WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

1-5 May 2006

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2006 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 28 August 2006. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Ocean in the News:

Hurricane hunter aircraft to tour Gulf Coast and Florida -- In an attempt to increase public awareness of hurricane preparedness along the vulnerable coastal sections of the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Florida Peninsula, flight crews from NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft, along with forecasters from the National Hurricane Center are about to make a five-day tour starting Monday in Brownsville, TX and ending Friday in Tampa, FL. [NOAA News]
Final report made on mysterious whale-stranding event -- A final report was issued last week by the NOAA Fisheries Service on the mysterious stranding of more than 150 melon-headed whales off Hawaii's Kauai coast during July 2004. Although no exact cause of the stranding was identified, naval sonar exercises may have played a role in the event that claimed only one young calf. [NOAA News]
Satellite images of recent tropical cyclones -- NOAA's Operational Significant Event Imagery (OSEI) team has posted several impressive geosynchronous satellite images of tropical cyclones with hurricane-force winds that have been moving across the tropical waters of the Eastern Hemisphere within the last week:
- Tropical Cyclone Mala traveled to the northeast across the Bay of Bengal toward Myanmar (also known as Burma) with maximum sustained winds of over 130 mph. [OSEI NOAA] Early last Saturday (local time) Mala made landfall along the coast approximately 120 miles to the northwest of the capital city, Yangon (or Rangoon), resulting in damage to buildings and several deaths. [CNN]
- Tropical Cyclone Monica, a category-5 system on the Saffir Simpson Scale, hit the coast of Australia's Northern Territory, accompanied by maximum sustained winds of at least 175 mph and gusts to 225 mph. [OSEI NOAA] An Australian weather forecaster claimed that Monica was possibly the worst cyclone (the Australian counterpart for a hurricane) to hit the country, even more powerful that Tropical Cyclone Tracy that hit Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974. [USA Today] [Reuters AlertNet]
Detailed analysis used to see how a tropical system ticks -- Using a mechanical metaphor to describe the analysis and recreation of weather data surrounding Tropical Storm Gert that formed in the Gulf of Mexico during July 2005, NASA researchers found that the mountainous topography of Mexico appears to have helped in the formation of this tropical storm. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Satellite data helps improve hurricane landfall forecasts -- Citing storm track forecasts for Tropical Storms Cindy (recently upgraded to hurricane status) and Gert as examples, a scientist at the University of Utah recently reported that hurricane landfall forecasts when ocean surface wind data obtained by NASA's QuikSCAT satellite along with data obtained by dropwindsondes deployed from aircraft were inserted into computer forecast models. [NASA]
Looking ahead to new weather satellites -- Attendees at a recent conference were told by a high-ranking NOAA official of plans being made for a new series of geosynchronous satellites to be launched beginning in 2014. He also reported that the GOES-N satellite that is scheduled for launch in May should benefit forecasters during this upcoming hurricane season. [USA Today]
Satellites show conflicting temperature trends in Antarctica -- NASA scientists assembled an image of the trends in radiative skin temperatures over Antarctica made by NOAA polar orbiting satellites between 1982 and 2004 that shows warming along coastal sections of the continent, while cooling was detected in the interior near the South Pole. Disintegration of ice shelves and calving of icebergs appear to be related to the warming along the coast. [NASA Earth Observatory]
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.

Historical Events:

1 May 1683...A patent was awarded in England for the extraction of salt from seawater. (Today in Science History)
1 May 1883...At Cape Lookout, NC, a storm tide swept over the island drowning sheep and cattle. (Intellicast)
1 May 1921...The first radio fog signals in the United States were placed in commission on Ambrose Lightship, Fire Island Lightship, and Sea Girt Light Station, NJ. These signals installed by the US Lighthouse Service were meant to guide ships approaching New York Harbor. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 May 1936...The Whaling Treaty Act outlawed the taking of right whales or calves of any whale. This law was enforced by the Coast Guard. (USCG Historian's Office)
2 May 1775...Benjamin Franklin completed the first scientific study of the Gulf Stream. His observations began in 1769 when as deputy postmaster of the British Colonies he found ships took two weeks longer to bring mail from England than was required in the opposite direction. Thus, Franklin became the first to chart the Gulf Stream. (Today in Science History)
2 May 1880...The first U.S. steamboat to successfully employ electric lights was the Columbia, a 309-ft long vessel which operated between San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR. An "A" type dynamo was placed in operation to illuminate the passenger rooms and main salons. (Today in Science History)
2 May 1932...After a Convention with Canada, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act re-enacted the Act of 7 June 1924 and made it unlawful to catch halibut between 1 November and 15 February of each year in territorial waters of United States and Canada, as well as on the high seas, extending westerly from there, including the Bering Sea. The Coast Guard enforced this act. (USCG Historian's Office)
2-3 May 1998...Ocean swells from storms in the South Pacific caused surf heights of 7 to 9 feet, with sets to 12 feet along the southern California coast. A man fishing on rocks at Rancho Palos Verdes, CA was swept away. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 May 1494...The explorer Christopher Columbus sighted the island of Jamaica in the West Indies. He named the island Santa Gloria. On the following day he landed on Jamaica. (Library of Congress)
3 May 1761...Large tornadoes swept the Charleston, SC harbor when a British Fleet of 40 sails was at anchor. It raised a wave 12 feet high, leaving many vessels on their beam-ends. Four people drowned. (Intellicast)
4 May 1869...The first U.S. patent for an offshore oil-drill rig was issued to T.F. Rowland for his "submarine drilling apparatus" (No. 89,794). (Today in Science History)
4 May 1904...Construction began on the Panama Canal. (Wikipedia)
4 May 1910...Congress required every passenger ship or other ship carrying 50 persons or more, leaving any port of United States to be equipped with radio (100-mi radius) and a qualified operator. (USCG Historian's Office)
5 May 1990...A strong Pacific cold front moving rapidly inland caused weather conditions at the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington State to quickly change from sunny and calm to westerly winds of 60 mph and ten-foot waves. Three recreational fishing boats capsized in heavy seas off Port Angeles resulting in five deaths. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
6 May 1994...The rail tunnel under the English Channel, or "Chunnel," that connects Folkestone, England, with Sangatte, France was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President Mitterrand. (The History Channel)