DATASTREME WES WEEK TWO: 31 January-4 February 2005

• (Thurs.) Southwest clouds have silver linings -- Recent winter storms in Southern California have increased the snowpack to double the normal for this time of year. The summer water supply will benefit greatly. [USA Today]
  Also, drought and fire danger lessens -- Rains across the southern Rockies have helped the persistent drought conditions and decreased the summer fire danger for the high elevation forests. However, the growth of brush at lower elevations may cause fires closer to populated areas later on. [USA Today]
• (Thur.) "Deep six" the CO₂ -- The UK's chief scientist urged a climate conference to have nation's bury excess carbon dioxide in depleted undersea oil wells. Norway's Statoil has been doing this since 1996 with no apparent leakage. [BBC News]
• (Thur.) Home computers' climate model shows large temperature increase -- An Oxford University climate model that has been running on a worldwide system of home computers (in their spare time) predicts global temperature rises of 2 to 11 degrees C. This rise would fuel climate change and rising sea levels. [CNN]
• (Thurs.) China's "EPA" acts up -- China's State Environmental Protection Administration has ordered several water projects to cease further construction or face court action because environmental impact assessments weren't done. [ENN]
• (Thurs.) Could Sonar and beaching of whales be related? -- Scientists with NOAA along with other groups are wondering if the beaching and deaths of whales along the North Carolina coast within several hours in mid January could be related to the US Navy's use of powerful sonar during a training exercise. [Washington Post] [Editor's note: Thanks for the notice to Terri Kirby Hathaway, LIT Leader and Marine Education Specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant. EJH]
• (Tues.) Impacts of oil spill fade slowly -- Scientists from the US Geological Society recently reported that the crude oil that washed up along the shoreline of Alaska's Prince William Sound from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill continues to adversely impact a variety of marine life. [ENN]
• (Tues.) Studying ice in summer clouds -- NASA scientists have been studying ice crystals collected from summertime clouds in Florida during the CRYSTAL-FACE (Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers-Florida Area Cirrus Experiment) and they have developed an ice crystal classification scheme that could be used to improve weather and climate forecast models. [NASA Langley]
• (Tues.) Great Lake levels lowered by river erosion -- A recent study charges that the water levels on Lakes Michigan and Huron have dropped by as much as 13 inches because of undetected river erosion on the St. Clair River following a dredging project that increased the size of the navigation channel in 1962. [ENN]
• Europe finally gets snow -- A winter storm moved across Europe late last week bringing heavy snow to many countries in eastern Europe that resulted in blocked roads and power outages. Snow also fell on some regions along the Mediterranean that rarely receive snow. [USA Today]
• Snow in Africa -- One of the worst snowstorms to strike Algeria in more than 50 years paralyzed Algiers, the nation's capital city late last week. The snow was responsible for at least 10 deaths and sparked gas riots. Snow also fell in neighboring Tunisia. [BBC]
• Water purifying units for tsunami survivors -- The Defense Department has announced that 1200 miniaturized water purifying units developed for the military will be sent to Asia as part of the relief efforts mounted to help survivors of the December 2004 tsunami that devastated countries in the Indian Ocean basin. [US Water News Online]
• Toxins found in Baltic fish -- An environmental group is pressuring the European Union to adapt restrictions on a variety of industrial chemicals following a recent study that reported fish caught in the Baltic Sea contained toxins that exceeded limits deemed safe for human consumption. [ENN]
• Hot springs microbes fueled by hydrogen -- A team of biologists from the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that microbes found in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park appear to utilize hydrogen as the primary source of metabolic energy. Water temperatures in these hot springs exceed 158 degrees Fahrenheit. [EurekAlert!]
• Additional Everglades protection encouraged -- A report released by the National Academy of Sciences encourages both the Federal and state governments to quickly purchase more land in an effort to save the Florida Everglades from development and to help restore the sensitive ecosystem. Part of the restoration project is intended to restore natural water flow from central Florida south to Florida Bay, with the possible use of Lake Okeechobee for additional water storage. [ENN]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Faye McCollum, LIT Leader from Columbus, GA, reported that last weekend's ice storm across the Southeast caused power outages as far south as Columbus. While air temperatures hovered in the low 30s, freezing rain and ice pellets fell. However, she reported no snow. Debris from the tree limbs downed in the ice storm remained in the neighbors' yards. While life was returning to normal on Monday, she was still experiencing some brief power outages on Tuesday.

Carol Hildreth, LIT leader from Mechanicville, NY, reported seeing a "beautifully colored" sun dog last week. Sun dogs, or parhelia, are optical phenomena that appear on either side of the sun at an angular departure of approximately 22 degrees (an angular distance roughly equivalent to one hand-span on an outstretched arm from the sun). These optical phenomena are caused by the bending of the rays of sunlight (refraction) by airborne ice crystals. She noted that she only saw one and not a possible second sun dog. Carol also reported on a thin band of fog one morning last week that was approximately 20 feet above a field, several meters thick and about 300 feet in length. Finally, she sent pictures of hoarfrost (feathered white ice crystals formed on trees) on a weekend trip to Vermont.

Concept of the Week: Water Chill

The epic movie Titanic dramatically portrayed how immersion in cold water can be deadly. After abandoning ship, passengers and crew who were floating in relatively calm seas perished within a short time. Residents of cold climates are warned of the dangers posed by a combination of low air temperature and strong winds (the wind-chill). Because of the special thermal properties of water, immersion in cold water can be even more hazardous. A boating accident or a plunge through thin ice on a lake can have deadly consequences.

One of the principal hazards of cold water immersion is a lowering of body temperature due to excess heat loss. (Perhaps half of all drowning victims actually die from this effect of cold water rather than water-filled lungs.) Heat is energy that is transferred between two objects at different temperatures, always flowing from the warmer to the colder object. The human body can regulate its core temperature so that it normally varies by no more than about 2 Celsius degrees (3.6 Fahrenheit degrees) above or below 37 °C (98.6 °F). Hence, heat usually flows from the human body to its cooler surroundings. Core temperature refers to the temperature of vital organs such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys.

When immersed in cold water, a body may lose heat at such a high rate that thermoregulatory processes cannot prevent a steady drop in core temperature and the victim may exhibit symptoms of hypothermia. These symptoms set in when a person's core temperature falls below 36 °C (96.8 °F). Shivering (a natural thermoregulatory process) becomes violent and uncontrollable and the victim has difficulty speaking and becomes lethargic. If the core temperature drops below 32 °C (90 °F), shivering ceases, muscles become rigid, and coordination deteriorates. At a core temperature of 30 °C (86 °F), a person may drift into unconsciousness and death may ensue at a core temperature below 24 °C (75 °F).

A person runs a greater risk of developing hypothermia when immersed in water than air at the same temperature. Water conducts heat at a rate that is more than 20 times greater than still air and water's specific heat is almost 6 times that of dry air. Whereas the risk of hypothermia due to low air temperature primarily occurs in winter, cold water immersion is possible anytime of year in many locations. Ocean or lake temperatures may remain relatively low throughout the summer months because of water's relatively great thermal inertia.

For more information on hypothermia, including expected survival time for various water temperatures, got to: http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/tourism/hypothermia.html.

1. Water is a [(much better)(poorer)] conductor of heat than still air.
2. Hypothermia is a potentially lethal [(rise)(fall)] in the temperature of the human body's vital organs.

• 30 January 1996...A snowfall of 6.4 inches on this day pushed the seasonal snowfall to 180 inches at Sault Ste Marie, MI. This set a new seasonal snowfall record for the city. The old record was 178.6 inches set in 1976-77. (Intellicast)
• 30 January 1997...Surf up to 12 feet, with sets to 15 feet, pounded the north and west shores of Hawaii. A wave swept 8 people into the ocean at Keane Point on Maui. Four tourists who were taking pictures of the waves drowned. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 January to 4 February 1814...Floes of ice in England's Thames River backed ice up behind the London Bridge, then froze together. The ice was sufficiently strong to support refreshment and entertainment stands for 5 days. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 31 January 1911...Tamarack, CA was without snow the first eight days of the month, but by the end of January had been buried under 390 inches of snow, a record monthly snowfall total for the U.S. (The Weather Channel)
• 31 January to 9 February 1947...A memorable blizzard crippled Saskatchewan. All highways into Regina were blocked. Railway officials declared this blizzard as producing the worst conditions in Canadian rail history. A train was buried in a snowdrift 0.6 mile long and 37 feet deep. (The Weather Doctor)
• 31 January 1963...Heavy rains fell across the Sierra. The Mt. Rose Highway Station near Reno, NV reported 7.13 inches of precipitation, which set a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Nevada. This rain, combined with snowmelt, produced 3 to 4 feet of water that covered 30 blocks of downtown Reno. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 February 1936...A rainfall of three inches in several minutes was followed by a hailstorm of jagged pieces of ice that killed 19 people in the Northern Transvaal area of South Africa. Hail was reported to accumulate to a depth of 3 feet. Some of those killed had to be dug out of the hail. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 February 1953...An intense low-pressure system 966 millibars (29.52 inches of mercury) swept across the North Sea. Wind speeds at Aberdeen, Scotland exceeded 125 mph. A storm surge of 13 feet, aided by a high spring tide, breached the dams in as many as 100 places along the Zuider Zee in The Netherlands, flooding 3.95 million acres or one-sixth of the country. More than 1800 deaths were attributed to drowning and 50,000 people were evacuated. In addition, this storm was responsible for the loss of 100,000 poultry, 25,00 pigs and 35,000 cattle. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 2 February 1952...The only tropical storm of record to hit the U.S. in February moved out of the Gulf of Mexico and across southern Florida. It produced 60-mph winds, and two to four inches of rain. (2^nd-3^rd) (The Weather Channel)
• 2 February 1976...Groundhog Day Storm, one of the fiercest Maritimes storms ever battered Bay of Fundy region around Saint John, New Brunswick with winds clocked at 118 mph, generating 39 foot waves with swells of 32.5 feet. (The Weather Doctor)
• 3 February 1997...Portions of the Thames River in England froze over for the first time since World War II. (The Weather Doctor)
• 5 February 1887...San Francisco, CA experienced its greatest snowstorm of record. Nearly four (3.7) inches were reported in downtown San Francisco, and the western hills of the city received seven inches. Excited crowds went on a snowball-throwing rampage. (David Ludlum)
• 5 February 1987...Thunderstorms in the Southern Plains Region caused flooding in parts of south central Texas. Del Rio, TX was soaked with two inches of rain in two hours prior to sunrise. (The National Weather Summary)
• 5 February 1997...High winds pushed mountains of ice against the northern shore of Lake Erie crushing several houses and cottages in Colchester, Ontario. (The Weather Doctor)
• 6 February 1856...A lee shore snowburst at Oswego, NY on Lake Ontario dropped an estimated 6 feet of snow. (Intellicast)
• 6-8 February 1885...A severe blizzard buried parts of Nova Scotia under 16 inches of snow. Train traffic was disrupted as only trains with snowplows attached were able to push through. (The Weather Doctor)
• 6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was seen by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
• 6 February 1985...The French mineral water company, Perrier, debuted its first new product in 123 years. The new items were water with a twist of lemon, lime, or orange.
• 6 February 1987...Brownsville, TX was deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours, and flooding in some parts of the city was worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)

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URL: DS WES/news.html
Prepared by DS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.