WEEKLY WATER NEWS

11-15 August 2008

Water in the Earth System will return for Fall 2008 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2008. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Water in the News:

• Eye on the tropics ---
  • In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall along the upper Texas Gulf Coast on Tuesday morning and dissipated over north Texas on Wednesday. An image made by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite shows the clouds surrounding Edouard the afternoon before landfall. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional information and images for Tropical Storm Edouard are found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  • In the Eastern North Pacific, Hernan, the eighth named tropical cyclone of the 2008 hurricane season in that basin, formed at midweek well off the southwest Mexican coast and traveled westward, quickly becoming the season's fifth hurricane. On Saturday, Hurricane Hernan became a major hurricane when it reached Category 3 status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. An image from NOAA's GOES-11 satellite shows the clouds surrounding Hernan as it was developing late last week. [NOAA OSEI]
  • In the Central North Pacific, the first named tropical cyclone of the season formed during the middle of last week southeast of Hawaii's Big Island and was labeled Tropical Storm Kika. By the weekend, this minimal tropical storm had moved westward passing to the south of the Aloha State.
  • In the Western North Pacific, Tropical Storm Kammuri developed at the start of last week over the South China Sea northwest of the Philippine Island of Luzon. This system traveled to the west-northwest and made landfall along the southeast coast of China. An image generated by data collected by the scatterometer onboard NASA's QuikSCAT satellite shows the near-surface winds surrounding Tropical Storm Kammuri over the South China Sea. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional information and images for Tropical Storm Kammuri are found in the NASA Hurricane Page.
• Updated hurricane forecasts -- Near the end of last week, forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently released an update to their 2008 Atlantic hurricane season outlook, increasing their projected likelihood of a more active hurricane season than normal. They also raising their forecast of named tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes) to 18, with seven to ten possibly becoming hurricanes. According to their new projection, between three and six hurricanes could become major, reaching category 3 or higher strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. [NOAA News] Earlier last week, hurricane forecasters Philip Klotzbach and William Gray from Colorado State University issued their August update to their forecast for a more active 2008 hurricane season in the North Atlantic Basin. They anticipate 17 named systems, calling for nine of these systems to become hurricanes with five to be considered major, reaching Category 3 or higher status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. [USA Today] [The Tropical Meteorology Project]
• A "dam cam" documents demolition of dam -- The NOAA Restoration Center, in partnership with the Conservation Law Foundation, captured on a web camera the start of the demolition of the 270-year old Merrimack Village Dam that impounded New Hampshire's Souhegan River, opening the river for a return to a free-flowing habitat for a variety of fish species. [NOAA News]
• Reducing the impact of freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms -- An interagency report titled, "Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms," was released last week by NOAA, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science and Technology Council that presents a plan for minimizing the impacts of freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) in the nation's lakes and rivers. [NOAA News]
• Mapping of Gulf marine debris goes online -- NOAA has updated its Gulf of Mexico Marine Debris Project Web site that serves to improve maritime safety and commerce in the northern Gulf of Mexico through the posting of pertinent hydrographic survey data identifying the risks posed by submerged debris left following the major hurricanes that traveled across the Gulf in the last three years. [NOAA News]
• A review of the weather and climate of July 2008 -- Scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center recently announced that preliminary data would indicate the recently concluded month was warmer than the 20th century average across the coterminous United States and represented the 30th warmest July since the present nationwide climate network was established in 1895. Many of the Western States, along with the Northeastern States, had statewide July temperatures that ranged from above to much above average. However, those Midwestern States along the Ohio and Mid-Mississippi Valleys, along with New Mexico, reported below average statewide temperatures for the month. Precipitation across the "Lower 48" was slightly above the 20th century July average, with the Northeast, Midwest and southern Rockies experiencing above to much above average rainfall. The Gulf Coast States and a large section of the West had below to much below average monthly precipitation. [NOAA News]
• July weather extremes -- The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is complying a list of extreme weather events that have produced notable records of temperature and precipitation during the month of July 2008 across the nation in "Selected U.S. City and State Extremes for July 2008". Note that this site may be updated during the following several weeks as more data are received and analyzed.
• The Northwest Passage opens -- An image obtained from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite during early August shows open water in Canadian Archipelago that would form the southern route through the Northwest Passage. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• African drought may be linked to warmer Indian Ocean -- Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the US Geological Survey have found from their analysis of data from surface weather stations and satellites along with output statistics from computer models that decreased rainfall across eastern and southern Africa during the last two decades can be linked to a warming of the Indian Ocean. [NASA GSFC]
• Floods accompany Asian monsoon rains -- An image obtained from the data collected by NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite shows the rainfall anomaly (difference between actual and average rainfall totals) for a recent 31-day span across the south-facing slopes of the Himalayan Mountains, where torrential summer monsoon rains caused deadly flooding in Pakistan and neighboring countries of south Asia. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Polar mesospheric clouds seen from space -- A photograph taken by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station shows polar mesospheric or noctilucent clouds at an altitude of approximately 200 miles over central Asia during late July. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Great Lakes pact gets US Senate's approval -- Following earlier approval by the eight states bordering the Great Lakes, the US Senate unanimously voted to ratify a compact that would prevent diversion of water from the Great Lakes basin. The US House needs to take action following summer recess before being sent to the President for final approval. [US Water News Online]
• More extreme rainstorms foreseen -- Researchers at the University of Miami and the United Kingdom's University of Reading have concluded from their studies of satellite observations over the last two decades and climate model output statistics that the projected higher global temperatures could result in more intense precipitation events. [EurekAlert!]
• South American glacier helps in study of global climate change -- An international group of scientists have been collecting and analyzing ice cores from glaciers in Patagonia so as to determine the response of these midlatitude South American glaciers to changes in climate. [EurekAlert!]
• Atlantic could be invaded by shellfish from Pacific -- Researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the California Academy of Sciences warn that the current warming of the Arctic Ocean could cause Pacific basin shellfish to invade the waters of the North Atlantic, for the first time in at least 3 million years. [EurekAlert!]
• Statistics on the persistence of bacteria in streams collected -- Researchers at the University of Tennessee studied the statistical persistence of total coliform bacteria from water samples collected in a river in east Tennessee. [American Society of Agronomy]
• "Arctic map" shows maritime jurisdictional issues -- The first "Arctic map" was drawn by researchers at the United Kingdom's Durham University that shows the potential regions for conflicts in the search for oil, gas and minerals on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding land. [EurekAlert!]
• 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, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• 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.

Historical Events:

• 11 August 1940...A major hurricane struck Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC causing the worst inland flooding since 1607. (David Ludlum)
• 11 August 1979...Rainfall totals for the previous two weeks were up to 20 inches in parts of India's state of Gujarat. A rain-weakened dam broke on the 11th, resulting in a 20-foot high wall of water that devastated Morovi, and drowning approximately 5000 people. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11 August 1987...An early evening thunderstorm in Wyoming produced hail up to two inches in diameter from Alva to Hulett. Snowplows had to be used to clear Highway 24 south of Hulett, where hail formed drifts two feet deep. (The National Weather Summary)
• 11 August 1988...Moisture from what remained of Tropical Storm Beryl resulted in torrential rains across eastern Texas. Twelve and a half inches of rain deluged Enterprise, TX, which was more than the amount received there during the previous eight months. (The National Weather Summary)
• 11 August 1989...One of the most severe convective outbreaks of record came to a climax in southern California after four days. Thunderstorms deluged Benton, CA with six inches of rain two days in a row, and the flooding that resulted caused more than a million dollars damage to homes and highways. Thunderstorms around Yellowstone Park, WY produced four inches of rain in twenty minutes resulting in fifteen mudslides. Thunderstorms over Long Island, NY drenched Suffolk County with 8 to 10 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 12 August 1778...A Rhode Island hurricane prevented an impending British-French sea battle, and caused extensive damage over southeast New England. (David Ludlum)
• 12 August 1891...An 80-minute deluge, possibly related to a tropical storm system, pelted Vampo, CA with between 11.5 and 11.8 inches of rain. The observer measured, then emptied the rain gauge several times as it filled. No other U.S. storm has come close to producing this much precipitation in an 80-minute span. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 12 August 1955...During the second week of August, hurricanes Connie and Diane produced as much as 19 inches of rain in the northeastern U.S. forcing rivers from Virginia to Massachusetts into a high flood. Westfield, MA was deluged with 18.15 inches of rain in 24 hours, and at Woonsocket, RI the Blackstone River swelled from seventy feet in width to a mile and a half. Connecticut and the Delaware Valley were hardest hit. Total damage in New England was 800 million dollars, and flooding claimed 187 lives. (David Ludlum)
• 12 August 1985...Within the span of two hours, 17.32 inches of rain fell at Gajo, Gansu, China, marking a worldwide record rainfall event for such a length of time. (NWS)
• 12 August 1997...A storm three to five miles upstream produced a 10 to 30 foot high wall of water in Antelope Canyon, located approximately 5 miles southeast of Page, AZ. Eleven hikers and tourists died. Only the guide survived, after being carried several miles downstream. All had been warned not to enter the canyon. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 August 1923...A flash flood with a crest up to 100 feet high and 200 feet wide swept down Farmington Canyon in Utah. A family of six camping in the canyon were swept away and two women died at Willard when their house was demolished. Some flood survivors were rescued from trees and rooftops. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 August 1979...Fifteen yachtsmen died and 23 boats sank or were abandoned as storm-force winds, along with high seas, raked a fleet of yachts participating in an annual race between southwestern England and Fastnet Rock off southwestern Ireland. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 13 August 1987...Thunderstorms deluged the Central Gulf Coast States with torrential rains. Thunderstorms in Mississippi drenched Marion County with up to 15 inches of rain during the morning hours, with 12.2 inches reported at Columbia. Floodwaters swept cars away in the Lakeview subdivision of Columbia when the Lakeview Dam broke. Flash flooding caused more than three million dollars damage in Marion County. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
• 13-14 August 1987...Slow-moving thunderstorms deluged northern and western suburbs of Chicago, IL with torrential rains. O'Hare Airport reported 9.35 inches in 18 hours, easily exceeding the previous 24-hour record of 6.24 inches. The airport was closed due to extensive flooding, the first time ever for a non-winter event. Flooding over a five-day period resulted in 221 million dollars damage. It was Chicago's worst flash flood event, particularly for northern and western sections of the city. Kennedy Expressway became a footpath for thousands of travelers to O'Hare Airport as roads were closed. The heavy rains swelled the Des Plaines River above flood stage, and many persons had to be rescued from stalled vehicles on flooded roads. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
• 13 August 2004...Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 tropical low-pressure system on the Saffir-Simpson scale, struck the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida, making landfall north of Captiva, FL. At landfall, sustained winds of 145 mph, along with an unofficial gust of 173 mph on a medical building tower in Punta Gorda near Fort Myers. The greatest destruction occurring at Punta Gorda. Fifteen fatalities were directly attributed to the hurricane, with another 20 indirect deaths. Damage estimates were approximately $14 billion. A gust of 104 mph hit Arcadia, where a storm shelter with 1200 people inside lost a wall and part of a roof. (Wikipedia) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 August 1919...Approximately one million tons of ice broke off the leading edge of a glacier near Mont Blanc in France. The ice mixed with rocks downhill. Nine people were buried under the ensuing cataract of ice and rock. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 August 2004...Flash floods in California's Spring Valley Lake and East Victorville trapped many vehicles in "rock deep" water, and a $100,000 white sand beach was washed away. Water eight-foot deep covered BNSF railroad tracks and caused a 60-train backup that extended well back into Cajon Pass. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 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 1946...Saint Louis, MO was deluged with a record 8.78 inches of rain in 24 hours. (The Weather Channel)
• 15 August 1952...Nine inches of rain fell on already soaked terrain rising 1000 feet above Lynmouth, England. Floodwater and debris containing approximately 200,000 tons of rocks cascaded down the East and West Lyn Rivers. Cars were swept out into the Bristol Channel. As many as 34 deaths were attributed to this flooding, along with the destruction of 34 bridges. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 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)
• 16 August 1909...A dry spell began in San Bernardino County of southern California that lasted until the 6th of May in 1912, a stretch of 994 days! Another dry spell, lasting 767 days, then began in October of 1912. (The Weather Channel)
• 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, 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. 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. The hurricane produced winds to 200 mph, and a storm surge of 24.6 feet. Complete destruction occurred in some coastal areas near the eye of the hurricane. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 18 August 1925...During the late morning hours a severe hailstorm struck southeastern Iowa completely destroying crops along a path six to ten miles wide and 75 miles long. The hail also injured and killed poultry and livestock, and caused a total of 2.5 million dollars damage. The hailstorm flattened fields of corn to such an extent that many had to leave their farms in search of other work. It was one of the worst hailstorms of record for the nation. (The Weather Channel)
• 18 August 1924...Record United Kingdom August rainfall of 9.4 inches deluged Cannington (Somerset) England. (The Weather Doctor)
• 18-19 August 1972...Heavy rains led to disastrous flooding on the lower Han River Basin in South Korea. Seoul received 17.36 inches in 22 hours, which represents approximately one-third of its annual average. As many as 500 people were killed and more than 10,000 buildings were washed away. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 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)
• 18 August 1989...Thunderstorms over the Middle Atlantic Coast Region and the Upper Ohio Valley produced torrential rains in eastern Virginia during the late morning and afternoon hours. Totals ranged up to twelve inches at Yorktown. Williamsburg, VA was deluged with 10.78 inches of rain between 6 AM and 10 AM, with 6.72 inches reported in just two hours. Southern sections of Maryland's Eastern Shore received between 6 to 10 inches of rain, while unofficial reports of 13 to 20 inches were made from southern Delaware. Flash flooding caused nearly twelve million dollars damage in Accomack County, VA. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2008, The American Meteorological Society.