9-13 May 2005

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2005 with new Ocean News and Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2005. All the current online homepage products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• NOAA satellites help in rescue operations -- NOAA officials announced that during the first four months of 2005, the beacon system on board its polar orbiting satellites that are part of the international Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (COSPAS-SARSAT) have been responsible for saving at least 36 lives from potentially life-threatening situations across the nation, including those in coastal waters, especially in Florida and Alaska. [NOAA News]
• Mexico receives hydrographic survey vessel -- NOAA recently transferred ownership of the decommissioned NOAA Ship Whiting to the Mexican Navy for use in support of the hydrographic activities of the joint US-Mexico Charting Advisors Committee. [NOAA News]
• Benefits from new satellite foreseen -- NOAA officials recently issued a press release that detailed some of the features that a new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite would provide following its scheduled launch in June, including improvement to the global Earth observation program and the nation's search and rescue operations. [NOAA News]
• FEMA plans for 2005 hurricane season -- Based upon lessons learned from last year when four hurricanes hit Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been making several changes in its preparations for the upcoming hurricane season. [USA Today]
• Earth may have oceans earlier in its history -- Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Australian National University suggest that a continental crust and oceans containing liquid water may have occurred on earth within 200 million years of the formation of the solar system, much earlier than previously thought. They base their theory on a new zircon "thermometer" that they developed. [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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• 9 May 1502...The explorer Christopher Columbus left Spain for his fourth and final journey to the "New World". (Wikipedia)
• 9 May 1926...The Baden-Baden, a ship propelled by two 50-ft high cylindrical rotors arrived in New York having left Hamburg on 2 Apr 1926, and completed a transatlantic crossing from Germany., they applying the Utilizing the aerodynamic power of the Magnus Effect (discovered 1852), which builds air pressure behind a rotating cylinder, these rotors drove 45-hp electric motors that powered the ship. Although a theoretical success, it was not sufficiently effective for commercial application. (Today in Science)
• 9 May 1980...A blinding squall, followed by dense fog, reduced visibility to near zero at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida. The Liberian freighter SS Summit Venture hit the bridge piling, causing a 1200-foot section of the bridge to fall 150 feet into the bay. Several vehicles, including a bus drove off the edge of the span, resulting in 35 deaths. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (Wikipedia).
• 9 May 1990...A tropical cyclone hit the southeast coast of India, killing 1000 people, even though 400,000 people evacuated because of early warning of the storm. More than 100 miles of coast were devastated as winds reached 125 mph and a storm surge measured at 22 feet flooded inland as far as 22 miles. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 10 May 1497...The Italian cartographer Amerigo Vespucci allegedly left the Spanish coastal city of Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. (Wikipedia)
• 10 May 1503...Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles that he found there. (Wikipedia)
• 10 May 1960...The submarine, USS Triton (SSRN-586), completed a submerged circumnavigation of world in 84 days following many of the routes taken by Magellan and cruising 46,000 miles. (Naval Historical Center)
• 11 May 1833...The ship Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic while bound from England to Quebec, resulting in the loss of 215 lives. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11-12 May 1965...The first of two cyclones that struck East Pakistan (now called Bangladesh) during the year made landfall. This system, along with the one on 1-2 June killed about 47,000 people.
• 12 May 1916...Plumb Point, Jamaica reported 17.80 inches of rain in 15 minutes, which set a world record. (The Weather Doctor)
• 12 May 1978...The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they would no longer exclusively name hurricanes after women.
• 14 May 1836...U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, the first major scientific expedition overseas. LT Charles Wilkes USN, would lead the expedition in surveying South America, Antarctica, Far East, and North Pacific. (Naval Historical Center)
• 15 May 1934...Lightship No. 117, occupying the Nantucket Shoals Station, in a dense fog, was struck by the RMS Olympic and sank on station with the loss of seven crewmembers. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 15-24 May 1951...Hurricane Able did a "loop-the-loop" north of the Bahamas and reached Category 3 strength off Cape Hatteras, NC. (The Weather Doctor)

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URL: DS-Ocean/news.html

Prepared by AMS DS-Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.