WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

21-25 July 2014

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2014 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2014. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

Key findings from 2013 State of the Climate report released this week -- During this past week NOAA scientists and their colleagues released a 232-page State of the Climate in 2013 report.
This peer-reviewed study compiled by 425 scientists from 57 countries examines trends in temperature and precipitation, extreme weather and climate events, increases in greenhouse gas concentrations and changes in the polar sea ice around the world in 2013. The study also is published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. [NOAA News]
Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Hawaii's Big Island will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (22-23 July). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Hilo and elsewhere on the Big Island. The other time when the Big Island experienced a zenithal sun was in mid May [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, tropical cyclone activity continued:

In the central North Pacific basin, where Tropical Storm Wali formed from a tropical depression just to the west of the boundary between the central and eastern North Pacific basins (along 140 degrees west longitude). This tropical storm, which is the first to form in the Central Pacific this year, traveled to the northwest and approached the waters to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands. Over the weekend, Wali weakened to a tropical depression and then a remnant low, but locally heavy rains to Hawaii's Big Island. Additional information and satellite images for Tropical Storm Wali are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Rammasun intensified to become a typhoon as it traveled westward across the Philippine Sea and then the main Philippine island of Luzon during the week. After passing across Luzon, Rammasun intensified to become a super typhoon (category 4 on the Saffir Simpson Scale) as it traveled across the South China Sea toward the west-northwest. Wind gusts reached at least 160 mph, which helped generate sea wave heights ranging between 35 and 40 feet. By late in the weekend, Super typhoon Rammasun made landfall on northern sections of Hainan Island along the southern coast of China. Locally heavy rains from this typhoon also fell across the northern provinces of Vietnam. Check the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and information on Super typhoon Rammasun.
Late in the week, Tropical Storm Matmo developed from Tropical Depression 10W in the western Pacific approximately 200 miles to the west-northwest of Yap. Over the weekend, Matmo traveled to the north-northwest and intensified into a category 1 typhoon on the Saffir Simpson Scale. By early Monday (local time), its center was located approximately 770 miles to the south-southeast of Taipei, Taiwan. Matmo was forecast to head toward the coast of China between the Philippines and Japan. Satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Matmo can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

New aerial imagery approach employed for post-Hurricane Arthur assessment -- Less than 12 hours after Hurricane Arthur made landfall along North Carolina's Outer Banks on the 4th of July, an assessment team of experts from NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) began taking aerial photographs that included oblique images and aerial video to document damage, erosion, and potential impacts to navigation caused by the hurricane. New photographic techniques were employed by the NGS experts that could lead to more comprehensive post-storm surveys in the future. [NOAA National Ocean Service]
Following an airborne experiment to study aerosols and hurricanes -- A blog is being posted that will follow the progress of LARGE (Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment), a field campaign during the current Atlantic hurricane season involving scientists from NASA's Langley Research Center using NOAA aircraft to collect atmospheric data for a variety of separate experiments involving tropical cyclones. One of the experiments involves the study of the chemical, optical and physical properties of atmospheric aerosols and how these aerosols could impact hurricanes. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New management plan released for a national marine sanctuary in the Southeastern States -- Late last week NOAA's Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary published a final rule and environmental assessment that will permit the use of weighted marker buoys in the sanctuary located off the coast of Georgia as part of a revised management plan. The new exemption for marker buoys, which will take effect in mid-August, represents an important safety measure for recreational diving and an enhancement for recreational fishing. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Press Release]
Illegal lobster traps removed from waters around the Florida Keys -- A team from NOAA Fisheries is removing as many as 300 illegal lobster devices called "casitas" from the waters surrounding the Florida Keys during the next two months. Many of the casitas have been removed from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. [NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Habitat Conservation]
A banner year envisioned for gray whale calves -- NOAA Fisheries scientists report their annual Gray Whale Calf Survey of the number of gray whale calves born last winter indicates that 2014 could be a banner year for calf production in the waters of the eastern North Pacific Ocean off Mexico. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Non-native catfish invade Chesapeake Bay -- Scientists from NOAA Fisheries and their natural resource manager colleagues report an invasion of non-native blue and flathead catfish into the waters of Chesapeake Bay during the last half century. Although these fish are valued as good sport fish, they appear detrimental to native fish and could cause changes in the food web of Chesapeake Bay. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Significant harmful algal bloom predicted this summer for western Lake Erie -- Scientists from NOAA and the partner institutions of Ohio Sea Grant, Ohio State University, Heidelberg University and University of Toledo predict a significant harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie this summer, even though the overall bloom should be smaller than in 2013. This year's bloom will have varying impacts across the lake's western basin. [NOAA News]
Video examines role of healthy habitat for nation's seafood and fisheries -- NOAA Fisheries recently released a 3-minute video entitled "Healthy Habitat: The Foundation of America's Seafood and Fisheries" that describes the role that a health habitat has on the foundation of America's seafood and fisheries. The efforts employed by NOAA to conserve habitat and rebuild fisheries are also identified. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Field campaign to probe carbon cycle and ocean ecology commences -- During the last week NASA's Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research (SABOR) experiment started in an effort to advance space-based capabilities for monitoring microscopic plants such as phytoplankton that form the base of the marine food chain. This coordinated ship and aircraft observation campaign will be conducted for three weeks over the waters off the Atlantic coast of the United States. [NOAA 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]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
23 July 1715...Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America was authorized by the Boston Light Bill for construction at Little Brewster Island, MA. This light, located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston harbor, has guided ships since its lantern was first lighted just before sunset, on 14 Sep 1716. In the 1600s, treacherous rocks caused countless loss of lives. False signal fires lit in the wrong places by "wreckers" lured ships aground to plunder. Boston Light was blown up by the British in 1776, but rebuilt in 1783 by Governor John Hancock. The lighthouse was also the last remaining staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
23 July 1788...A weather diary kept by George Washington recorded that the center of a hurricane passed directly over his Mount Vernon home. The hurricane crossed eastern North Carolina and Virginia before moving into the Central Appalachians. Norfolk, VA reported houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and crops leveled to the ground. (David Ludlum)
23 July 1958...USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the first submerged transit of the North Pole. (Naval Historical Center)
23 July 1982...The International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. (Wikipedia)
24 July 1609...A fleet of ships carrying colonists to the New World met with a hurricane near Bermuda, resulting in much loss of property but little loss of life. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. On the 27^th, a van loaded with people on their way to a church camp stopped on Texas Highway 7 due to a flooded bridge just west of Centerville. A truck rammed the van, pushing it into the flooded creek, resulting in five people drowning. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
24-26 July 1996...Although thousands of miles from southern California, an intense South Pacific storm south of Tahiti produced seven to ten foot surf with some sets up to 12 feet along the southern California coast. Lifeguards participated in more than 500 rescues along the beaches. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
25 July 1956...The Italian ship Andrea Doria sank in dense fog near Nantucket Lightship, MA. Ten hours earlier, the ship was rammed by the Swedish-American liner, Stockholm, forty-five miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two persons drowned, or were killed by the impact. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
25 July 1994...Hurricane Gilma, like Emilia a week earlier, reached Category 5 strength in the Central Pacific. (Intellicast)
27 July 1866...The 1686-mile long Atlantic Cable was successfully completed between Newfoundland and Ireland by the American businessman Cyrus W. Field, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time. Two previous attempts at laying a cable ended in failure. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
27 July 1926...A hurricane came inland near Daytona Beach, FL. The hurricane caused 2.5 million dollars damage in eastern Florida, including the Jacksonville area. (David Ludlum)
27 July 1943...On a whim, and flying a single engine AT-6, Lieutenant Ralph O' Hair and Colonel Duckworth were the first to fly into a hurricane. It started regular Air Force flights into hurricanes. (The Weather Channel)