WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

8-12 August 2016

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2016 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 22 August 2016. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Item of Interest:

State of the Climate in 2015 report indicates record warm year -- During this past week NOAA scientists and their colleagues released a 300-page report entitled State of the Climate in 2015. This peer-reviewed study, compiled by more than 450 scientists from 62 countries, was based upon their examination of 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 2015.
The report contained the following key points:

The global surface air temperature for 2015 across both land and ocean was the highest for any year since a reliable global weather observing network began in the mid-19th century, the result of the long-term increases of global temperatures associated with higher concentrations in greenhouse gas concentrations along with a strong El Niño event. For the first time, the global annual temperature was 1.0 Celsius degree higher than preindustrial times.
The annual carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere that was measured at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory in 2015 exceeded 400 ppm for the first time since records began in 1959.
The globally averaged sea surface temperatures were highest on record, in part because of the El Niño event.
The globally averaged upper ocean heat content was the highest on record, which occurred because the oceans absorbed over 90 percent of the planet's excess heat.
Global average sea level was the highest on record in 2015, approximately 2.75 inches above the 1993 average, which was at the start of the satellite altimeter record.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

NOAA NCEI News

NOAA Climate.gov News

A Nighttime Show -- The annual Perseid meteor shower should peak in the predawn hours of Friday (12 August 2016). 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. This year, between 150 and 200 meteors per hour are anticipated. With a waxing gibbous moon (first quarter on 10 August) setting around midnight local time, illumination from the moon should not 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.
Starting at 10:00 PM EDT on 11 August and at the same time on 12 August, a live Ustream view of the skies over NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will also be offered, weather permitting. [NASA]
Climatology for Rio 2016 Olympics -- The 2016 Summer Olympics, which officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and unofficially as 2016 Rio Olympics, will begin on Friday, 5 August, and end on Sunday, 21 August, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 2016 Summer Paralympics, the multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, will also be held in Rio de Janeiro between 7 September and 18 September. The Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016 has provided a website that contains climate information for the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area that includes monthly maximum/minimum temperatures, average relative humidity, monthly precipitation totals and number of days with measurable precipitation. A 44-page document was produced by Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) that provides additional weather and climate information in greater detail.
A weather forecaster who broadcasts for the United Kingdom's BBC offers a 2 and a half minute guide to how the various sports venues may be affected by the weather in Brazil. [BBC Weather Centre]

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week tropical cyclone activity was found across the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Earl formed from a low pressure area last Tuesday morning over the waters of the northwestern Caribbean Sea approximately 200 miles to the south-southeast of Grand Cayman or 530 miles east of Belize City, Belize. During the next day, Earl traveled generally to the west toward Belize, before becoming the second hurricane of 2016 in the Atlantic basin by late Wednesday afternoon as it was approximately 100 miles from the coast. Early Thursday morning Hurricane Earl, which was classified as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, made landfall near Belize City and by sunrise had weakened to a tropical storm as it continued inland. . Belize continued traveling toward the west-northwest across Belize, northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico on Thursday. On Friday morning Tropical Storm Earl reached and traveled across the southern Bay of Campeche, a southwestward extension of the Gulf of Mexico. As of Friday night, Earl made landfall along the coast of Mexico 25 miles southeast of Veracruz, accompanied by torrential rain. Traveling inland, Earl weakened to a tropical depression and then dissipated over the mountains of Mexico. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite imagery and additional information on Hurricane Earl.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Depression 9-E strengthen to become Tropical Storm Howard, the eighth named tropical cyclone of 2016 in the basin, during the predawn hours of Monday as it was located approximately 960 miles to the west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Howard would continue traveling generally toward the northwest on Monday and Tuesday before weakening to a remnant low approximately 1620 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas or 1290 miles to the east of Hilo, HI. Additional information and satellite images for Tropical Storm Howard can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
A tropical depression formed approximately 760 miles to the south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday afternoon and then intensified to become Tropical Storm Ivette during the predawn hours of Wednesday. During the remainder of the week, Ivette continued its trek toward the west or west-northwest, strengthening slightly before beginning to weaken over the past weekend. As of Sunday afternoon, Ivette, a minimal tropical storm, was approaching the 140 degree west longitude meridian, the boundary between the eastern and central North Pacific Ocean basins. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for more information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Ivette.
Tropical Depression 11E formed just before dawn on Sunday near the coast of southeast Mexico, approximately 70 miles to the south of Manzanillo. By late morning this tropical depression had intensified to Tropical Storm Javier, the tenth named eastern Pacific tropical cyclone of 2016. During the afternoon, the Javier continued to strengthen as it traveled toward the west-northwest.
In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Nida strengthened to a category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale at the start of last week as it traveled to the west-northwest toward the coast of southeastern China. On Tuesday, Typhoon Nida made landfall along coast near the Hong Kong. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Typhoon Nida.
Tropical Storm Omais formed approximately 260 miles to the north of Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands at the end of last week. Over the weekend, Omais traveled to the north toward the main Japanese islands. As of Monday (local time), Omais was located approximately 370 miles to the southeast of Yokosuka, Japan. The NASA Hurricane Page has more information on Tropical Storm Omais.

Atlantic hurricane season outlook is updated -- As the month of August started at the beginning of last week, hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University, including Philip Klotzbach, issued their updated August forecast for the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. Their "Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2016" calls for the remainder of the season to have average tropical cyclone activity, as a weak La Niña event was expected by the middle of the upcoming hurricane season, which should favor tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin. However, a negative phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation appears to be underway with below average temperatures in the northern Atlantic that could reduce tropical cyclone activity. The forecasters foresee eleven additional named tropical cyclones (maximum sustained surface winds of 39 mph or higher) beyond Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storms Bonnie, Colin and Danielle that had formed in January and June. Consequently, a total of 15 named tropical cyclones are now forecast for the entire 2016 season. Five more of these systems could become hurricanes, resulting in a seasonal total of eight (maximum sustained surface winds greater than 73 mph) forming in the Atlantic basin. Note that Earl, the second Atlantic hurricane of 2016, formed this past Wednesday and was not part of the "observed" list appearing in the forecast update. The forecasters also anticipated two major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, with winds of at least 111 mph). Furthermore, they also anticipate a near-average probability of major hurricane landfalls along the coasts of the continental United States and the islands in the Caribbean. [The Tropical Meteorology Project]
Mass die-off of invertebrates discovered in Gulf of Mexico marine sanctuary -- NOAA scientists recently discovered greenish hazy water, huge patches of ugly white mats coating corals and sponges, and dead animals indicating a large die-off of invertebrates in the East Flower Garden Bank section of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which is located in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico approximately 100 miles off the Texas and Louisiana coasts. At the present time the scientists are unsure of the exact cause of this die-off. A possible contributing factor may be the intrusion of freshwater into these otherwise saline waters of the Gulf, which would lower salinity levels. The Sanctuary recommends that the public avoid diving, fishing and boating activities in the affected area. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
Microscopic organisms in acidic waters increase coral erosion -- Scientists at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory and colleagues recently reported that in naturally highly acidified waters, coral skeletons face increased erosion and the reef structure has been eaten away microborers, which are microscopic organisms. These results were obtained during a study conducted at the Pacific island of Maug, in the Northern Marianas Islands. [NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory News]
Final underwater acoustic guidance released -- During the last week NOAA Fisheries released final guidance designed to help predict how human-produced underwater sounds affect marine mammal hearing. This guidance will be used to allow governmental agencies, industries and other applicants to more accurately predict how their proposed projects will affect marine mammals. In addition, NOAA Fisheries has created online tools intended to help applicants use the new guidance. [NOAA News]
Gulf Dead Zone summer cruise is canceled -- At the end of July, NOAA and its partners cancelled the official measurement survey cruise of the annual dead zone or hypoxic zone that forms in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Mechanical problems with the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster that was to host the measurement cruise were cited as the reasons for the cancellation of the cruise. [NOAA News]
Final rule for electronic reporting of fisheries trade data is released -- During the last week NOAA Fisheries had its final rule published in the Federal Register establishing regulations intended to integrate the collection of fisheries trade documentation within the International Trade Data System, as well as requiring electronic information through a single automated portal. Two public webinar meetings will be hosted by NOAA Fisheries' Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection will host on 18 August and 1 September to further engage with interested stakeholders about this regulation and its implications. The effective date for implementation of this rule is near the end of this upcoming September. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Using Gulf of Mexico's sea surface temperature to help predict likelihood of summer storm activity -- Researchers at the University of Miami have demonstrated that the sea surface temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Mexico could be used to forecast whether atmospheric conditions are favorable for extreme weather events such as tornadic thunderstorms across the southern United States from May through July. These researchers used 30 years of computed convective available potential energy (CAPE) data, a measure of atmospheric instability. They found that Gulf of Mexico's SST proved to be a strong potential predictor of severe weather occurrence. The higher the SST in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in greater moisture transport and a higher CAPE, with a greater likelihood of severe storms in the US during the late spring and summer months. In addition, they found that the influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the likelihood of severe storms is weak from May through July, These results have the potential to substantially improve seasonal forecasts of late spring and summer severe storm probabilities, which could support early emergency preparedness planning to protect at risk communities. [NOAA Climate Program Office News]
Northwest Atlantic regional climatology released -- NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Regional Climatology Team recently produced a new set of high-resolution long-term mean ocean temperature and salinity fields at several depths in the Northwest Atlantic in order to assess long-term climatological tendencies in this important region of the Atlantic Ocean. These objectively analyzed monthly, seasonal and annual versions of the temperature and salinity fields at over 50 separate depths that appear in this new regional climatology were obtained from the World Ocean Database archive of temperature and salinity observations spanning over more than a hundred years. The Northwest Atlantic plays a crucial role in long-term earth and ocean climate change as the region contains the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current System that are the key elements of northward heat transport and Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. [NOAA NCEI]
Thermal state at base of Greenland's Ice Sheet analyzed -- A team of scientists from NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory and research universities in the US and Ontario have recently produced a report that has determined the thermal state of the base of Greenland's Ice Sheet. These researchers inferred the thermal conditions under as much as two miles of ice from analysis of roughly two decades of NASA data collected from aircraft and NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites, which permitted to determine if the ice base were either thawed or frozen. According to their analysis, 43 percent of the area under the ice sheet was likely thawed, 24 percent was frozen and the state of the remainder was uncertain. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Hidden water pollution along nation's coasts is mapped -- Researchers at Ohio State University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have mapped the nation's coastal waters and near-shore groundwater supplies, find that more than 20 percent of the coastlines along the 48 contiguous United States are vulnerable to contamination from previously hidden underground transfers of water between the oceans and land. The researchers produced the first-ever map of the underground flows connecting fresh groundwater beneath the continental United States and seawater in the surrounding oceans by combining US topographic data and NASA climate models. They also examined rainfall, evaporation rates and the amount of known surface runoff to calculate the missing portion of water that was running out below ground. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Feature]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Historical Events:

8 August 1585...The British navigator and polar explorer, John Davis, entered Cumberland Sound in quest for the North-West Passage. (Wikipedia)
8 August 2000...The Confederate submarine CSS H.L. Hunley was raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor. This submarine sank in the Charleston (SC) Harbor after sinking the USS Housatonic on 17 February 1864. (Wikipedia)
9 August 1988...Tropical Storm Beryl deluged Biloxi with 6.32 inches of rain in 24 hours, and in three days drenched Pascagoula, MS with 15.85 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
10 August 1519...Five ships under the command of the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, set sail from the Spanish seaport Seville to Sanclucar be Barrameda, staying there until 21 September, when they departed to circumnavigate the globe. This expedition traveled westward and ultimately returned to Europe in September 1522. (Wikipedia)
10 August 1675...King Charles II laid the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. (Today in Science History)
10-11 August 1831...A violent hurricane devastated Barbados. Death toll was estimated to be from 1500 to 2500 people. (The Weather Doctor)
10 August 1856...The Isle Derniere (Last Island) disaster occurred off the coast of Louisiana. A storm tide drowned 140 vacationers as a five-foot wave swept over Low Island during a hurricane. (The Weather Channel) The hurricane completely devastated the fashionable hotel and pleasure resort on Last Island, 150 miles east of Cameron. Storm surge swept an estimated 400 people to their death. Today the island is just a haven for pelicans and other sea birds. (Intellicast)
10 August 1954...A ground-breaking ceremony was held at Massena, NY for the St. Lawrence Seaway. (Wikipedia)
10 August 1971...President Nixon signed the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971 considered to be most significant legislation in the long history of federal action in this field. The new act, which repealed most of the Federal Boating Act of 1958 and amended the Motorboat Act of 1940, shifted responsibility from boat operator to manufacturer. (USCG Historian's Office)
10 August 1980...Hurricane Allen came ashore north of Brownsville, TX dropping fifteen inches of rain near San Antonio, and up to 20 inches in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, ending a summer long drought. Winds at Port Mansfield gusted to 140 mph with a storm surge of 12 feet. Tidal flooding occurred along the South Texas coast. Hurricane Allen packed winds to 150 mph, and also spawned twenty-nine tornadoes. Total damage from the storm was estimated at 750 million dollars. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
10 August 1993...Three ships -- the barge Bouchard B155, the freighter Balsa 37, and the barge Ocean 255 -- collided in Florida's Tampa Bay. The Bouchard spilled an estimated 336,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil into Tampa Bay. (InfoPlease)
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)

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@aos.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2016, The American Meteorological Society.