WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

11-15 August 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.

Item of Interest:

Celebrate Shark Week 2014 -- This week (10-16 August 2014) is Shark Week 2014, a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks that will be run on the Discovery Channel and in over 72 countries. The week is also promoted on social media networks. Shark Week was first run in July 1987 in an effort to raise public awareness and respect for sharks. [The Discovery Channel]
A Nighttime Show -- The annual Perseid meteor shower should peak in the predawn hours of Tuesday (12 August 2014) and Wednesday mornings. The Perseids, which are associated with the some bits of Comet Swift-Tuttle, are noted for being fast and bright, and often leave persistent trains. Typically, the Perseids are usually very active for several days before and after the peaks, often producing 30 to 60 meteors per hour. Unfortunately, the illumination from the recent full moon should interfere with viewing the Perseids. If the skies are clear in your area, go to a region that has few lights and look up and to the northeast during the early morning hours. See "ScienceCasts: Perseid Meteors vs the Supermoon".
Starting at 11:00 PM EDT on 12 August and running into the early morning hours of the 13th, astronomer Bill Cooke and his team from Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will answer your questions via a live web chat. A live Ustream view of the skies over Marshall Space Flight Center will also be offered, weather permitting, beginning at 9:30 PM EDT. [NASA]
Nation's tide gauges help measure global sea level for nearly 200 years -- A review of the advancements in tide gage technology highlights how these gauges have been used to determine global sea level beginning with the first gauges deployed by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey nearly 200 years ago. [NOAA News]
Update on Billion-Dollar weather/climate disasters across US in 2013 -- During the last week researchers at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center released an updated version of its "2013 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters," adding two additional disasters bringing to nine the total number of billion-dollar weather and climate events across the nation in the calendar year of 2013. With the addition of an Illinois flooding and severe weather event in April 2013 and a Midwest severe weather event in August, the estimated cost of damages from the nine events was $23 billion dollars. NCDC also released several new tools designed to assist users in analyzing the data in terms of type, frequency and cost of the billion-dollar events by state and year, running from 1980 to 2013. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center News]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, tropical cyclone activity continued in the Atlantic and Pacific basins:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Bertha, strengthened to become the second hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season on Monday of last week as it traveled to the north well off the coast of the Southeastern United States. However, this category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm after one day. Curving toward the northeast, Tropical Storm Bertha weakened and merged with a midlatitude frontal boundary by midweek. Additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Bertha are found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Hurricane Iselle strengthened to a major category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) early last week as it traveled toward the west-northwest. Iselle weakened slowly as it passed across the 140 degree West meridian of longitude and entered the central North Pacific basin. Early last Friday morning, Iselle made landfall on the southeastern coast of Hawaii's Big Island as a strong tropical storm, marking the first named tropical cyclone to make landfall on that island. Over 12 inches of rain fell along the windward slopes of the Big Island's volcanic peaks due to the tropical storm. Over this past weekend, Iselle weakened to a minimal tropical storm as it passed the western islands in the Hawaiian Island chain. Current forecasts indicate that Iselle should continue toward the west-northwest and weaken into a tropical depression and then dissipate early this week. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Hurricane Iselle.
Another tropical cyclone that became known as Julio formed from a tropical depression approximately 800 miles to the southwest of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in the eastern North Pacific early last week. Julio intensified to become a hurricane as it traveled toward the west-northwest. Passing into the central North Pacific basin when it passed 140 degrees West longitude, Julio strengthened to become a major category 3 hurricane. Continuing its travels toward the west-northwest and then northwest, Hurricane Julio passed sufficiently far to the north of the Hawaiian Islands so as to provide the Aloha State with only relatively minor unsettled weather. Julio should weaken as it continues toward the northwest and then north during the early part of this week. More information along with satellite images on Hurricane Julio are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the central North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Genevieve continued to travel toward the west, passing well to the south of the Hawaiian Islands. This tropical storm had formed the week before in the eastern North Pacific basin. For the first part of last week, Genevieve weakened to a tropical depression, but then strengthened to tropical storm status again and then to a hurricane before reaching the International Dateline by midweek, passing between Midway Atoll and Wake Island. Once across the Dateline, Genevieve continued to intensify, becoming a Super Typhoon in the western North Pacific basin (category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), as maximum sustained surface winds reached 160 mph. Super Typhoon Genevieve curved toward the northwest and continued to travel across the western North Pacific as of Monday of this current week (local time). During the early part of this current week, Genevieve should weaken to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression before dissipating. Additional information and a satellite image on Hurricane turned Super Typhoon Genevieve can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western North Pacific basin, Super Typhoon Halong traveled toward the north off the coast of China at the beginning of last week. Turning slightly to the north-northeast, Halong made landfall along the southwestern coast of the main Japanese island of Honshu by midweek, accompanied by record-setting rainfall totals. strong winds and high seas. Widespread flooding occurred. Eventually, Halong weakened to a tropical storm and dissipated by this past weekend. Satellite images and additional information on Super Typhoon Halong can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Hurricane season outlooks are updated -- With the typical peak in the annual Atlantic hurricane season expected in approximately six weeks, updated hurricane season outlooks were issued within the last week by two groups of long-range forecasters. These outlooks follow the occurrence of two hurricanes (Arthur and Bertha) in the North Atlantic basin (that includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) by the first week of August :

The hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University, including Philip Klotzbach and William Gray, issued their updated August forecast for the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season. Their "Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2014" calls for the remainder of the season to have below-average tropical cyclone activity, as conditions across the Atlantic basin appeared detrimental for hurricane formation despite the anticipated development of only a weak El Niño event during the remainder of this year. Specifically, sea surface temperatures across the "Atlantic Main Development Region" were lower than normal as of late July; secondly, sea level air pressures across the region were above normal, and thirdly, the vertical wind shear (change in wind speed and/or direction with altitude) throughout the Atlantic basin has been much stronger than normal. Although , the forecasters maintain that the total number of named tropical cyclones (maximum sustained surface winds of 39 mph or higher) for the entire season would be ten, with the two additional hurricanes (maximum sustained surface winds greater than 73 mph) forming in the Atlantic basin. The forecasters also anticipated one major hurricane (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, with winds of at least 111 mph). Furthermore, they also anticipate below-average probability of major hurricane landfalls along the coasts of the continental United States and the islands in the Caribbean. [The Tropical Storm Project]
Forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center(CPC) issued their updated North Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook, which calls for a 70 percent chance of below-normal season for named tropical cyclones across the North Atlantic basin, a 25 percent chance of a near-normal season and only a five percent chance of an above-normal season. Specifically, their CPC updated outlook calls for a 70 percent chance that between 7 to 12 named tropical cyclones could form, including 3 to 6 hurricanes, along with as many as two major hurricanes. The forecasters claim that the below average season would be the result of: atmospheric conditions such as strong vertical wind shear, a weaker West African monsoon, increased atmospheric stability and sinking motion in the basin that would not be favorable for storm development. Furthermore, oceanic conditions across the basin do not appear favorable for storm development because of below-average temperatures across the tropical Atlantic. Development of an El Niño event could suppress storm development by increasing vertical wind shear, stability and sinking motion in the atmosphere. NOAA [NOAA News]
NOTE: For reference, the 30-year seasonal averages for the North Atlantic basin include 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion-- NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society recently released their El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion in which they found that above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) continued across the far eastern equatorial Pacific, but near average SSTs prevailed in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific during July 2014. Therefore, the chance of an anticipated El Niño event has decreased to 65 percent through this upcoming Northern Hemisphere autumn and early winter (September through December 2014). Consequently, NOAA's ENSO Alert System Status remains under an " El Niño Watch." [NOAA CPC/NCEP/NWS and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society]
Large Gulf "dead zone" found that is smaller than predicted --Following their 20th annual hypoxia survey cruise across the northern Gulf of Mexico in late July, scientists supported by NOAA and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) funding determined that a large oxygen-free or hypoxic "dead" zone in the waters of the northern Gulf had a size similar to that of Connecticut. This size of the 2014 dead zone in the shelf waters off the central Gulf Coast was within the predicted size range forecasted by a suite of NOAA-sponsored models, helping confirming the accuracy of the models. The size indicates the substantial nutrient pollution flow down Mississippi River and into the Gulf, especially from heavy rains across the nation's midsection. This dead zone affects the commercial and recreational marine resources in the Gulf. [NOAA News]
Remote sensing aircraft used to study Lake Erie algal bloom -- Scientists and engineers at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland have been using the Center's remote sensing technology that had been developed for Mars exploration to study the massive algal bloom on Lake Erie that contaminated water supplies in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan recently. [NASA Glenn Research Center]
Natural color images made from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite and the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the NASA/USGS Landsat 8 satellite show the areal extent of the algal bloom across western Lake Erie at the beginning of August. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Anoxic zone in tropical North Pacific may shrink from climate change -- An international team of scientists has recently determined that the anoxic zone or oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the eastern tropical northern Pacific Ocean was shrinking for most of the 20th century before beginning to expand during the last decade of that century. If the intensity of trade winds diminish in future decades as projected due to climate change, a contraction of the tropical North Pacific's largest anoxic zone could occur. Using seabed core samples, the scientists determined the extent of anoxia in the OMZs since 1850. [University of South Carolina News]
Recovery of Atlantic white sharks found -- NOAA Fisheries scientists have found that the population of Atlantic white sharks off the US East Coast has slowly increased following nearly two decades of indiscriminate hunting following the release of the movie Jaws in 1975 [NOAA Fisheries News]
Mission officially ends for NASA solar monitoring spacecraft -- Scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently terminated efforts to reestablish contact with its Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) satellite and declared its mission completed following nearly 14 years of monitoring the solar irradiance, or the total solar radiation reaching the Earth. This instrument (ACRIM III) that apparently suffered an age-related battery failure was the third in a series of satellite experiments that have contributed to a 36-year continuous satellite record of variations in total solar radiation. This record continues with solar irradiance data collected by several other satellites, including the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) launched in 2003 and the Total solar irradiance Calibration Transfer Experiment (TCTE) launched in 2013. An upcoming Total Solar and Spectral Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) mission is scheduled to be launched in 2016. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
Aerosol studies designed to improve climate models -- A team of researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology are studying how changes in aerosol levels affect warm clouds over the ocean. They found that changes in aerosol levels have two main effects: by altering the amount of clouds in the atmosphere and by changing the cloud properties. The researchers used data collected between August 2006 and April 2011 by sensors onboard several satellites in the international constellation of Earth observing satellites known as the "A-Train" or Afternoon Constellation. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
Ancient shellfish help reconstruct history of El Niño cycles over last 10,000 years -- Scientists from the University of Washington and France's University of Montpellier have used Pacific Ocean temperature information from ancient shells collected in Peru's Ica Valley to generate a reconstructed time-series of water temperatures for intervals spanning 100 to 1000 years during the past 10,000 years. Based on their reconstructions, they claim that El Niño events approximately 10,000 years ago were as strong and as frequent as those that occur during modern times. Their findings refute the previously held idea that El Niño events 10,000 years ago would have been weaker because of a different orbital configuration that would have affected the receipt of solar radiation by planet Earth, in accordance with the Milankovitch theory of climate change. The scientists offer the possibility of rapid melting of polar ice sheets could be a candidate to explain the inconsistencies between the two explanations of ancient El Niño events. [University of Washington 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:

11 August 1909...The liner S.S. Arapahoe was the first ship to use the S.O.S. radio distress call. Its wireless operator, T. D. Haubner, radioed for help after a propeller shaft snapped while off the coast at Cape Hatteras, NC. The call was heard by the United Wireless station "HA" at Hatteras. A few months later, Haubner on the S.S. Arapahoe received an SOS from the SS Iroquois, the second use of SOS in America. Previously, the distress code CQD had been in use as a maritime distress call, standardized by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. in 1904. The second International Radio Telegraphic Convention (1906) proposed the alternative SOS for its distinctive sound, which was ratified as an international standard in 1908. (Today in Science History)
11 August 1940...A major hurricane struck Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC causing the worst inland flooding since 1607. (David Ludlum)
11 August 1988...Moisture from what remained of Tropical Storm Beryl resulted in torrential rains across eastern Texas. Twelve and a half inches of rain deluged Enterprise, TX, which was more than the amount received there during the previous eight months. (The National Weather Summary)
12 August 1778...A Rhode Island hurricane prevented an impending British-French sea battle, and caused extensive damage over southeast New England. (David Ludlum)
12 August 1955...During the second week of August, hurricanes Connie and Diane produced as much as 19 inches of rain in the northeastern U.S. forcing rivers from Virginia to Massachusetts into a high flood. Westfield, MA was deluged with 18.15 inches of rain in 24 hours, and at Woonsocket, RI the Blackstone River swelled from seventy feet in width to a mile and a half. Connecticut and the Delaware Valley were hardest hit. Total damage in New England was 800 million dollars, and flooding claimed 187 lives. (David Ludlum)
12 August 1958...USS Nautilus (SSN-571) arrived Portland, England after completing the first submerged under ice cruise from Pacific to Atlantic Oceans. (Naval Historical Center)
13 August 1979...Fifteen yachtsmen died and 23 boats sank or were abandoned as storm-force winds, along with high seas, raked a fleet of yachts participating in an annual race between southwestern England and Fastnet Rock off southwestern Ireland. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
13 August 1987...Thunderstorms deluged the Central Gulf Coast States with torrential rains. Thunderstorms in Mississippi drenched Marion County with up to 15 inches of rain during the morning hours, with 12.2 inches reported at Columbia. Floodwaters swept cars away in the Lakeview subdivision of Columbia when the Lakeview Dam broke. Flash flooding caused more than three million dollars damage in Marion County. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
13 August 2004...Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 tropical low-pressure system on the Saffir-Simpson scale, struck the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida, making landfall north of Captiva, FL. At landfall, sustained winds of 145 mph, along with an unofficial gust of 173 mph on a medical building tower in Punta Gorda near Fort Myers. The greatest destruction occurring at Punta Gorda. Fifteen fatalities were directly attributed to the hurricane, with another 20 indirect deaths. Damage estimates were approximately $14 billion. A gust of 104 mph hit Arcadia, where a storm shelter with 1200 people inside lost a wall and part of a roof. (Wikipedia) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
15 August 1281...The Divine Wind, the Kamikaze, struck down the Chinese fleet attempting an invasion of Japan at Kyushu. This wind was likely due to a typhoon crossing the Sea of Japan. (The Weather Doctor)
15 August 1914...The Panama Canal was officially opened to traffic as the American ship SS Ancon completed its first transit of the canal, sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. (Wikipedia)
15 August 1934...After a series of earlier dives since June 1930, each progressively deeper, American zoologist William Beebe and Otis Barton made their pioneering, record-breaking ocean descent of 3028 feet in a bathysphere designed by Barton, withstanding over 1360 pounds of pressure. (Today in Science History)
15 August 1971...Hurricane Beth soaked Nova Scotia with up to 12 inches of rain. The deluge caused considerable crop damage and swamped highways and bridges, temporarily isolating communities on the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia. (The Weather Doctor)
16 August 1858...U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurated the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal would force a shutdown of the service in a few weeks. (Wikipedia)
17 August 1915...A hurricane hit Galveston, TX with wind gusts to 120 mph and a twelve-foot storm surge which inundated the city. The storm claimed 275 lives, including forty-two on Galveston Island, with most deaths due to drowning. Of 250 homes built outside the seawall (which was constructed after the catastrophic hurricane of 1900), just ten percent were left standing. (The Weather Channel)
17 August 1969...Camille, a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) and the second worst hurricane in U.S. history, smashed into the Mississippi coast, making landfall at Pass Christian, MS with sustained winds of 190 mph and gusts well over 200 mph. The hurricane produced winds to 200 mph, and a storm surge of 24.6 feet. Winds gusted to 172 mph at Main Pass Block, LA, and to 190 mph near Bay Saint Louis, MS. The hurricane claimed 256 lives, and caused 1.3 billion dollars damage. Several ocean going ships were carried over seven miles inland by the hurricane. Complete destruction occurred in some coastal areas near the eye of the hurricane. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)