WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

25-29 May 2015

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2015 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 24 August 2015. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

Zenithal Sun -- The noontime sun should be at the zenith or directly over the heads of those on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu (Honolulu metropolitan area) this week (25-27 May). [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
National Hurricane Awareness Week -- NOAA has declared the week of 24-30 May 2015 as Hurricane Awareness Week across the nation. In the Eastern North Pacific basin, the hurricane season began on 15 May, while the hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico will begin next Monday, 1 June.
Change in season -- Meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the three-month span from March through May, concludes next Sunday (31 May 2015), while meteorological summer (June, July and August) will commence on the following day.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- During the last week tropical cyclone activity was limited to the waters of the western North Pacific Basin where Super typhoon Dolphin traveled northward before curving toward the northeast passing to the south of the main Japanese Islands. Dolphin had become a super typhoon over the previous weekend as maximum sustained surface winds reached 160 mph, equivalent to a major category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. As Dolphin approached the waters to the southeast of Japan it weakened to a tropical storm and then became an extratropical storm. By late in the week, remnants of this former super typhoon were moving toward the Sea of Okhotsk. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Super typhoon Dolphin.
Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to increased Gulf dolphin death rate -- A team of scientists from NOAA Fisheries along with other federal and state agencies, conservation organizations and academic institutions has discovered that following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico, the number of dolphin deaths in these waters increased and the dead bottlenose dolphins stranded had lung and adrenal lesions consistent with petroleum product exposure. [NOAA News]
Public comment invited on 10 proposed Early Restoration Gulf projects -- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees, consisting of NOAA, the Department of Interior, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Agriculture and the five Gulf Coast States, released a draft plan that proposes ten early restoration projects across the Gulf States at an estimated cost of $134 million. The Trustees are inviting the public to review and make comments on the "Draft Phase IV Early Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessments" through mid –June. Public meetings will be held during the first two weeks of June at several locations along the Gulf Coast. Two of the projects would enhance bird nesting habitat, four projects would improve nearshore and reef habitats, two projects would enhance recreational opportunities on federal lands, one project would reduce sea turtle mortality and one project would restore pelagic fish across the Gulf. [NOAA News]
Early season forecast updates made for harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie -- NOAA researchers and their partners at Ohio's Heidelberg University began issuing a new experimental, early season forecast of the seasonal harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie early last week. This forecast, which would be issued weekly through early July, could be used by resource and public health managers dealing with the toxic blooms on the Lake that can affect human and animal health. [NOAA News]
Actions proposed to build upon successes of Endangered Species Act -- Early last week, NOAA's Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced an additional suite of actions that the Obama Administration will take to improve the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act and demonstrate its flexibility. Initiatives will increase regulatory predictability, increase stakeholder engagement and improve science and transparency. Four broad goals have been identified: i.) improving science and increasing transparency; ii). incentivizing voluntary conservation efforts; iii.) focusing resources to achieve more successes; and iv.) engaging the states. [NOAA Fisheries Newsroom]
Grants are made available to improve coastal community resilience -- During the last week NOAA has announced that applications are being accepted for grants within the agency's oceans and fisheries programs intended to improve costal community and ecosystem resilience to the effects of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.. NOAA's Ocean Service has $5 million for community resilience projects, while NOAA Fisheries has $4 million available for coastal ecosystem resilience projects. Applicants that would be eligible for funding include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private (for profit) entities, and local, state, and tribal government. [NOAA News]
Global temperatures for April 2015 reviewed -- Using preliminary data collected from the global network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for April 2015 was the fourth highest for any April since comprehensive global climate records began in 1880, or approximately 1.3 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. The scientists also reported that when considered separately, the temperature over the oceans was the highest April temperature in 136 years with a sea surface temperature that was nearly 1.1 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average. Record sea-surface temperatures for the month were the result of the strengthening of El Niño conditions across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. In addition, the average land temperature was the tenth highest for any April since 1880, with a land temperature 2 Fahrenheit degrees above the long-term average.
Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center indicated that the average Arctic sea ice extent was the second smallest monthly April extent since satellite surveillance began in 1979. Conversely, the Antarctic sea ice extent was the largest April Antarctic sea ice extent on record for the satellite era. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for April 2014 is available from NCDC.
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] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

25 May 1985...The Meghna River delta in Bangladesh was hit with a tropical cyclone with winds of over 100 mph that created a 15-to 20-foot high storm surge that flooded a 400-square-mile area, mainly islands located in the mouth of the river. More than 11,000 people and 500,000 head of cattle died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless because of this cyclone.
26 May 1967...A slow moving nor'easter battered New England with high winds, heavy rain, and record late season snow on this day and into the 26th. Winds 70 to 90 mph in gusts occurred along the coast. Over 7 inches of rain fell at Nantucket, MA with 6.57 inches falling in 24 hours to set a new 24-hour rainfall record. Severe damage occurred along the coast from very high tides. The 24.9 inches of snow that fell at Mount Washington, NH set a new May snowfall record. Other locations in New Hampshire received 10 inches of snow near Keene and 6 inches at Dublin. (Intellicast)
28 May 1963...A cyclone killed about 22,000 people along the coast of East Pakistan.
28 May 1987...A robot probe found the wreckage of the USS Monitor off Cape Hatteras, NC. (Wikipedia)
29 May 1827...The first nautical school was opened in Nantucket, MA, under the name Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin's Lancasterian School.
29 May 1914...Shallow river fog along the St. Lawrence River approximately 185 miles from Quebec City, Quebec contributed to the collision of the CP Liner Empress of Ireland and a Norwegian coal ship, The Storstad. Although the two ships had spotted each other several minutes before the collision, altered courses and confused signals contributed to the crash. In one of the worst ship disasters in history, the liner sank in 25 minutes drowning 1024 passengers of the 1477 people on board. Only seven lifeboats escaped the rapidly sinking vessel. (The Weather Doctor) (The History Channel)
29 May 1950...A Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, RCMPV St. Roch, became the first ship to circumnavigate North America, when it arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Wikipedia)
30 May 1767...The first stone of the tower for the Charleston Lighthouse on Morris Island, SC was laid on this date. (USCG Historian's Office)
30-31 May 1997...As many as 140 people had to be rescued from rip currents off Dayton Beach Shores, FL. One man died in a rip current while trying to save his wife. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
31 May 1911...The hull of the ill-fated Titanic was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship." (Information Please)
31 May 1997...The Confederation Bridge, also dubbed the "Fixed Link," was officially opened, linking Canada's Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick. This 8-mile long bridge that crosses the Northumberland Strait is the longest bridge in the world that spans waters that freeze. (Wikipedia)