WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

25-29 December 2017

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Sincerely,

Ed Hopkins and the AMS Ocean Central Staff

Items of Interest:

An Earth portrait on the recent solstice --A full disk visible satellite image was produced from data collected from the sensors onboard NOAA's GOES-16 satellite a few minutes after last week's winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (at 1628 Z on 21 December 2017). At that time, the subsolar point was over the western coast of South America along the Tropic of Capricorn, as far south as it can be during the year. Compare the brightness of the clouds across the Southern Ocean to the south of South America, where the local "summer" sun was relatively high in the sky, and the dimly lit clouds across Canada, where the local "winter" sun was near the horizon. [Dept. of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison]
A 24-hour animation of GOES-16 full disk visible images is also informative, as it shows the orientation of the day-night terminator as it progresses across the field of view. [CISMM SSEC Blog]
NOAA's GOES-16 has become new GOES-East -- The NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16 that had been launched into a geosynchronous orbit around Earth in November 2016 has been moved from its position over the Equator at a longitude of 89.5 degrees West where testing of the system was recently completed to its new location on the Equator at a longitude of 75.2 West. This move has made GOES-16 become GOES-East, as well as officially joining NOAA's operational observation network. Prior to the move, GOES-16 provided more data and higher resolution images to forecasters, emergency managers and others during the recent Atlantic hurricane season. The next NOAA satellite, GOES-S, is scheduled to be launched on 1 March 2018. [NOAA News]
It's Sure Dark in the morning! -- Have you noticed that if you are an early riser, that mornings remain dark and somewhat dreary although local sunsets are becoming noticeably later during the last week? During the last week of December and the first week of January, many locations throughout the country will experience their latest sunrise times of the year, even though the winter solstice occurred during the late morning hours of Thursday, 21 December 2017. The exact day for the latest sunrise depends upon the latitude, so you may want to check the date in your locale from the sunrise tables appearing in an on-line, interactive service available for the entire year at most cities in the United States. The reason for the late sunrise now rather than on the winter solstice is because the sun is not as precise a timekeeper as our watches. Because of a combination of factors involved with Earth's elliptical orbit about the sun and the tilt of Earth's spin axis with respect to the plane of the ecliptic, the sun appeared to "run fast" by as much as 15 minutes as compared with clock time in November. In early December, most locations experienced their earliest sunsets. However, with the approach of the winter solstice and perihelion (the smallest earth-sun distance during the late-night hours of 3 January 2018), the apparent sun slows during December and finally lags the clock by 12 minutes in February. Consequently, a noticeable and welcome trend toward later sunsets can be detected by the end of December, especially by those residents in the northern part of the country. However, the latest sunrises occur at most locales in early January, meaning a continuation of the dark and dreary mornings for another week or two.
No additional "leap second" will lengthen 2017 -- The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has determined that a "leap second" will not be inserted to lengthen the calendar year of 2017. Since January 1972, as many as 28 "leap seconds" have been inserted on the last day of December (17 times) and June (11 times). The most recent insertion has been on 31 December 2016, when the IERS atomic clocks were stopped for one second just before midnight (2359Z, or 6:59 PM EST, 5:59 PM CST, etc.) to readjust the time scale based on the atomic clock to the time scale based upon the rotation of the Earth with respect to the sun. Tidal friction and other natural phenomena have slowed the Earth's rotation rate by approximately two milliseconds per day. [US Naval Observatory]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- Two tropical cyclones were found across the western North Pacific Ocean basin last week. At the beginning of the week, Tropical Depression Kai-Tak was slowly moving across the southern Philippine Islands, accompanied by torrential rains that had contributed to as many as 50 deaths as of last Wednesday. After crossing the islands, Kai-Tak emerged out over the South China Sea where it re-intensified to a tropical storm by Tuesday (local time). Over the next several days, Kai-Tak traveled toward the west and then southwest, before weakening to a tropical depression during the second half of the week. As of late Friday, Tropical Depression Kai-Tak was dissipating approximately 340 miles to the north-northeast of Singapore. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Kai-Tak.
A tropical depression formed last week over the Philippine Sea to the east of the southern Philippine Islands. Traveling toward the west, this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Tembin on Thursday as it headed for the southern Philippine Island of Mindanao; Tembin was called Vinta in the Philippines. Torrential rains fell across the southern Philippines as Tropical Storm Tembin traveled across these islands. The rain produced flooding and landslides that left over 100 fatalities and many missing as of early Sunday. The island of Mindanao was especially hard hit, where more than 5.5 inches of rain fell. [CNN] In addition, several fatalities were reported when a ferry sank in rough seas off Quezon province. Over the past weekend, Tembin intensified to become a category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it traveled westward across the South China Sea. Tembin was the twenty-seventh named tropical cyclone and the eleventh typhoon of 2017 in the western North Pacific. As of Monday afternoon (local time), Typhoon Tembin was located approximately 290 miles to the southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Current forecasts indicate that Typhoon Tembin should continue its travels to the west, making landfall as a tropical storm south of Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta by early Tuesday. Tembin was expected to bring large waves, strong winds, and torrential rains to portions of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand at the start of this week. Additional information and satellite imagery of Typhoon Tembin can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
A real-life sequel to Moby Dick is recognized in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands -- The preserved remains of the Two Brothers, an early 19th century North American whale ship that sank after colliding with a shallow reef off Hawaii's French Frigate Shoals in February 1823 has been located and been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Two Brothers was captained by George Pollard, a Nantucket (MA) whaling captain who had his previously vessel, the Essex, had been rammed by a whale and sunk, which led to Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick. In 2008, a NOAA-led expedition studying marine archaeology in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands located the Two Brothers in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. [NOAA News] or [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
Significant progress made by NOAA Fisheries on commitments to recreational fishers -- The head of NOAA Fisheries, Chris Oliver, recently wrote that his agency is making significant progress on commitments made to recreational anglers. He reported that that NOAA Fisheries has made substantial progress on or completed more than 80 percent of the projects identified in the 2015-2018 National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Implementation Plan. [NOAA Fisheries News]
New requirements for recreational and commercial shark fishing to take effect on New Year's Day -- NOAA Fisheries recently reminded all fishermen on highly migratory species vessels that the remaining new recreational and commercial measures implementing Amendment 5b to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic HMS Fishery Management Plan become effective next Monday, 1 January 2018. This amendment will implement a range of management measures to end overfishing and rebuild overfished dusky sharks. Any commercial fishermen with HMS permits. [NOAA Fisheries Bulletin]
Sea to Shining Sea Award for 2017 is announced -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently announced that it has awarded its Sea to Shining Sea Award for Excellence in Interpretation and Education for 2017 to Michelle Riley of Georgia Public Broadcasting for its live exploration of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, which is located in the waters of the North Atlantic off the Georgia coast between Savannah and Brunswick. Georgia Public Broadcasting produced an hour-long program that reached over 45,000 students in 44 states, along with some in foreign countries. The award is presented to employees, contractors and volunteers of the National Marine Sanctuaries in recognition of demonstrated successes in advancing ocean and climate literacy and conservation through national marine sanctuaries. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
NOAA Fisheries reviews Top 5 stories, photos and videos of 2017 -- Officials with NOAA Fisheries has posted the Top 5 most popular stories, photographs and videos that had appeared on their website during the 2017 calendar year. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Story]
Sanctuary Photo Contest winners for 2017 are announced -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently announced the winners for its 2017 Sanctuary Photo Contest. Top three winning photos were awarded for each category: Sanctuary Views, Sanctuary Life and Sanctuary Portraits. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries]
A global review of November 2017 temperatures -- Preliminary analysis of temperature data by scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) indicates that the worldwide combined ocean and land surface temperature for November 2017 tied November 2016 for the fifth highest global November surface temperature since a sufficiently dense and reliable network began in 1880. This combined global November temperature was approximately 1.35 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century (1901-2000) average November temperature. They also found that the global ocean surface temperature was the fourth highest for any November since 1880, while the global land surface temperature was the ninth highest temperature reading for any November on record.
In addition, the scientists reported that the seasonal global land and ocean temperature for the three-months of September through November (Northern Hemisphere autumn and Southern Hemisphere spring) was approximately 0.75 Celsius degrees above the 20th century average, making this three-month average the fourth highest temperature departure from average on record.
When considering the global temperature for the first eleven months of 2017, the year-to-date has been the third warmest in 138 years, with a global combined ocean-land temperature that is 0.84 Celsius degrees above the 20th-century average. [NOAA/NCEI State of the Climate]
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for November 2017 is available from NCEI.
According to satellite data collected by the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the sea ice over the Arctic Ocean during November 2017 was the third smallest in areal extent for any November since satellite-derived ice records began in 1979. In addition, the sea ice around Antarctica had the second smallest November ice extent on record. Rutgers Global Snow Lab reported that the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent was the ninth largest November snow cover in the 52-year period of record that began in 1966. [NOAA/NCEI Global Snow & Ice]
La Niña is returning quietly -- NASA scientists have been monitoring the development of La Niña conditions across the equatorial Pacific and how the atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns associated with this "cold phase" ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) are having an impact upon this winter's weather across North America. A map displays the sea surface height anomalies across the Pacific as obtained from the altimeter onboard NASA's Jason-3 satellite during the first week of December. Animations of sea surface height anomalies show 2017 conditions compared to 2010, during one of the strongest and longest La Niña events on record. [NASA Earth Observatory]
UK Met Office global average temperature forecast made for 2018 -- During the last week, scientists at the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office (Met Office) released their annual global temperature forecast for the upcoming year of 2018. They anticipate the global average temperature in 2018 to be 0.40 Celsius degrees above the long-term (1981-2010) average of 14.3 degrees Celsius, with a range of uncertainty extending from 0.28 to 0.52 Celsius degrees around the central estimate. Although 2018 could be a very warm year, but it would probably not be the record warmest year since comprehensive global climate records began in 1880, as a moderate La Niña event was anticipated to run through the first several months of the year.
Using observational data running through September 2017, the scientists noted that this current year's global temperature was 0.75 Celsius degrees above the 1961-1990 average. [Editor's note: The Met Office still uses the 1961-1990 interval for long-term averages that is accepted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), rather than the 1981-2010 interval currently used by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA NCEI). EJH] [UK Met Office News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

25 December 1492...The Santa Maria, one of the ships that Christopher Columbus used in his historic trans-Atlantic voyage, landed at the Dominican Republic.
25 December 1974...Tropical Cyclone Tracy (a hurricane in the waters surrounding Australia) made landfall near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Excellent warnings kept the death toll to between 50 and 60, with more than 20,000 people evacuated in the week following the storm. Some areas were totally devastated. Peak wind speeds reached exceeded 174 mph. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Calendar)
26-31 December 1993...The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race off Australia was plagued by hurricane-force wind gusts in excess of 74 mph and 33-foot high seas. Of 104 starters, only 37 yachts finished the race. On the 28^th, one yacht owner spent five hours in the water after being swept overboard. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
26 December 2004...A massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale approximately 100 miles off the western coast of Sumatra created a tsunami that caused devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, The Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The death toll is currently estimated at more than 300,000. Officials say the true toll may never be known, due to rapid burials. Indonesia was worst affected with as many as 219,000 people killed. The total estimated material losses in the Indian Ocean region were $10 billion and insured losses were $2 billion. (Wikipedia) (National Weather Service files)
27 December 2001...Typhoon Vamei formed in the South China Sea, about 100 miles north of the Equator. Vamei was the first recorded tropical cyclone to develop within 1.5 degrees of latitude about 104 miles of the Equator. (National Weather Service files)
28 December 1857...The light was first illuminated in the Cape Flattery Lighthouse, located on Washington State's Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. "Because of Indian trouble it was necessary to build a blockhouse on Tatoosh Island before even commencing the construction of the lighthouse. Twenty muskets were stored in the blockhouse, and then the lighthouse work began." (USCG Historian's Office)
28 December 1903...An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the non-contiguous territory of the Hawaiian Islands. (USCG Historian's Office)
28 December 1908...An early morning earthquake under the Straits of Messina leveled cities in Sicily and southern mainland Italy, as well as producing a tsunami with 40-foot waves that inundated coastal communities. This earthquake, estimated to by a magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale, and the resulting tsunami killed an estimated 100,000 people. Long stretches of coastline sunk into the Messina Straits and disappeared from view. A steady rain also added to the woes of the survivors. (The History Channel)
29 December 1897...Congress prohibited the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean. (US Coast Guard Historian's Office)
30 December 1972...The 86-foot high wave measured by the ship Weather Reporter was the world's highest measured wave. The wave was measured in the North Atlantic Ocean at 59 degrees North latitude and 19 degrees West longitude. (Accord's Weather Calendar)