31 May-4 June 2004

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2004 with new Ocean News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 30 August 2004. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• High tides anticipated -- The moon will reach full phase late Wednesday night and early Thursday (officially, 0420Z on 3 June or 12:20 AM EDT on Thursday, 11:20 PM CDT on Wednesday, etc.). Since perigee, when the moon is closest to the earth, and the full moon occur less than 9 hours apart, very high astronomical tides can be expected.
• Atlantic Hurricane Season begins -- The official 2004 hurricane season for the North Atlantic Basin begins on Tuesday, 1 June. South Carolina will conduct statewide Hurricane Awareness Week during this upcoming week (29 May-5 June). The National Hurricane Center maintains a hurricane awareness website that provides information and educational material for the various hurricane hazards to include 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. The season will run until 30 November in both basins.
• Tropical cyclone brings death to Myanmar -- UN relief officials recently reported that the tropical cyclone that hit western Myanmar nearly two weeks ago (19 May) caused at least 140 deaths and left more than 18,000 people homeless. [USA Today]
• Commitment to protection of Pacific salmon -- Officials from NOAA Fisheries recently announced continued commitment to the protection of Pacific salmon and steelhead populations listed under the Endangered Species Act. [NOAA News]
• Barrier Islands disappearing -- The Grande Terre Islands, barrier islands off Louisiana's Gulf Coast, have been slowly disappearing in part because of the action of tropical weather systems, such as hurricanes. [USA Today]
• 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• 31 May 1911...The hull of the ill-fated Titanic was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship." (Information Please)
• 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 after moving off 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)
• 2-4 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 1979...The world's worst oil spill occurred when an exploratory oil well, Ixtoc 1, blew out, spilling over 140 million gallons of crude oil into the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico. Although it is the largest known oil spill, it had a low environmental impact. (Information Please)
• 4 June 1825...A hurricane struck Long Island, NY leveling trees and causing damage to ships. The early season hurricane, which originated around 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)

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URL: DSOcean/news.html

Prepared by AMS DSOcean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.