WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

24-28 June 2019

Items of Interest:

A participant in NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program describes her experiences -- Mary Cook, who is a teacher at Scammon Bay, AK describes her experiences working at sea as a participant in NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program during a 4-minute video. She explains how the program makes a tremendous impact locally, regionally, and nationally on science education teaching and learning. [NOAA Fisheries Video]
List of world weather records that produce highest mortality established -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently announced that its official "WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes" has been expanded from temperature and weather records to tabulate and document "world records" for the highest mortality associated with tropical cyclones, lightning, tornadoes, and hailstorms. The highest mortality associated with a tropical cyclone is an estimated 300,000 people killed directly as result of the passage of a tropical cyclone through Bangladesh (at time of incident, East Pakistan) of 12-13 November, 1970. [WMO Press Release]
International report claims that 2017 set to be in top three hottest years, with record-breaking extreme weather -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently published a report entitled "The World Meteorological Organization's provisional Statement on the State of the Climate" that has been submitted to the twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) currently being held in Bonn, Germany. This WMO report notes that while 2017 appears to be slightly cooler than the record setting 2016, this current year appears to be on a track that may make it one of the three warmest years on record. In addition to increases in the concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, sea level continues to rise and the sea ice extent in both the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica has been decreasing.The report identifies several significant extreme weather and climate events in 2017 that include a very active North Atlantic hurricane season, major monsoon flooding across the Indian subcontinent and continuing severe drought in sections of east Africa. [World Meteorological Organization Press Release]
NCEI highlights its outreach and educational activities -- Although NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) primary mission is the stewardship of environmental data, NCEI scientists and staff also go "outside the science" to communicate with many audiences, The NCEI Outside the Science series highlights their outreach and educational activities and engagement with data users, such as weather and climate data for Native American tribes, mentoring young scientists and "education in the Gulf." [NOAA NCEI News]
Extreme weather events in 2016 are tied to human influence on climate change -- A report produced by 116 scientists from 18 countries around the world claims that specific extreme weather and climate events in 2016 can be associated with long-term climate change as manifest by increasing global temperatures, to a new record-high global temperature in 2016. These scientists investigated individual extreme events of 2016 that included in addition to the record global temperature, an extreme heat wave in Asia, extreme heat in the Arctic, development of marine heat waves off Alaska and Australia, the severity of the 2015–16 El Niño and the duration of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef. Several of the reports indicated that some extreme events were not possible in a preindustrial climate. No conclusive link to climate change was found with severe drought in Brazil, record rains in Australia, or stagnant conditions creating poor air quality in Europe. The report, which is the sixth annual, is entitled "Explaining Extreme Events of 2016 From a Climate Perspective," and is published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. [NOAA NCEI News] or [NOAA Climate.gov News]
List of world weather records that produce highest mortality established -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently announced that its official "WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes" has been expanded from temperature and weather records to tabulate and document "world records" for the highest mortality associated with tropical cyclones, lightning, tornadoes, and hailstorms. The highest mortality associated with a tropical cyclone is an estimated 300,000 people killed directly as result of the passage of a tropical cyclone through Bangladesh (at time of incident, East Pakistan) of 12-13 November, 1970. [WMO Press Release]
International report claims that 2017 set to be in top three hottest years, with record-breaking extreme weather -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently published a report entitled "The World Meteorological Organization's provisional Statement on the State of the Climate" that has been submitted to the twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) currently being held in Bonn, Germany. This WMO report notes that while 2017 appears to be slightly cooler than the record setting 2016, this current year appears to be on a track that may make it one of the three warmest years on record. In addition to increases in the concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, sea level continues to rise and the sea ice extent in both the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica has been decreasing.The report identifies several significant extreme weather and climate events in 2017 that include a very active North Atlantic hurricane season, major monsoon flooding across the Indian subcontinent and continuing severe drought in sections of east Africa. [World Meteorological Organization Press Release]

Lightning Awareness Week -- The National Lightning Safety Council will celebrate the annual National Lightning Safety Awareness Week during this upcoming week, 24 through 30 June 2018. Check for specific topics that will be featured each day. According to NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), an average of 47 people across the nation are killed annual by lightning and numerous more are injured. NWS has a "Lightning Safety" website that has links to a variety of informational and teacher resource materials. Several states are also observing this week with statewide activities, including Colorado. [National Lightning Safety Council]
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2019 Campaign for July commences -- The seventh in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2019 will commence this Monday (24 June) and continue through Wednesday, 3 July. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of constellations with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. These constellations are Hercules in the Northern Hemisphere and Scorpius in the Southern Hemisphere. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The eighth series in the 2019 campaign is scheduled for 24 July-2 August 2019. [GLOBE at Night]

Ocean in the News:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_basins
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricanes/search
SEE http://weather.unisys.com/hurricanes/search

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Atlantic_hurricane_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Pacific_hurricane_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Pacific_typhoon_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_basins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_North_Indian_Ocean_cyclone_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_South-West_Indian_Ocean_cyclone_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_South_Pacific_cyclone_season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_Australian_region_cyclone_season
And http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/
http://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/jtwc.html

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
FROM LAST WEEK ==>
Eye on the tropics --
Eye on the tropics -- In North Indican Ocean basin , a tropical depression formed from an area of low pressure at the start of last week over the waters of the Arabian Sea to the north of the Maldives. Over the next several days, this tropical depression, which was the second tropical cyclone of 2019 in the Araban Sea, rapidly intensified to become Cyclone Vayu as it traveled generally toward the north by late Monday. At the time, Vayu had tropical-storm-force winds. By Tuesday afternoon, Vayu had become a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it headed toward India’s Gujarart coast. Further intensification occurred as Vayu began to curve toward the north-northwest late Wednesday. Maximum sustained surface winds reached an estimated 104 mpoh on, making Vayu a category 2 tropical cyclone. On Thursday, Vayu gradually slowed and turned toward the west as it approached the coastline of the state of Gujarat in northwestern India. By Friday, Vayu began to weaken, as it tracked slowly westward, away from the Gujarat coastline. Ultimately, Cyclone Vayu passed approximately 300 miles to the south-southeast of Karachi, Pakistan. Vayu began weakening. As of Sunday, Vayu was
Current forecasts call for Vayu to curve toward the northeast and head for the northwestern coast of India, making landfall as a tropical storm by late Monday or early Tuesday.
Additional information and satellite images associated with Cyclone Vayu can be found on the NASA Hurricane Blog. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/powerful-cyclone-vayu-to-pass-dangerously-close-to-gujarat-india/70008502
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Vayu
Eye on the tropics -- During the past week, two tropical cyclones were reported in the eastern North Pacific basin.
Tropical Depression Carlotta approached the western coast of the Mexican State of Michoacán at the start of last week. Moving along the coast, this former tropical storm produced torrential rains along the southwestern coast of Mexico as it traveled toward the northwest on Monday. As of late last Monday evening, Carlotta had weakened to a remnant low, which eventually dissipated. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Carlotta.
The fifth tropical depression of 2018 in the eastern North Pacific formed last Saturday evening over the open waters approximately 700 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Traveling toward the north, this tropical depression became more organized and strengthened to became Tropical Storm Daniel on Sunday morning when maximum sustained surface winds reached 40 mph, the threshold for it to become a named tropical cyclone. At that time, Daniel was continuing to travel toward the north as it was located approximately 615 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. As of early Sunday evening, Tropical Storm Daniel was located approximately 545 miles to the southwest of Cabo San Lucas, as it was traveling to the north-northwest. Daniel was forecast to begin curving toward the northwest as it was expected to weaken on Monday and then degenerate to a remnant low by late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
UPDATE for 2018 -- See https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ National Hurricane Center releases its forecast verification report for 2017 -- During the past week NOAA's National Hurricane Center (NHC) released its 73-page Forecast Verification Report for the 2017 hurricane season in the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins. NHC issued 407 official forecasts for the North Atlantic basin since the 2017 hurricane season had above-normal activity for that basin. The official NHC track forecasts in the Atlantic basin were quite successful in 2017, with records for track accuracy set at all forecast times as indicated by smaller mean NHC official track forecast errors than in previous seasons. However, mean official intensity errors for the Atlantic basin in 2017 were above the 5-year means for forecasts with lead-times ranging from 12 to 48 hours, but near the means at the longer lead times. NHC issued 334 official forecasts for the eastern North Pacific basin, which was close to average. Although the forecasts where skillful, no records for track accuracy were set in this basin in 2017. Official intensity forecast errors in the eastern North Pacific basin were lower than the 5-year means at all forecast times. [NOAA National Hurricane Center]
CHECK Report made on recurrent "nuisance" coastal flooding across nation during 2017 -- Scientists from NOAA's Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services and from NCEI recently prepared an annual report entitled "2017 State of U.S. High Tide Flooding and a 2018 Outlook" that provides a review of the state of recurrent coastal tidal flooding in the U.S. considered "nuisance flooding." Nuisance flooding is defined as a situation when a water level measured at a NOAA water level gauge exceeds the local elevation threshold for minor impacts. The report indicates that in the 2017 meteorological year running from May 2017 through April 2018 the nationwide average number of high tide flooding days was the highest measured at 98 NOAA tide gauges, with a record of six flood days. In addition, more than 25 percent of the coastal locations tied or set new individual records for high tide flood days, with the most prevalent flooding found along the Northeast Atlantic and Western Gulf of Mexico Coasts. All-time records for annual-flood days were broken in 2017 at five cities (Boston, MA; Atlantic City, NJ; Sandy Hook, NJ; Sabine Pass, TX; and Galveston, TX), the result of active nor’easter and hurricane seasons and sea level rise. The portion of the report focusing upon the outlook for this upcoming year ending in April 2019 indicates that the frequency of daily flooding is expected to increase because of anticipated El Niño conditions and from long-term sea level rise trends. The forecasters envision that their projected increase in high tide flooding in 2018 may be as much as 60 percent higher across U.S. coastlines as compared to typical flooding approximately 20 years ago. [NOAA News]
Review of global weather and climate for May 2018 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) report that the recently concluded month of May was the fourth 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 2018, which was 1.44 Fahrenheit degrees (0.80 Celsius degrees) above the 20th century's (1901-2000) average May temperature of 58.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This global temperature lagged behind temperatures for the month of May in 2016, 2015 and 2017. When considered separately, the global ocean surface temperature for May 2018 was 1.19 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average, making last month's sea surface temperature the fourth highest May temperature since 1880. The average May 2018 land surface temperature was 2.05 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average, which meant that this land surface temperature tied May 2013 for the seventh highest May land temperature in the 139-year period of record.
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 1.48 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average, or the fourth highest temperature since 1880.
The May 2018 sea ice extent data for the Arctic Ocean was the second smallest May sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979, following behind the record smallest extent in May 2016. The sea ice cover on the waters around Antarctica in May was the third smallest May extent since 1980.
According to data from the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent for May was the 37th largest in the 52-year period of record.
[NOAA/NCEI State of the Climate]
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for May 2018 is available from NCEI.
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:

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)
25 June 1957...Hurricane Audrey moved northward, slowly strengthening until the 26th. At that time, a strong upper level trough led to its acceleration and the hurricane deepened rapidly on its final approach to the Texas/Louisiana border. Audrey became the strongest hurricane on record for the month of June upon landfall, as it reached category four strength. Its acceleration was unanticipated, and despite hurricane warnings in place, 418 people perished in the storm, mainly across southwest Louisiana. (National Weather Service files)
25 June 2012...Tropical Storm Debby dropped colossal amounts of rain on northern and central Florida. Curtis Mill, in the Panhandle near Tallahassee, received 28.78" of rain in about two days! (National Weather Service files)
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 oil rigs 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)