WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

15-19 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.

Items of Interest:

• Turret of USS Monitor being restored -- The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and the Mariner's Museum of Newport News, VA are teaming to restore and conserve the iron turret from the famous Civil War-ironclad USS Monitor that had sunk in the waters of the North Atlantic offshore of North Carolina's Outer Banks in December 1862. The turret had been raised from its resting place in 240 feet of water in 2002 and transported to the Mariner's Museum for the complicated restoration process that included placing the turret in a large tank filled with a caustic solution. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
• A view of 2016 Summer Olympic Games site from space -- An image of the region around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was obtained from the the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument onboard NASA's Terra satellite within three days of the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in downtown Rio de Janeiro, a large metropolitan area that has been experiencing elevated levels of airborne particulate matter for the last several months. A corresponding image reveals the aerosol optical depth, a measure of the attenuation of incoming solar radiation by the aerosols. [NASA Feature]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week tropical cyclone activity was limited to the North Pacific Ocean:
• In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Ivette weakened as it crossed the 140 degree west longitude meridian, the boundary between the eastern and central North Pacific Ocean basins, on Sunday night to become a tropical depression. By late Monday morning Tropical Depression Ivette weakened to a remnant low approximately 1440 miles to the east of Hilo on Hawaii's Big Island. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for more information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Ivette.
  Tropical Storm Javier, the tenth named eastern Pacific tropical cyclone of 2016, formed over the previous weekend approximately 60 miles to the south of Manzanillo, Mexico. During the next two days, Tropical Storm Javier, traveled to the northwest, approaching Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula during the predawn hours of Tuesday morning. Brushing close to the southern coast of Baja California, Javier weakened to a tropical depression by sunrise. Eventually, Javier became a remnant low during Tuesday afternoon along the coast of Baja California. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Javier.
• In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Omais continued traveling toward the north over the waters to the east of the main Japanese islands at the start of last week. By late Tuesday Omais was losing its tropical characteristics as it was located approximately 300 miles to the east-northeast of Yokosuka, Japan. See the NASA Hurricane Page for images and additional information on Tropical Storm Omais.
  Early last week Tropical Storm Conson formed from a tropical depression several hundred miles to the west of Wake Island. During the week Conson moved westward, then northwestward and finally northward, passing near the Marshall Islands and several atolls in the western North Pacific. Although Conson strengthened, it remained a tropical storm through the rest of the week and weekend. By early Monday, Tropical Storm Conson was located approximately 350 miles to the east of Misawa, Japan and was expected to merge with a midlatitude weather system. Additional information and satellite images for Tropical Storm Conson are available from the NASA Hurricane Page.
  Tropical Storm Chanthu developed over this past weekend from a tropical depression over the waters of the western North Pacific to the west of Saipan. This tropical storm was traveling generally to the north-northwest on Sunday and into Monday. As of Monday (local time), Tropical Storm Chanthu was located approximately 200 miles to the southeast of Chichi Jima, the largest island in the Ogasawara archipelago.
• Updated 2016 NOAA Atlantic hurricane outlook is released -- Forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center(CPC) issued their updated Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook for 2016, which increased the number of predicted named tropical cyclones for the North Atlantic Basin (including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) from their initial seasonal outlook that they made in May. Specifically, they are now predicting a 70-percent chance of 12–17 named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms with sustained surface winds of at least 39 mph), as compared with their earlier outlook of 10 to 16 named systems. They also currently envision between five and eight hurricanes (with maximum sustained surface winds of 74 mph or higher) along with two to four major hurricanes (Category 3 hurricanes or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale with winds of at least 111 mph), which represent slight increases in their earlier forecasts of four to eight hurricanes and one to four major hurricanes. These new projections indicate their expectation of a high probability of a near-average to an above-average hurricane season, as long-term statistics show that an average Atlantic season consists of 12 named tropical cyclones and the six hurricanes that normally form during each year. Three of these hurricanes typically become major hurricanes. At the same time, the CPC forecasters lowered the chances of a below-average season to 15 percent.
  The CPC forecasters claim that the increased likelihood of average to above average tropical cyclone activity across the Atlantic basin is due to several factors that include the end of last winter's enhanced El Niño event, weaker trade winds and vertical wind shear across the central tropical Atlantic Ocean and a stronger west African monsoon. As of the early August, the Atlantic basin has had three tropical storms (Bonnie, Colin and Danielle) and two hurricanes (Alex and Earl) during 2016. in the North Atlantic basin (that includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) [NOAA News]
  An updated Atlantic hurricane forecast was issued by Dr. Philip Klotzbach and associates at Colorado State University one week ago in which they predicted a total of 15 named tropical cyclones for the entire 2016 season, including eight hurricanes. The forecasters also anticipated two major hurricanes and 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]
• A land-falling super typhoon analyzed in detail from satellites -- Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center have been analyzing the structure of Super Typhoon Nepartak that made landfall on Taiwan in the western North Pacific during the first week of July using data collected from three different instruments onboard a variety of orbiting satellite platforms. Nepartak became a super typhoon that would be classified as a category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as maximum sustained surface winds reached at least 170 mph. A collage of cloud height, natural color and wind speed images were made from the MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite at approximately the same time, showing the detailed structure of Super Typhoon Nepartak as it approached Taiwan. A thermal image made from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the cloud-top temperatures around the periphery of Nepartak. Near-surface wind speed and wind direction data obtained by the RapidScat instrument on the International Space Station shows the widespread counterclockwise (or cyclonic) circulation of air in the lower atmosphere around this super typhoon. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Polar orbiting satellite sees nearly ice-free Northwest Passage -- Early last week a true-color image was made of the Canadian Arctic by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite that showed nearly ice-free water in the famous Northwest Passage. This Northwest Passage has long been considered to be a potential sea route along the northern coast of North America connecting the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean. However, until recent years sufficient amounts of summer sea ice prevented this realization. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
• Cool water strip detected in equatorial Pacific during July -- A recently constructed map of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies across the Pacific Ocean Basin during July 2016, which represent the arithmetic difference between observed and the 1981-2010 average temperatures, showed cooler-than-average waters across the central equatorial Pacific. This cool water strip is seen by climate scientists to be an indication of the end of last year's El Niño event. A description is made of how the high-resolution sea surface temperature data are obtained across the Pacific. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
• El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion & La Niña watch -- NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) recently released their El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion that showed sea surface temperatures (SST) across eastern sections of the equatorial Pacific were slightly below-average levels. Hence, ENSO-neutral conditions were being observed, mean that neither El Niño or La Niña conditions were found. However, most of the predictive models used by the CPC and IRI indicate development of La Niña during the next three months. Consequently, the forecasters at CPC have continued a their La Niña watch that a 55 to 60 percent chance exists of the development of a La Niña during the upcoming fall and winter 2016-17 seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. A detailed El Niño/Southern Oscillation Diagnostic Discussion with supporting maps and charts is available from CPC.
  An easy-to-read ENSO blog written by a CPC contractor discusses the current ENSO-neutral conditions and the possible onset of La Niña conditions in the next several months. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
• Recent major El Niño event may have limited impact upon the California Current System -- Researchers with the University of California, Santa Cruz, NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps Institution of Oceanography recently reported that the impacts upon the marine ecosystems and primary production in the California Current System due to the record 2015-2016 El Niño event are likely to be weak. The researchers suspect that although this event was a record, the impacts upon the California Current System would be weak because Kelvin waves and weakened upwelling-favorable winds did not accompany the record high tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures. However, earlier major El Niño events in 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 triggered significant changes to ecosystems in the North Pacific. [NOAA Climate Program Office News]
• International marine mammal bycatch criteria established for US imports -- NOAA Fisheries issued a final rule that implements import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and establishes conditions designed to require nations exporting fish and fish products to the United States to meet the same fishing standards for protecting marine mammals that are in effect for US fisheries. This final rule will appear in the Federal Registry at the start of this week. Public webinars are scheduled for September to describe the rule to interested stakeholders prior to its implementation at the start of 2017. [NOAA Fisheries News]
• New toxicity data on oil spill dispersants provided by NOAA Hollings scholars -- Two students from Eckerd College and the University of Maryland who are NOAA Hollings scholars recently presented data on the effects of oil spill dispersants on estuarine species that they assembled during their work this summer at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Laboratory in Charleston, SC. Their findings will be used to inform decisions on the use of dispersants in future oil spills. The NOAA Hollings Scholarship Program, designed to honor Senator Ernest E. Hollings of South Carolina, is designed to increase undergraduate training in oceanic and atmospheric science and to help recruit and prepare students for public service in science and natural resource agencies such as NOAA. [NOAA NCOSS News]
• Harmful algal bloom sensor readied for deployment in Lake Erie -- Scientists with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and the University of Michigan's Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research recently completed their technical preparations for the deployment of an autonomous underwater robot an Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in the western Lake Erie that can detect harmful algal bloom cells and toxins in collected water samples. Although the ESP units have been used along the US East and West Coasts, this deployment of the ESP will be the first-ever for the Great Lakes. [NOAA NCCOS News]
• State-of-the-art technologies used to map Caribbean coral reefs -- Technicians onboard the NOAA Research Vessel Nancy Foster have been deploying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to explore coral reefs in the offshore waters of the US Virgin Islands, extending from ten to several hundred meters below the sea surface. Cameras on the ROV send signals to monitors onboard the ship, where the data are collected. A multi-beam sonar also is used to map the reef. [NOAA News]
• Agriculture impacts the waters of Chesapeake Bay -- The second story in a four-part series exploring the natural splendor and environmental issues of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed was recently posted that describes various studies made of the water quality in the nation's largest estuary, Chesapeake Bay. Some of these recent studies made by the University of Maryland, the Maryland Department of Environment, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the US Geological Survey (USGS) indicate improved water quality and a reduction in the size of the dead zone in the Bay that had formed in June. Apparently, farmers who have adopted practices that reduce runoff polluted with nitrogen-based fertilizers from running into waterways are in part responsible for the improvement of water quality. Improved air quality with less nitrogen oxides from the large metropolitan areas along the Atlantic Seaboard also is a factor. Images obtained from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument onboard the NASA/USGS Landsat 8 satellite are used to document the agricultural land use across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• 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:

• 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)
• 15 August 1983...Hurricane Alicia formed on this day and was the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It struck Galveston and Houston, Texas directly, causing $2.6 billion (1983 USD) in damage and killing 21 people. This is the worst Texas hurricane since Hurricane Carla in 1961. In addition, Alicia was the first billion-dollar tropical cyclone in Texas history. (National Weather Service files)
  
• 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)
• 16 August 1992...One of the most destructive United States hurricanes of record started modestly as a tropical wave that emerged from the west coast of Africa on 14 August. The wave spawned a tropical depression on 16 August, which became Tropical Storm Andrew the next day. (National Weather Service files)
• 17 August 1899...Hurricane San Ciriaco set many records on its path. Killing nearly 3,500 people in Puerto Rico, it was the deadliest hurricane to hit the island and the strongest at the time, until 30 years later when the island was hit by the Hurricane San Felipe Segundo, a Category 5 hurricane, in 1928. It was also the tenth deadliest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. San Ciriaco is also the longest lasting Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, lasting for 28 days. On 17 August, the hurricane turned back to the northwest and made landfall near Hatteras, North Carolina on the following day. San Ciriaco remains the strongest hurricane to make landfall on the Outer Banks since 1899. (National Weather Service files)
  
• 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)
• 18 August 1904...The Belle Isle Aquarium opened in Detroit, MI. This facility is the oldest, continuously running aquarium in America. Several other institutions opened earlier but since have closed or moved to multiple different buildings. Belle Isle Aquarium is still in its original building and site as the one in which it opened. (Today in Science History)
• 18 August 1983...Hurricane Alicia (a category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) ravaged southeastern Texas. The hurricane caused more than three billion dollars property damage, making it one of the costliest hurricanes in the history of the U.S. Just thirteen persons were killed, but 1800 others were injured. The hurricane packed winds to 130 mph as it crossed Galveston Island, created a storm surge of 12 feet and spawned twenty-two tornadoes in less than 24 hours as it made landfall. (The Weather Channel) (Storm Data) (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1559...First recorded U.S. hurricane drove five Spanish ships ashore in Pensacola Harbor along the Florida coast. (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1788...A small but powerful hurricane inflicted great havoc upon forests along a narrow track from Delaware Bay northeastward across New Jersey along the coast to Maine. A similar storm track today would cause extreme disaster in the now populated area. (David Ludlum)
• 19 August 1896...The famous Cottage City (Oak Bluffs) waterspout occurred over the waters off Martha's Vineyard, MA. The vortex was 3,600 feet high, formed three times, and was well photographed. (National Weather Service files)
  
• 19-20 August 1969...'Never say die' Camille, an exceptionally strong hurricane that had weakened to a tropical depression as it drifted slowly across the mid-Atlantic states, let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides that killed 151 persons and caused 140 million dollars damage. Massies Hill in Nelson County, Virginia received an estimated 27 inches of rain in 24 hours. This amount is an unofficial record for the state, while the official 24-hour maximum precipitation record is 14.28 inches at Williamsburg on 16 September 1999. It was said to rain so hard that birds drowned while perched on tree branches. The James and York River basins in Virginia were especially hard hit. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19 August 1991...Hurricane Bob slammed into New England with 90 mph sustained winds and gusts of 125 mph (at Block Island, RI) and 105 mph (at Newport, RI). It made landfall first at Newport, RI and then final US landfall as a tropical storm at Rockland, ME. A storm surge of 15 feet occurred in Upper Buzzards Bay. Portland, ME had a 24-hour record rainfall of 7.83 inches. Total damage exceeded $1.5 billion dollars and 17 people were killed. This was the worst Hurricane in the Northeast since Donna in 1960. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 20 August 1886...The town of Indianola, TX was completely destroyed by a hurricane, and never rebuilt. It was the fifth hurricane of the 1886 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the most intense hurricanes ever to hit the United States.
  (David Ludlum) (National Weather Service files)
• 21 August 1997...High winds and torrential rains from one of the worst typhoons to batter China in a decade caused the death of at least 140 at Zhejiang and Jiangsu. (The Weather Doctor)

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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.