WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

18-22 August 2008

DataStreme Ocean 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.

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics ---
  • In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Fay, the sixth named tropical cyclone of the 2008 North Atlantic hurricane season intensified near Haiti late Friday from a tropical disturbance that had formed a day earlier over Puerto Rico. As of late Sunday afternoon, this tropical storm was traveling to the west-northwest across the Caribbean Sea offshore of the southern coast of Cuba. The projected track of this system would cause Fay to turn northward, cross Cuba and the Florida Strait to pass near Key West, FL and enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico by early Tuesday. Intensification to a hurricane was possible. An image and additional discussion of the tropical depression that eventually became Tropical Storm Fay can be found on NASA's Hurricane Page.
  • In the eastern North Pacific basin, Hurricane Hernan, which had become a major category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, weakened and dissipated by midweek. Several images of Hurricane Hernan along with additional information are on NASA's Hurricane Page.
    A weak tropical depression identified as Tropical Depression 10-E formed off the Mexican coast at midweek, but quickly dissipated.
    Tropical Storm Iselle, the ninth named tropical cyclone of the 2008 hurricane season in that basin, formed at midweek off the west coast of Mexico. The tropical storm traveled to the west-northwest, weakening to a tropical depression and then dissipating on Sunday. Several images and additional information on Tropical Storm Iselle are on NASA's Hurricane Page.
  • In the Western North Pacific, Tropical Depression 11W formed in the middle of last week over the waters of the East China Sea south of Korea. This depression reached the coast of South Korea near the end of the week.
    Tropical Storm Vongfong formed late last week over the ocean south of the Japanese archipelago. Over this past weekend, Vongfong was traveling to the east-northeast to the south of the islands. Additional information about and an image of Tropical Storm Vongfong can be found on NASA's Hurricane Page.
    Tropical Depression 13-W formed this past weekend over the western Pacific east of the Philippines and it was moving on a projected path that would take it across the Philippine Sea to the north of Luzon.
• Hurricane forecasting funding quadruples in President's budget request -- The Bush Administration has submitted a budget request for the 2009 fiscal year that includes $17 Million for NOAA's Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project, which more than quadruples the Agency's original request. [NOAA News]
• Another view of hurricanes and climate change -- Recent research conducted at the University of Miami using a new method for evaluating the frequency of hurricane formation indicates that while projected increases in sea surface temperature could cause hurricanes to form more easily and more rapidly, increased wind shear would serve to suppress hurricane formation. [EurekAlert!]
• Weather and climate around the globe in July -- Scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center recently announced that based on preliminary data, the globally averaged land and ocean surface temperature for July 2008 ties this month with the fifth warmest July since worldwide records began in 1880. Neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation conditions returned to the tropical Pacific Ocean following an extended La Niña event. The sea ice across the Northern Hemisphere during the month of July was the fourth smallest since 1979. [NOAA News]
• Expedition seeks information on coral disease impacts in the Florida Keys -- A scientific expedition was conducted last week in the waters surrounding the Florida Keys to monitor the health of the coral reefs from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas and determine possible impacts of disease. This annual expedition on the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster included scientists from NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Auburn University, George Mason University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, and Mote Marine Laboratory. [NOAA News]
• A maritime heritage expedition is underway in Hawaii -- A research expedition conducted by maritime archeologists from NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is currently underway in the Papahnaumokukea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, with the goal of gaining historical information on shipwrecks and other archeological items in the monument's waters. [NOAA News] During their expedition, the archaeologists from NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries discovered the shipwreck of the British whaling ship Gledstanes that sank in the monument's waters off Kure Atoll in 1837. [NOAA News]
• Hail and farewell -- NOAA recently added a new vessel to its fleet, while retiring its oldest ship:
  • The Okeanos Explorer, called "America's ship for ocean exploration", was commissioned in Seattle, WA. This new vessel will incorporate modern satellite and Internet-based technology to permit land-based scientists to participate in ocean exploration on a real-time basis. [NOAA News]
  • The wooden-hulled NOAA Ship John N. Cobb, a fisheries research vessel, was recently retired in Seattle after 58 years of service that included tuna surveys in the waters of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. [NOAA News]
• Seals dive for climate data -- An international team of French, Australian, US and British scientists have been analyzing ocean data across data sparse sections of the Southern Ocean collected from oceanographic sensors that have been attached to deep diving elephant seals. [CSIRO]
• Robot scouts seafloor for undersea lab site -- An autonomous submersible developed at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been employed by scientists to help locate two observatory sites, or nodes, for the Regional Scale Nodes Project, a seafloor laboratory that will be located off the Washington and Oregon coasts. [NSF News]
• Countdown begins for upcoming Earth Explorers satellite -- The European Space Agency is preparing for next month's launch from Russia of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, the first satellite in the Agency's Earth Explorers series that will be placed into low earth-orbit to map the Earth's gravitation field with unprecedented accuracy. This satellite is expected to contribute to oceanography and to climate change studies. [ESA]
• Variations in Antarctic climate linked to tropical Pacific -- A new analysis of Antarctic ice cores by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Washington indicates that the interannual variations in temperature and the century-long temperature increase across West Antarctica appear to be linked with the conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, including periodic events such as El Niño episodes. [UCAR/NCAR]
• "Dead zones" could be spreading -- Researchers from the College of William and Mary and Sweden's University of Gothenburg report that the number and sizes of the regions of the ocean with too little oxygen to support most marine life, which are also known as "dead zones", have increased during the last decade and are becoming a major stress agent on marine ecosystems. [EurekAlert!]
• Mass extinctions in the oceans foreseen -- An oceanographer from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the oceans could experience mass extinctions and the "rise of slime" because of the threats to marine ecosystems presented by a variety of factors including overfishing, pollution and climate change. [Scripps 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, 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 18 August 1904...The Belle Isle Aquarium opened in Detroit, MI. This facility is the oldest, continuously running aquarium in America. Several other institutions opened earlier but since have closed or moved to multiple different buildings. Belle Isle Aquarium is still in its original building and site as the one in which it opened. (Today in Science History)
• 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)
• 19 August 1559...First recorded U.S. hurricane drove five Spanish ships ashore in Pensacola Harbor along the Florida coast. (Intellicast)
• 19 August 1788...A small but powerful hurricane inflicted great havoc upon forests along a narrow track from Delaware Bay northeastward across New Jersey along the coast to Maine. A similar storm track today would cause extreme disaster in the now populated area. (David Ludlum)
• 19-20 August 1969...'Never say die' Camille, an exceptionally strong hurricane that had weakened to a tropical depression as it drifted slowly across the mid-Atlantic states, let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides that killed 151 persons and caused 140 million dollars damage. Massies Hill in Nelson County, Virginia received an estimated 27 inches of rain in 24 hours. This amount is an unofficial record for the state, while the official 24-hour maximum precipitation record is 14.28 inches at Williamsburg on 16 September 1999. It was said to rain so hard that birds drowned while perched on tree branches. The James and York River basins in Virginia were especially hard hit. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19 August 1991...Hurricane Bob slammed into New England with 90 mph sustained winds and gusts of 125 mph (at Block Island, RI) and 105 mph (at Newport, RI). It made landfall first at Newport, RI and then final US landfall as a tropical storm at Rockland, ME. A storm surge of 15 feet occurred in Upper Buzzards Bay. Portland, ME had a 24-hour record rainfall of 7.83 inches. Total damage exceeded $1.5 billion dollars and 17 people were killed. This was the worst Hurricane in the Northeast since Donna in 1960. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 20 August 1886...The town of Indianola, TX was completely destroyed by a hurricane, and never rebuilt. (David Ludlum)
• 21 August 1997...High winds and torrential rains from one of the worst typhoons to batter China in a decade caused the death of at least 140 at Zhejiang and Jiangsu. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 August 1770...James Cook's expedition landed on the east coast of Australia. (Wikipedia)
• 22 August 1787...Inventor John Fitch demonstrated his steamboat on the Delaware River to delegates of the Continental Congress. Its top speed was 3 mph. These tests were completed years before Fulton built his steamboat. (Today in Science History)
• 22 August 1780...HMS Resolution, Captain James Cook's ship, returned to England; Cook had been killed on Hawaii during the voyage. (Wikipedia)
• 22 August 1962...The 506-ft long NS Savannah, the world's first civilian nuclear-powered ship, completed its maiden voyage from Yorktown, VA to Savannah, GA; the ship was named for the SS Savannah, the first steam-powered ship to cross the Atlantic in 1819. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 22 August 1994...Hurricane John while about 390 miles south of Hilo, HI was found to have winds at 170 mph and pressure down to 920 mb, making it the strongest hurricane ever in the Central Pacific. It was the third category 5 storm in this area in a month, unprecedented since records began. (Intellicast)
  The USCG icebreaker Polar Sea and the CCCS Louis S. Ste Laurent became the first "North American surface ships" to reach the North Pole. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 23 August 1540...The French explorer Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec in his voyage to Canada. (Wikipedia)
• 23 August 1889...The first wireless message from a ship to the shore "Sherman is sighted", was received in the US. The US Lightship No. 70, San Francisco, announced the arrival of the U.S. Army troopship Sherman to the crowd assembled at the Cliff House. Reporters from the San Francisco Call relayed this information to a city awaiting the return of its hometown regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. The lightship, miles out at sea in deep fog, relayed this message via wireless telegraphy (later known as radio) through the fog to the Cliff House. This was the first 19th-century working use of wireless telegraphy outside of England. The method was still primitive, using sparks to emit intermittent radio waves and code messages. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 23 August 1933...The Chesapeake-Potomac hurricane made landfall over Nag's Head, NC and moved over Norfolk, VA, Chesapeake Bay and Washington, DC. Winds gusted to 88 mph at Norfolk, VA. A tide seven feet above normal flooded businesses in Norfolk, and damage in Maryland was estimated at $17 million. Sixty percent of Atlantic City, NJ was flooded as was 10 square miles of southwest Philadelphia, PA. Forty seven people were killed and damage was estimated at $47 million (in depression-era dollars) (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 23-24 August 1992...Hurricane Andrew on its way to Florida with winds of 150 mph, struck northern Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. The storm surge reached 23 feet. Total damage on the islands topped $250 million. At about 5 AM on the 24^th, Andrew made landfall near Homestead, FL with a central pressure of 922 mb (27.22 in.). Fowey Rocks coastal marine buoy recorded maximum sustained winds of 141 mph and a peak gust of 169 mph and the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables had sustained winds of 115 mph with a peak gust of 164 mph. A record storm surge of 16.7 feet occurred in Biscayne Bay. Homestead AFB was practically wiped out. More than 120,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving 250,000 homeless. Forty one died and property damage exceeded $25 billion, making Andrew by far the most costly hurricane in U.S. history. Andrew was the third most intense hurricane to strike the mainland behind Camille (1969) and the Labor Day Hurricane (1935) (Intellicast)
• 23-24 August 1998...Almost 18 inches of rain deluged Del Rio, TX between 8 AM on the 23^rd and 6 AM on the 24^th because of stalled remnants of Tropical Storm Charley. Violent flash flooding from San Felipe Creek left residential lots swept bare of homes, with asphalt streets gone. Nine people were killed and 150 injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 August 1912...The US Congress gave effect to the convention between United States, Great Britain, Japan and Russia prohibiting taking of fur seals and sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea by authorizing the President "to cause a guard or patrol to be maintained in the waters frequented by the seal herd or herds of seal otter." (USCG Historian's Office)
• 24 August 1988...A tropical depression drenched the Cabo Rojo area of southwestern Puerto Rico with up to ten inches of rain. San Juan received 5.35 inches of rain. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
• 24-29 August 1785...Hurricane ravaged the Eastern Caribbean Sea from St. Croix, Virgin Islands to Cuba during the last week of August. Over 142 people were reported dead from the storm's impact. (The Weather Doctor)

Return to DataStreme Ocean website

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