WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

24-28 June 2013

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2013 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 2 September 2013. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

Lightning Awareness Week -- The nation will celebrate its annual National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, this upcoming week, 23 through 29 June 2013, as declared by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS). On average, 55 people in the nation are killed annual by lightning and numerous more are injured. A cartoon character, Leon the Lightning Lion, is promoting the slogan "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" NWS, in conjunction with other sponsors, has a "Lightning Safety" website, http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/, that has links to a variety of informational and teacher resource materials. As many as 30 states are also observing this week with statewide activities.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During last week, tropical cyclone activity was detected across the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean basins as waters continued to heat during Northern Hemisphere summer.
In the North Atlantic basin, an area of low pressure formed off the coast of Belize early last week and eventually intensified to become Tropical Storm Barry, the second named Atlantic tropical cyclone of 2013. After developing into a tropical depression last Monday approximately 60 miles off the Belize coast, this system moved to the west-northwest across Belize, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico. Traveling out over the Bay of Campeche, this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Barry by Wednesday afternoon . As Tropical Storm Barry approached the Mexican coast, it produced heavy rainfall totals ranging between three to five inches over parts of central Mexico. On Thursday morning, Tropical Storm Barry made landfall along the coast just to the north of Veracruz, Mexico. Moving inland, Barry weakened to a tropical depression by late Thursday afternoon. Eventually, Barry dissipated over interior sections of central Mexico. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Barry.
In the western North Pacific basin, two tropical storms developed last week. Tropical Storm Leepi formed from a tropical depression at the start of last week over the waters of the Philippine Sea. This tropical depression intensified to a minimal tropical storm as it traveled northward, passing to the east of Taiwan. Leepi was short-lived, as it dissipated by midweek as it crossed the East China Sea as it approached the southern Korean Peninsula. The NASA Hurricane Page has some information on Tropical Depression 04W, which eventually became Tropical Storm Leepi.
The other named tropical cyclone in the western North Pacific was Tropical Storm Bebinca, which formed at midweek over the South China Sea. Over the weekend, Tropical Storm Bebinca crossed China's Hainan Island and then the Gulf of Tonkin.
By the end of the weekend, Bebinca was approaching the coast of northern Vietnam near Hanoi, where locally heavy rains were anticipated.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, the third tropical depression of the basin's 2013 hurricane season formed early Sunday morning from an area of low pressure approximately 500 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. This system could strengthen to become a hurricane by early Tuesday morning.
Possible record-setting dead zone for Gulf of Mexico but smaller zone in Chesapeake Bay -- A group of NOAA-supported modelers at the University of Michigan, Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium have run a forecast model that indicates this summer's Gulf of Mexico hypoxic "dead" zone could reach a size which could be one of the ten largest recorded. On the other hand, the researchers foresee smaller than average hypoxia levels in Chesapeake Bay estuary along the Middle Atlantic coast. The projected low oxygen levels in the Gulf were due to high runoff of nutrients in the Mississippi associated with flood conditions in the Midwest. [NOAA News]
Regional fishery council appointments announced -- During the last week the US Department of Commerce announced the appointment of 20 members to three-year terms on the nation's eight regional fishery management councils that partner with NOAA Fisheries Service to manage ocean fish stocks. The eight regional councils have 72 appointed members and some of this year's appointments will be new to these councils, while others are returning members. [NOAA Fisheries]
Fingerprinting turtles -- NOAA scientists have developed a new genetic "fingerprinting" technique using DNA samples taken from nesting female turtles and their hatchlings to reveal the identity of the male parents. This genetic fingerprinting could help save endangered turtles. [NOAA Fisheries]
Food supply for young Atlantic cod affected by changing sea surface temperatures and water circulation patterns -- Scientists at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center and their colleagues report that changes in the sea surface water temperatures and circulation patterns in the western North Atlantic off the Northeast coast of the US has affected the distribution and abundance of the key Northeast Continental Shelf zooplankton species, which ultimately has influenced the recovery of Atlantic cod and other fish stocks in the region from overfishing. [NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center]
Review of global weather and climate for May 2013 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the recently concluded month of May tied May 1998 and May 2005 for the third warmest May since sufficiently dense global climate records began in 1880. They based their report on preliminary calculations of the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for May 2013, which was 1.19 Fahrenheit degrees (0.66 Celsius degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average May temperature. When considered separately, the average May 2013 land surface temperature was also the third highest for any May since 1880, while the monthly global ocean surface temperature was the fifth highest on record, tying the May ocean temperatures in 2003 and 2009. Since neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions were detected across eastern and central sections of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, sea surface temperatures were below average across this region.
In addition, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for the last three months (March through May), which is considered meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere (fall in the Southern Hemisphere), was the eighth highest since 1880.
The average Arctic sea ice extent for May was the 10th smallest extent for May on record, while the corresponding sea ice extent around Antarctica was the fifth largest on record for May according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
Surface water patterns in wake of the Canaries as seen from space -- An image made in mid June from the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Terra satellite shows a variety of colors in the surface waters of the North Atlantic Ocean that surround the Canary Islands. The various colors of these surface waters are the result of the prevailing large scale winds from the northeast (the northeast trade winds) that blow around the island and create a variety of tail-like patterns in the wind-driven waves. An "island wake" can be detected downwind of the islands. A few clouds are also apparent. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New Landsat satellite provides improved view of coral reefs -- Improved images of coral reefs have been obtained from data collected by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on NASA's new Landsat 8 satellite, even though the mission of this spacecraft is to monitor land cover. This sensor has a better spatial resolution and greater sensitivity to brightness and color, especially in those regions of the electromagnetic spectrum that include the "coastal blue" wavelength band. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Natural underwater springs reveal response of coral reefs to ocean acidification -- A marine scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz has found that corals growing in the vicinity of those natural underwater springs where the ocean water becomes more acidic (that is, where the water's pH is lowered) tend to not fully acclimate. While the corals grow and calcify, they do not produce robust structures. The scientist believes that his results show that with anticipated ocean acidification due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, the corals will undergo change with less dense structure density that will make them more vulnerable. [National Science Foundation News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

24 June 1497...The Italian navigator and explorer Giovanni (John) Cabot, sailing in the service of England, landed in North America on what is now Newfoundland, claiming the continent for England. (Wikipedia)
26 June 1954...Eight fishermen were swept off the breakwater of the Montrose Harbor in Chicago, IL by a seiche on Lake Michigan. At the time, this killer wave rose suddenly from a serene Lake Michigan; sunny skies and calm wind conditions were reported. The seiche, produced by an earlier squall on the lake, caused the lake water to rise ten feet. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
26 June 1959...Following an opening ceremony attended by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II, 28 naval vessels sailed from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes, marking the formal opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway to seagoing ships. The Seaway consists of a navigational channel system of canals, locks, and dredged waterways, permitting travel from the Gulf of St. Lawrence nearly 2500 miles inland to Duluth, MN on Lake Superior. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
26 June 1986...Hurricane Bonnie made landfall on the upper Texas coast. A wind gust to 98 mph occurred at Sea Rim State Park. The town of Ace recorded 13 inches of rain. (Intellicast)
26 June-7 July 1989...Tropical Storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico from remnants of Hurricane Cosme in the eastern North Pacific. Periods of heavy rain caused flooding across parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. Winnfield, LA reported a six-day total of 29.52 inches of rain. This system was responsible for eleven deaths and approximately $500 million in damage. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
27 June 1898...The first solo circumnavigation of the globe was completed in slightly more than three years by the Canadian seaman and adventurer Joshua Slocum of Briar Island, NS when he returned to Newport, RI after sailing the 37-foot Spray a distance of 46,000 miles. After completing this voyage Slocum wrote the classic book, Sailing Alone Around the World describing his adventure. (Wikipedia)
27-29 June 1954...Excessive rains from remnants of Hurricane Alice led to the Rio Grande River's worst flood. Up to 27.1 inches of rain fell at Pandale, TX. As many as 55 people died from the flooding. The river crest at Laredo, TX broke the previous highest record by 12.6 feet. The roadway on the US. 90 bridge over the Pecos River was covered by 30 feet of water on the 27^th. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (David Ludlum)
27 June 1957...Hurricane Audrey smashed ashore at Cameron, LA drowning 381 persons in the storm tide, and causing 150 million dollars damage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Audrey left only a brick courthouse and a cement-block icehouse standing at Cameron, and when the waters settled in the town of Crede, only four buildings remained. The powerful winds of Audrey tossed a fishing trawler weighing 78 tons onto an offshore drilling platform. Winds along the coast gusted to 105 mph, and oilrigs off the Louisiana coast reported wind gusts to 180 mph. A storm surge greater than twelve feet inundated the Louisiana coast as much as 25 miles inland. It was the deadliest June hurricane of record for the U.S. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
27 June 1978...SEASAT, an experimental U.S. ocean surveillance satellite was launched. Each day, SEASAT made 14 orbits of the Earth, and in a period of 36 hours was able to monitor nearly 96% of the oceanic surface. The measurement equipment on board was able to penetrate cloud cover and report measurements such as wave height, water temperature, currents, winds, icebergs, and coastal characteristics. Although it operated for only 99 days before a power failure, it had already shown the viability of the use of a satellite for collecting oceanic data. The information collected was shared with scientists and was used to aid transoceanic travel by ships and aircraft. (Today in Science History)
27-29 June 1997...Although thousands of miles away, a strong low pressure system southeast of New Zealand produced surf up to seven feet, with occasional sets to ten feet, along Hawaii's south-facing coasts. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 June 1983...A waterspout was sighted over Hazin Bay on the Yukon-Kuskokwim coast of Alaska. Satellites detected thunderstorms in the area. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 June 1992...A slow moving tropical depression produced excessive rains across southwest Florida. Four-day totals ending on the 28^th, ranged up to 25 inches in the Venice area, with a general 8 to 14 inches over Sarasota and Manatee counties. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. (Intellicast)
29 June 1860...The replacement to the first iron-pile lighthouse in the U.S. was completed at Minot's Ledge, near Scituate, Massachusetts, replacing the one at the same site that was built between 1847 and 1850, lighted 1 Jan 1850 but destroyed in a storm in April 1851. In 1860, the last stone was laid for the new Minot's Ledge lighthouse, five years minus one day after workmen first landed at the ledge. The final cost of about $300,000 made it one of the most expensive lighthouses in U.S. history. It stood off Boston's south shore, just outside Boston Harbor to warn ships of rocks that had claimed many vessels. The first granite block was laid for the new lighthouse on 9 July 1857. The lantern room and second order Fresnel lens were put into place and illuminated on 22 August 1860. This structure has withstood all storms since, and stands to this day. (Today in Science History)
29 June 1982...The Soviet Union launched COSPAS I, the first search and rescue satellite ever launched. In combination with later SARSAT satellites, a new multi-agency, international, search and rescue service was made operational. On 11 September 1982, it was credited with helping to save the crew of Cessna 172, a Canadian airplane. (USCG Historian's Office)
30 June 1886...The second destructive hurricane in nine days hit the Apalachicola-Tallahassee area of Florida. (David Ludlum)
30 June 1972...The entire state of Pennsylvania was declared a disaster area because of the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes, which claimed 48 lives, and caused 2.1 billion dollars damage. (The Weather Channel)
30 June 1989...The remains of tropical storm Allison dropped copious amounts of rain on Louisiana. Winnfield, LA reported 22.52 inches of rain in three days, and more than thirty inches for the month, a record for June. Shreveport received a record 17.11 inches in June, with a total for the first six months of the year of 45.55 inches. Thunderstorms also helped produce record rainfall totals for the month of June of 13.12 inches at Birmingham, AL, 14.66 inches at Oklahoma City, OK, 17.41 inches at Tallahassee, FL, 9.97 inches at Lynchburg, VA, and more than 10.25 inches at Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh had also experienced a record wet month of May. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)