WEEKLY WEATHER & CLIMATE NEWS

WEEKLY WEATHER AND CLIMATE NEWS

12-16 July 2010

Eye on the Tropics -- Although temperatures continue to increase across the Northern Hemisphere following the summer solstice two weeks previously, the weather across the tropical ocean basins remained uncharacteristically quiet last week.
In the North Atlantic Basin, a tropical depression, identified as Tropical Depression 2, formed over the waters of the western Gulf of Mexico late last week. At the start of the weekend, TD-2 had made landfall along the northeast coast of Mexico, bringing heavy rain to the lower Rio Grande Valley and south Texas. For more information and satellite images of TD-2, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
The lingering effects of former Hurricane Alex, the first hurricane of 2010 in the North Atlantic basin, continued into the start of last week. Rain associated with this system continued through the 4th of July weekend across northern Mexico and the Southwestern US. In addition, Hurricane Alex disrupted the oil spill cleanup efforts in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional recent information and satellite images on the former Hurricane Alex.
In the western North Pacific, the third tropical storm of 2010 formed early Sunday (local time) over the waters east of the Philippines and named Tropical Storm Conson. Movement of Tropical Storm Conson was to the west.
A new look inside a hurricane-- NASA scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Dryden Flight Research Center and other laboratories will be conducting a major field campaign called GRIP (Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes) this summer that will provide an unprecedented look at the formation of tropical cyclones that can rapidly develop into hurricanes. Satellites, such as the Aqua, Terra and TRMM, aircraft and NASA's unmanned Global Hawk drone will be used in the campaign. [NASA's Earth Science News Team] [NASA JPL]
The Cooperative Institute for Satellite Meteorological Studies remains at Wisconsin --NOAA officials recently announced that the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison would continue to conduct studies using NOAA satellites to improve climate and severe weather forecasts. NOAA and CIMSS scientists are currently working on the future Joint Polar Satellite System, (JPSS) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-R series. [NOAA News] (Editor's note: The current CIMSS Director, Dr. Steve Ackerman is a valued friend of the AMS Education Program, helping develop some of the applets for the weather, ocean and climate courses. EJH)
Lake Superior is warming toward record levels -- Based upon recent data collected from NOAA's buoys on Lake Superior, researchers at the Large Lakes Observatory of the University of Minnesota-Duluth have noted an increase in the lake temperature and they predict that the surface waters will reach record temperatures before the end of this summer. They attribute the warming of the lake to several factors including last winter's low ice coverage that led to an early spring "turnover," which would affect the mixing of the lake. [Minnesota Sea Grant News]
Another satellite image of oil spill along Louisiana coast --A natural-color satellite image produced from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows the extent of the oil slick on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico offshore of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta. The slick is detected by the studying the sun glint on the water. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Polar stratospheric clouds from space perspective-- A photograph taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows polar mesospheric clouds, which are also called noctilucent or night shining clouds, above the earth's horizon and being highlighted by the rising sun. These clouds are found in the upper mesosphere at altitudes of up to 50 miles (80 km). [NASA Earth Observatory]
Clear skies prevailed across Arctic in June-- A mosaic of MODIS images obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite in late June 2010 shows relatively clear skies across a large portion of the Arctic basin. The clear skies across the region may be related to the unseasonably high temperatures in May and June and the melting of snow and sea ice. [NASA Earth Observatory]
North Pacific seen to have played major role in past climate change --A team of scientists from Japan, Hawaii and Belgium recently reported that their research using radiocarbon dated sediment cores and a computer simulation indicates large changes in the ocean current pattern in the North Pacific Ocean may have had wide reaching effects on the global climate as the last Ice Age was beginning to end 17,500 to 15,000 years ago years ago. [EurekAlert!]
New system could cut heating costs for cold climate houses --Researchers at Purdue University are developing a new type of heat pump that they claim could allow residents of housing in cold climates to cut their space heating bills by approximately 50 percent. [Purdue University News]
More heat waves could be in the nation's future --Using a suite of climate model simulations, climate scientists at Stanford University predict that within the next 30 years, extremely high temperatures and exceptionally long heat waves could become relatively common across the United States. They warn that these extreme temperature events would pose significant agricultural and human health risks. [Stanford University]
Satellites can help predict duststorms --Using thermal images from the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Radiometer) instrument on one of NASA's satellites, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have developed a method for predicting the occurrence of duststorms and sandstorms based upon surface temperature and moisture conditions that appear favorable for the development of such storms. These researchers claim that their method could be used globally. [University of Pittsburgh 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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Return to AMS Weather Studies Homepage