled toward the north, but reversed direction and traveled toward the south-southeast, intensifying into a category 4 tropical cyclone at the end of the week. Ian traveled across the Tonga Islands, producing strong winds, high seas and torrential rain. At least one fatality was reported as of Sunday. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Cyclone Ian.
NOAA's Atlantic hurricane research activities in 2013 deemed successful -- Despite a relatively quiet 2013 hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin, researchers from the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory considered the season to be successful from the standpoint of data collection. These researchers conducted missions aboard hurricane hunter aircraft into two tropical storms and one of the season’s two hurricanes as part of the division’s Hurricane Field Program designed to collect atmospheric data that could be used in operational numerical weather prediction models. [NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research]
National Weather Service provides forecast assistance to other nations for typhoons and other disasters -- The NOAA National Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) has been actively assisting some of the other nations in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in forecasting typhoons and other severe weather events that may adversely impact these other nations. NCEP has a numerical weather prediction system that utilizes global weather models and operates the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, two of the six Regional or Specialized Meteorological Centres of WMO that specialize in tropical cyclone forecasting and warning related services. [NOAA Weather-Ready Nation News]
Plankton spiral in southeastern Indian Ocean seen from space -- Images made from data collected by the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Aqua satellite at the end of last year show a swirl of phytoplankton in the near surface waters of the eastern South Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia. The milky green-colored swirl is a bloom of the phytoplankton that has been trapped in an eddy of ocean water that has spun off a larger ocean current. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Great Lakes steam fog seen by satellite -- A natural-color image and a false-color image made from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite during the first week of January show the development of "steam fog" over each of the Great Lakes as a cold and dry arctic air mass moves across the open waters of the lakes. The steam fog develops on the western sides of the lakes and winds from the northwest carry the steam fog to the southeast across these lakes. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Internal waves in ocean studied -- A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other research institutions in the US and France have been studying internal waves in the ocean and in the laboratory. These internal waves, which oscillate entirely within a stratified fluid such as the ocean, appear to affect ocean ecosystems and the Earth's climate as they travel long distances and mix water masses. These underwater waves develop along a boundary between two water masses that have density differences due to temperature and/or salinity. Some of the largest internal ocean waves are produced in the South China Sea and can have heights of several hundred feet. [MIT News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

13 January 1840...The 207-ft long side-wheel steamship Lexington burned and sank in Long Island Sound four miles off the northern coast of New York State's Long Island with the loss of 139 lives. Only four people survived. (Wikipedia)
15 January 1833...HMS Beagle anchored at Goeree Tierra del Fuego.
17 January 1773...HMS Resolution, commanded by English explorer Captain James Cook, became the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle (66 deg 33 min S). (Wikipedia)
17 January 1779...The English explorer Captain James Cook made his last notation in ship's log Discovery. He was killed less than one month later on Hawaii's Big Island.
18 January 1778...The English explorer Captain James Cook sailed past the island of Oahu, thereby becoming the first European to see the Hawaiian Islands, which he called the "Sandwich Islands." (The History Channel)
18-22 January 1978...The Atlantic's first-ever January subtropical storm with tropical characteristics since records began in 1871 organized 1500 miles east-northeast of Puerto Rico. The storm finally dissipated on the 22nd approximately 200 miles north of Puerto Rico. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
19 January 1840...LT Charles Wilkes, USN was the first American to sight the eastern Antarctic coast, claiming this portion of the continent for the United States. The group that he led explored a 1500-mile stretch of the coast of eastern Antarctica, which later became known as Wilkes Land. (Naval Historical Center)
19 January 1946...Staged jointly by the USCG and USN, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York. (USCG Historian's Office)
19 January 1996...The tug Scandia and its barge, the North Cape, ran aground on the shore of Rhode Island, spilling 828,000 gallons of oil, the worst spill in that state's history. The Coast Guard rescued the entire crew, pumped off 1.5 million gallons of oil and conducted skimming operations. (USCG Historian's Office)