WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

24-28 June 2013

DataStreme Earth Climate Systems will return for Fall 2013 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 2 September 2013. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Lightning Awareness Week -- The nation will celebrate its annual National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, this upcoming week, 23 through 29 June 2013, as declared by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS). On average, 55 people in the nation are killed annual by lightning and numerous more are injured. A cartoon character, Leon the Lightning Lion, is promoting the slogan "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" NWS, in conjunction with other sponsors, has a "Lightning Safety" website, http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/, that has links to a variety of informational and teacher resource materials. As many as 30 states are also observing this week with statewide activities.
Surface water patterns in wake of the Canaries as seen from space -- An image made in mid June from the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Terra satellite shows a variety of colors in the surface waters of the North Atlantic Ocean that surround the Canary Islands. The various colors of these surface waters are the result of the prevailing large scale winds from the northeast (the northeast trade winds) that blow around the island and create a variety of tail-like patterns in the wind-driven waves. An "island wake" can be detected downwind of the islands. A few clouds are also apparent. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Hot weather bakes Alaska -- The weather pattern across Alaska changed from a cold spring to unseasonably warm weather in June. A large high pressure system spread across Alaska at the start of last week, which resulted in all-time record high temperatures being set at four stations in southern Alaska: 94 degrees at Talkeetna, 90 degrees at Cordova, 89 degrees at Valdez and 88 degrees at Seward. [Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post] The high pressure system responsible for the record high temperatures also created nearly cloud-free skies across most of mainland Alaska on Monday. An image obtained from data collected by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows terrain features across most of the 49th State because of the few clouds. [NASA Earth Observatory]

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

Review of global weather and climate for May 2013 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the recently concluded month of May tied May 1998 and May 2005 for the third 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 2013, which was 1.19 Fahrenheit degrees (0.66 Celsius degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average May temperature. When considered separately, the average May 2013 land surface temperature was also the third highest for any May since 1880, while the monthly global ocean surface temperature was the fifth highest on record, tying the May ocean temperatures in 2003 and 2009. Since neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions were detected across eastern and central sections of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, sea surface temperatures were below average across this region.
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 the eighth highest since 1880.
The average Arctic sea ice extent for May was the 10th smallest extent for May on record, while the corresponding sea ice extent around Antarctica was the fifth largest on record for May according to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Some improvement in nation's water storage seen from space -- National maps of the soil moisture in the "root zone" and the ground water storage were recently produced by scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center based on data collected from NASA's GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) spacecraft, other satellites and ground-based observations. A sequence of these maps running August 2002 through May 2013 show changes in the monthly ground water situation caused by weather, climate and seasonal patterns. The maps show that while extensive drought remains across the western half of the nation, some improvement in the nation's ground water storage has occurred in the last several months across other sections of the country. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Green vegetation seen on the Blue Planet -- Special vegetation images produced from data collected for one year by the Visible-Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite show the seasonal and spatial vegetation around the globe. The VIRRS instrument detects differences in light reflection from vegetation, which can then be used to develop Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI-based products and services. [NASA's Earth Science Team] An animation of NDVI images was produced from Suomi NPP satellite data from April 2012 through April 2013. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Large field campaign to examine Southeast's summertime air -- One of the largest air quality field projects in decades, the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS), is currently underway to study air pollution in the Southeast, focusing on the impact of chemical reactions occurring between human-related pollution and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from vegetation. SOAS, which will run through mid-July, consists of five separate projects combined for logistical purposes. [UCAR/NCAR AtmosNews]
Sounding rockets to provide data on upper atmospheric electric currents -- During the upcoming two weeks (24 June through 8 July) a team of scientists from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA) will launch two sounding rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study a global, electrical current called the dynamo sweeping through the ionosphere. This mission, also called "Dynamo," will launch two sounding rockets 15 seconds apart. During the 5-minute trip, each rocket will reach the ionosphere to an altitude of approximately 100 miles. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
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]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

New Seasonal Climate Outlooks for this summer issued -- Near the end of last week, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released their new national Three-Month (Seasonal) Climate Outlooks new three-month seasonal national climate outlooks for July through September 2013, corresponding to the last two months of the meteorological summer season (in the Northern Hemisphere) and the first month of meteorological autumn . Specific details of their outlooks include:
- Temperature and precipitation outlooks -- According to their temperature outlook, most of the western half of the coterminous United States should experience a high chance of above average temperatures for these three upcoming months, with the greatest probability of such an occurrence across the southern and central Rockies along with the adjacent high Plains and the Great Basin. Most of the Northeast would also have a better than average chance of a warmer than average summer. New England and the southern Florida Peninsula could also experience a better than even chance of above average temperatures. Their outlook indicates that the remainder of the nation would have nearly equal chances of warmer or cooler than normal conditions.
  Their precipitation outlook calls for better than even chances of dry conditions for the summer and early autumn of 2013 across a large area of the Northwest and across the southern Plains in Texas. Conversely, the outlook would suggest a good chance of a wet summer across the Southeast. The rest of the coterminous states should have equal chances of below and above average summer precipitation.
  A summary of the prognostic discussion of the 3-month outlook for non-technical users is available from CPC. These forecasts were based in part that assuming that the current ENSO-neutral conditions (ENSO = El Niño/Southern Oscillation) should continue through the end of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, where neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions should prevail. A description is also provided as how to read these 3-class, 3-month Outlook maps.
- Seasonal Drought Outlook released -- The forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center also released their US Seasonal Drought Outlook last week that would run from late-June through September 2013. Their outlook would call for persistence or development of drought conditions across much of the western half of the nation. Only a few areas across the West could experience some improvement in drought conditions, including eastern sections of the southern and central Plains and across sections of the Southwest, primarily in Arizona and adjacent sections of southern Nevada and Utah. Drought will continue to pose a major problem across the western Plains, the Rockies, the Intermountain West and California. Currently, the drought does not appear to be a problem across the eastern half of the nation. Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.

CLIMATE IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE

Food supply for young Atlantic cod affected by changing sea surface temperatures and water circulation patterns -- Scientists at NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center and their colleagues report that changes in the sea surface water temperatures and circulation patterns in the western North Atlantic off the Northeast coast of the US has affected the distribution and abundance of the key Northeast Continental Shelf zooplankton species, which ultimately has influenced the recovery of Atlantic cod and other fish stocks in the region from overfishing. [NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center]
Natural underwater springs reveal response of coral reefs to ocean acidification -- A marine scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz has found that corals growing in the vicinity of those natural underwater springs where the ocean water becomes more acidic (that is, where the water's pH is lowered) tend to not fully acclimate. While the corals grow and calcify, they do not produce robust structures. The scientist believes that his results show that with anticipated ocean acidification due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, the corals will undergo change with less dense structure density that will make them more vulnerable. [National Science Foundation News]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

24 June 1946...Mellen, WI received 11.72 inches of rain, setting a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the Badger State. (NCDC)
24 June 1972...Rainier Park Ranger Station in Washington State had 4.4 inches of snow on this day. This turned out to be the last snowfall for the 1971-72 season and brought the seasonal total to 1122 inches -- a new single season snowfall record for the U.S. (Intellicast)
24 June 1988...Forty-three cities reported record high temperatures for the date. Valentine, NE reported an all-time record high of 110 degrees, and highs of 102 degrees at Casper, WY, 103 degrees at Reno, NV, and 106 degrees at Winnemucca, NV were records for the month of June. Highs of 98 degrees at Logan, UT and 109 degrees at Rapid City, SD equaled June records. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
25 June 1925...The mercury hit 101 degrees at Portland, OR, their earliest 100 degree reading of record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders)
25 June 1953...The temperature at Anchorage, AK soared to 86 degrees, their highest reading of record. (The Weather Channel)
25 June 1988...Fifty-two cities in the central and eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Highs of 100 degrees at Erie, PA and 104 degrees at Cleveland, OH established all- time records for those two locations. Highs of 101 degrees at Flint, MI, 105 degrees at Chicago, IL, and 106 degrees at Fort Wayne, IN equaled all-time records. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
Southwestern Ontario experienced a heat wave as the mercury soared to 104.4 degrees in Windsor and 100.8 degrees in London, the hottest day ever recorded in these cities. (The Weather Doctor)
26 June 1931...The temperature soared to 92 degrees at Anchorage, AK, the highest reading of record to date for that city. (The Weather Doctor)
27 June 1915...The temperature at Fort Yukon, AK soared to 100 degrees to establish a state record. (The Weather Channel)
27 June 1988...The afternoon high of 107 degrees at Bismarck, ND was a record for the month of June, and Pensacola, FL equaled their June record with a reading of 101 degrees. Temperatures in the Great Lakes Region and the Ohio Valley dipped into the 40s. (The National Weather Summary)
27 June 1994...The temperature reached 122 degrees at the Waste Isolation Treatment Plant east of Carlsbad, NM to set the state high temperature record for New Mexico. In Oklahoma, the temperature at the mesonet station near Tipton reached 120 degrees, setting an all-time record for the Sooner State. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 June 1892...The temperature at Orogrande, UT soared to 116 degrees to establish a record for the Beehive State. This record was broken by one degree in July 1985. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders)
28 June 1954...The temperature at Camden, SC reached 111 degrees to establish an all-time high temperature record for the Palmetto State. (NCDC)
28 June 1960...The maximum 24-hour precipitation record for the Bluegrass State was established at Dunmor, KY when 10.40 inches fell. (NCDC)
28 June 1976...Temperature reached 96 degrees in Southampton, England's Mayflower Park for the highest temperature ever in June in England. (The Weather Doctor)
28 June 1980...The temperature at Wichita Falls, TX soared to 117 degrees, their highest reading of record. Daily highs were 110 degrees or above between the 24^th of June and the 3^rd of July. (The Weather Channel)
28 June 1994...Laughlin, NV reached 125 degrees, the state's all-time record high temperature. (Intellicast) The temperature at Monahans, TX reached 120 degrees to set a new high temperature record for the Lone Star State. (NCDC)
29 June 1931...The temperature at Monticello, FL hit 109 degrees to establish an all-time record for the Sunshine State. (The Weather Channel)
29 June 1975...Litchville recorded 8.10 inches of rain for North Dakota's state 24-hour precipitation record. (NCDC)
29 June 1988...Jackson, MS equaled their record for the month of June with an afternoon high of 105 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
29 June 1994...The mercury hit a scorching 128 degrees at Lake Havasu City, AZ to set a new all-time record high temperature for the Grand Canyon State. This reading also tied the one at Death Valley, CA on the same day for the US June record. The previous state record for Arizona was 127 degrees set at Parker on 7 July 1905. The temperature at Laughlin, NV reached 125 degrees, which also set an all-time record high temperature for the Silver State. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia: was a 9.4 degree below zero reading at Charlotte Pass, New South Wales, Australia. (The Weather Doctor)
30 June 1912...The deadliest tornado in Canadian history struck Regina, Saskatchewan, as 28 people were killed. (The Weather Doctor)
30 June 1983...Tasmania's coldest night on record was observed as the temperature at Shannon dropped to 8.6 degrees. (The Weather Doctor)
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)

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