23-27 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.

• Hurricane Forecast Updates...
• North Atlantic basin -- Last Monday, NOAA forecasters announced their seasonal outlooks for the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. They foresee another active hurricane season with 12 to 15 named tropical cyclones (including hurricanes and tropical storms), including seven to nine systems becoming hurricanes, with three to five reaching major hurricane status. [NOAA News] For comparison, Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University issued his updated forecast for the upcoming 2005 hurricane season in the North Atlantic in early April, which indicated 13 named tropical cyclones, 7 hurricanes and 3 intense hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). [The Tropical Meteorology Project] Long-term statistics indicate 10 named cyclones, 5 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes.
• Eastern North Pacific basin -- NOAA forecasters issued their first operational outlook for the 2005 season in Eastern North Pacific (east of 140 degrees W longitude), which began a week ago last Sunday. Using a categorical forecast format, they are forecasting a 70% probability of below average hurricane season, a 20% probability of near-normal and a 10% chance of an above-average season. In other words, they call for 11 to 15 tropical storms, with 6 to 8 becoming hurricanes and 2 to 4 reaching major hurricane status. For comparison, the long-term averages include 15-16 tropical storms, 9 hurricanes and 4 to 5 major hurricanes. [NOAA Press Release]
• Central Pacific basin -- NOAA forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, HI recently released their outlook for the 2005 hurricane season in the Central Pacific (from 140 degrees West to the Dateline). They are anticipating a 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 one hurricane, two tropical storms and one or two tropical depressions. [Central Pacific Hurricane Center]
• First hurricane of the Eastern Pacific season -- Hurricane Adrian, the first hurricane of the 2005 hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific moved in an unusual direction to the northeast and slammed into Honduras and El Salvador, forcing the evacuation of approximately 23,000 people. At least one death was attributed to Hurricane Adrian. [USA Today]
• North American Safe Boating Week -- This week of 21-27 May has been declared 2005 National Safe Boating Week. Check the Safe Boating Week site maintained by the Safe Boating Council.
• Assessing the economic impacts of NOAA -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has recently released a new fourth edition of the booklet entitled Economic Statistics for NOAA that enumerates the latest economic benefits that NOAA products and services contribute not only to the gross domestic product of the nation, but to the environment. Attention is focused upon the impacts of recent hurricanes. [NOAA News]
• New marine sanctuary website launched-- NOAA officials recently unveiled an education website for the National Marine Sanctuary Program in an effort to enhance public awareness and appreciation of their marine environment, especially in the 13 National Marine Sanctuaries administered by NOAA. [NOAA News]
• New NOAA Satellite launched -- On Friday, NASA and NOAA officials announced that a new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite, NOAA-18, was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA, attained orbit and transmitted the first image. This satellite is intended to be a part of the global Earth observation program and help improve NOAA's weather and climate forecasts, as well as the US search and rescue operations. [NOAA News]
• A new marine scientific and conservation institute is launched -- In an announcement made last week in Ft. Pierce, FL, a new institute called the Ocean Research & Conservation Association was established to help foster scientific research and conservation of oceanic and near-shore marine ecosystems. [EurekAlert!]
• Detailed daily maps of Mediterranean sea surface temperatures available -- The European Space Agency (ESA) is posting maps of the sea surface temperature of the Mediterranean Sea with detailed resolution obtained from sensors onboard several satellites as part of its Medspiration project. [ESA]
• Another iceberg collision is possible -- Recent detailed satellite images obtained from ESA's polar-orbiting Envisat satellite indicate that the giant B-15A iceberg may collide with an ice tongue of the Aviator Glacier along the Antarctic coast. During the last month, B-15A collided with and broke off a portion of the nearby Drygalski ice tongue. [ESA]
• Potentially catastrophic shifts in ecosystems in the Pacific foreseen -- An interdisciplinary group of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography who have studying the dynamics of the biological and physical conditions in the North Pacific Ocean during the 20th century caution that "regime shifts" in the system could result in catastrophic changes because of "non-linear" interactions within the marine ecosystems. [EurekAlert!]
• Marshes reveal history of drought and ice near New York City -- Researchers at Columbia University and NASA studying sediment layers from a tidal marsh in the Hudson River Estuary have developed a chronology of past climates in the lower Hudson Valley near New York City that indicates a 500-year drought during a warm period from 800 to 1300 AD, along with the passage of the Little Ice Age from about 1400 to the late 1800s. [NASA]
• Florida still feeling the effects of last year's hurricanes --
• Memories of "Big 4 of '04" remain -- Floridians continue to have vivid memories of the four hurricanes that hit the Sunshine State last year and remain uneasy as the 2005 hurricane season approaches. [USA Today]
• Floridians still homeless -- Nearly 29,000 people are still living in government-subsidized temporary housing, nearly eight months after hurricanes damaged approximately 700,000 homes in Florida. [USA Today]
• FEMA faulted -- Government auditors recently released a report that faulted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for not adequately inspecting homes and giving $31 million in disaster relief to 12,000 Florida residents who may not have deserved the money following Hurricane Frances. [USA Today]
• Hurricane protection products marketed -- Several companies are marketing a variety of products that they claim offer protection from hurricanes, including a safe room with home theater that can be built in an existing home for a mere $125,000. [USA Today]
• Florida's citrus industry still reeling from last year -- In addition to the damage caused to Florida's citrus groves by last year's hurricane winds and torrential rain, the hurricanes also spread citrus canker, a bacterial disease that could be more potentially ruinous than the toppled trees and ruined fruit. [USA Today]
• Better ways of altering the public explored -- The National Weather Service is exploring better ways of altering residents in inland sections of Florida to the possible dangers of an approaching hurricane. [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.

• 23 May 1850...The US Navy sent USS Advance and USS Rescue to attempt rescue of Sir John Franklin's expedition, lost in Arctic. (Naval Historical Center)
• 23 May 1946...Commodore Edward M. Webster, USCG, headed the U.S. Delegation to the International Meeting on Radio Aids to Marine Navigation, which was held in London, England. As a result of this meeting, the principal maritime nations of the world would make an intensive study of the World War II-developed devices of radar, LORAN, radar beacons, and other navigational aids with a view to adapt them to peacetime use. This meeting was the first time that the wartime technical secrets of radar and LORAN were generally disclosed to the public. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 23 May 1960...Tsunami waves from Chilean earthquakes began to affect the Alaska's coast along the Gulf of Alaska from Prince of Wales Island to Montague Island for as long as one week. The tsunami waves on the 23rd were up to 14 feet high near Yakutat. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 24 May 1500...The 13 ships in the fleet of Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral were hit by a huge ice storm that sank four ships. The rest of the ships were separated as they sailed south of the Cape of Good Hope and continued their journey to India.
• 24 May 1901...The relative humidity at Parkstone, Dorset in England at 4 PM was reported to be 9.5 percent. This low relative humidity is not typical of the British Islands, which are surrounded by ocean water and have no large high mountain barriers or plateaus. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 24 May 1951...Northeast gales generated waves to 15 feet high in the harbor of Newport, RI. A 50-ft. Navy launch with about 142 men on board capsized. Nineteen of the men drowned in the incident. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 May 1992...Winds up to 40 knots and seas to 18 feet in the northern Gulf of Alaska, approximately 30 miles southwest of Alaska's Cape Cleare, sent three waves crashing over the Cajun Mama. The 80-ft fishing boat sank, but the crew of five was rescued. (Accord's Weather Calendar)
• 25 May 1985... The Meghna River delta in Bangladesh was hit with a tropical cyclone with winds of over 100 mph that created a 15-to 20-foot high storm surge that flooded a 400-square-mile area, mainly islands located in the mouth of the river. More than 11,000 people and 500,000 head of cattle died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless because of this cyclone.
• 26 May 1967...A slow moving nor'easter battered New England with high winds, heavy rain, and record late season snow on this day and into the 26^th. Winds 70 to 90 mph in gusts occurred along the coast. Over 7 inches of rain fell at Nantucket, MA with 6.57 inches falling in 24 hours to set a new 24-hour rainfall record. Severe damage occurred along the coast from very high tides. The 24.9 inches of snow that fell at Mount Washington, NH set a new May snowfall record. Other locations in New Hampshire received 10 inches of snow near Keene and 6 inches at Dublin. (Intellicast)
• 28 May1963...A cyclone killed about 22,000 people along the coast of East Pakistan.
• 28 May 1987...A robot probe found the wreckage of the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, NC. (Wikipedia)
• 29 May 1827...The first nautical school was opened in Nantucket, MA, under the name Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin's Lancasterian School.
• 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. Although the two ships had spotted each other several minutes before the collision, altered courses and confused signals contributed to the crash. In one of the worst ship disasters in history, the liner sank in 25 minutes drowning 1024 passengers of the 1477 people on board. Only seven lifeboats escaped the rapidly sinking vessel. (The Weather Doctor) (The History Channel)
• 29 May 1950...A Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, RCMPV St. Roch, became the first ship to circumnavigate North America, when it arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Wikipedia)

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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, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.