WEEKLY WEATHER AND CLIMATE NEWS

22-26 July 2013

Items of Interest:

• Peak in the annual temperature curves -- This upcoming week is the fourth full week of July, which for many locations across the nation typically marks the warmest week of the year, as indicated by the daily normal high and low temperatures. Usually, those stations located away from the moderating influences of the oceans reach their highest temperatures during the third to fourth week of July, or a roughly one month after the summer solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere receives the most hours of daylight and the largest amounts of solar radiation. During July, temperatures continue to rise to their highest typical values as radiational heating continues. However, the length of daylight and the amount of sunshine during this month begin decrease and the normal daily temperatures will begin to fall toward their lowest levels in mid to late January.
• AMS Space Weather Policy Statement unveiled -- Earlier this month, the AMS (American Meteorological Society) Council approved the "Space Weather Policy Statement" that provides a definition of "space weather," identifies the social impacts of space weather, discusses the efforts involved with predicting it and provides recommendations involving space weather research and services. [American Meteorological Society]
• NASA's Student Airborne Research Program provide a great learning experience -- A group of 32 college students from around the United States are spending eight weeks this summer participating in NASA's 2013 Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) that offer hands-on experience in the planning and execution of a NASA Airborne Science mission. These student interns were involved in every aspect of a science mission from upload of sensors to collecting science data, in the air, on the ground or from a boat. After their field experience, the undergraduate interns began classroom and laboratory work at the University of California, Irvine where they are poring over the science data and developing presentations to summarize their research. [NASA Dryden Flight Research Center]

Weather and Climate News Items:

• Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, organized tropical cyclone activity was confined to the western North Pacific basin. A tropical depression formed at the start of the week over the waters of the Philippine Sea to the east of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. By the second half of the week this tropical depression eventually strengthened to Tropical Storm Cimaron as it moved to the northwest through the Luzon Strait between Luzon and Taiwan. Eventually, this marginal tropical storm crossed the South China Sea and made landfall along the southeastern coast of China to the northeast of Hong Kong. For additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Cimaron, refer to the NASA Hurricane Page.
• June 2013 weather and climate for the nation and globe reviewed -- Scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center recently reported on their analysis of preliminary weather data collected during the month of June 2013:
• National weather and climate -- When averaged across the coterminous United States, the monthly temperature for June 2013 was 70.4 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 2.0 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century (1901-2000) average. Consequently, this past June was the 15th warmest June since 1895 when comprehensive climate records became available nationwide. Most of the states across the West had above to much above average temperatures. Six Southwestern states (California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona) reported statewide June temperatures that were in the top 10 highest June temperatures on record. Several New England and Middle Atlantic States also reported above average temperatures. No state reported a significantly below average June temperature.
  The nationwide average precipitation for June 2013 was 3.42 inches, which was 0.54 inches above the 20th-century average, making that month the 13th wettest June in 119 years. Nearly all states east of the Mississippi River had much above average June precipitation. Eighteen states along the Atlantic Seaboard and Appalachians had statewide June precipitation totals that were in the top 10 wettest. Delaware and New Jersey reported their wettest June since 1895. On the other hand, eight states across the southern Rockies and the Great Basin recorded below to much below average June precipitation totals. Utah experienced its driest June in 119 years, while Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming had monthly precipitation totals that ranked within the top 10 driest. [NOAA National Climatic Data Center]
  
• June national drought report -- The National Climate Data Center has posted its June 2013 drought report online. Using the Palmer Drought Severity Index, approximately 29 percent of the coterminous United States experienced severe to extreme drought conditions at the end of June, while 12 percent of the area had severely to extremely wet conditions.
• Global temperatures and ice cover -- The combined global land and ocean surface temperature for June 2013 was 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which tied the temperature for June 2006 as the fifth highest for any month of June since sufficiently detailed global climate records began in 1880. The global temperature for June 2013 was 1.15 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. The scientists noted that June 2013 was the 340th consecutive month in which the global temperature was above the 20th century average; the last below-average temperature for any month was February 1985. When considered separately, the average land temperature was the third highest for any June since 1880, while the temperature over the oceans was the tenth highest for any June. Sea-surface temperatures across the eastern half of the equatorial Pacific Ocean were slightly below average in June due to ENSO-neutral conditions (ENSO = El Niño/Southern Oscillation).
  The researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center noted the areal extent of the Arctic sea ice for June 2013 was the eleventh smallest since satellite surveillance began in 1979. On the other hand, the extent of the Antarctic sea ice was the third largest in the 35-year record. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate] [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory] A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for March 2013 is available from NCDC.
  
• Extent of July 2013 heat wave across nation is displayed -- A map was generated from data obtained from NOAA's Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis that shows the maximum air temperatures across the coterminous United States during the exceptional heat wave that extended between 10 and 19 July 2013. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
• New Seasonal Climate Outlooks for late summer/early fall issued -- Near the end of last week, forecasters at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released their new national Three-Month (Seasonal) Climate Outlooks for August through October 2013, corresponding to the last month of the meteorological summer season (in the Northern Hemisphere) and the first two months of meteorological autumn. Specific details of their outlooks include:
  • Temperature and precipitation outlooks -- According to their temperature outlook, most of the western third 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 Intermountain West and the southern Sierra Nevada Range in California along with the Rockies and southern high Plains. Sections of the Northeast, especially in northern New England would also have a better than average chance of a warmer than average late summer and early autumn. Their outlook indicates that the remainder of the nation, primarily across the Midwest and Southeast, would have nearly equal chances of warmer or cooler than normal conditions.
    Their precipitation outlook calls for better than even chances of above average rainfall totals for late summer and early autumn of 2013 across a large area of the Southeast, extending from the eastern Gulf Coast northward to southwestern Virginia. A small area across southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico could also experience wet conditions due to an active Southwest Monsoon. 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 early autumn 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-July through October 2013. Their outlook would call for persistence of extensive drought conditions across much of the western half of the nation. Only a few areas across the Southwest could experience some improvement in drought conditions, primarily across sections of Arizona and west Texas that includes the Big Bend country. Currently, the eastern half of the nation and sections across the northern Plains and northern Rockies do not appear to be headed for drought conditions. Note: a Seasonal Drought Outlook Discussion is included describing the forecasters' confidence.
    NOTE: The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) issued a "National Drought Outlook" that includes maps and additional narratives that involve current and anticipated national drought conditions along with national outlooks for precipitation, temperature and wildfires.
• Inland tropical cyclones can be fueled by a "brown ocean" -- Researchers at University of Georgia claim that some tropical cyclones can intensify even after making landfall provided that the ground over which the storm travels is sufficiently wet to continue providing the evaporative heating that it received when it was over the ocean. The saturated ground that provided the necessary water vapor could be considered to be a "brown ocean." The scientists found that of the 3254 tropical cyclones that formed globally between 1979 and 2008, as many as 227 tropical cyclones could be considered "inland tropical cyclones," with 45 of these systems maintaining or increasing in strength after landfall. [NASA's Earth Science News Team]
• Distortion of GPS signals can help map hurricane winds -- Scientists at the NASA Langley Research Center and the University of Miami's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies have developed a technique for measuring and mapping the speeds of the near-surface winds surrounding hurricanes by measuring the distortion in the GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals due to the effects of the hurricane winds upon the sea surface. The researchers tested their GPS technique using NOAA "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft. They believe that this new technique, which would complement the use of the more expensive droposonde, will provide more extensive and relatively inexpensive coverage of the wind patterns around developing hurricanes. Ultimately, this technique could be used with future satellites called the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). [American Geophysical Union]
• Mother Nature remains best defense against catastrophic storms -- Researchers at Stanford University claim that natural habitats such as dunes and reefs appear to offer the best protection against storms and rising sea levels along the US coastline. Their study, which is entitled "Coastal habitats shield people and property from sea-level rise and storms," has a comprehensive map of the entire US coastline (including Alaska and Hawaii) that shows a display of the coastal hazard index where and how much protection communities get from natural habitats such as sand dunes, coral reefs, sea grasses and mangroves. Another map shows predicted exposure of the coastline and coastal populations to sea-level rise in 2100 and storms.[Stanford News]
• Next generation geosynchronous satellite to provide continuous full-disk imagery -- Engineers and scientists involved with the planning and development of NOAA's next generation of geosynchronous environmental satellites that will begin with GOES-R report that these satellites will have the ability to obtain data at a rate capable of producing full-disk images of Earth at five-minute intervals. Current GOES satellites make a full disk scan in approximately 30 minutes. Increased imagery over a shorter time span and at higher resolution will provide more timely and informative data to forecasters everywhere in the Western Hemisphere. [NASA GOES Project]
• Number of nighttime heat waves in Pacific Northwest quadruple -- Members of the Office of the Washington State Climatologist at the University of Washington and the Oregon Climate Service have found that the frequency of nighttime heat waves in sections of Washington and Oregon west of the Cascades between 1981 and 2010 has quadrupled over the number between 1901 and 1980. The researchers defined a nighttime heat wave as being a stretch of at least three nights in a row where the daily low temperature is in the top 1 percent of the temperatures on record. For Seattle, the minimum temperature should be above approximately 61.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers also noted a 50 percent increase in the number of regional hospitalizations as being related to heat on dates identified as heat waves. [University of Washington News]
• Americans use more renewable energy sources -- Officials with the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently released the 2012 energy flow chart for the nation that details the sources of energy production, how Americans use energy and how much waste exists. This chart indicates that in 2012, Americans increasingly relied on natural gas, solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity, while less coal used for generation purposes. Wind power experienced the highest energy gains from 2011 to 2012. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory News]
• "Supraglacial" lake drainage studied -- Researchers from The City College of New York (CCNY), Los Alamos National Laboratory and the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge have been studying the drainage from "supraglacial" lakes, which are bodies of liquid water that collect on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, using data collected from five GPS (Global Positioning System) stations surrounding two such lakes. They found differences in how the lakes drain from the surface to the beneath the glacier can affect glacial movement because the amount of drainage lubricates the bottom of the ice sheet when they drain, causing the ice to flow faster. Knowledge of the draining could help in understanding how surface melting of the ice could impact sea-level rise. [The City College of New York News]
• Scientists scale amount of future global sea-level rise in terms of increases in global air temperature -- An international team of scientists including those from Oregon State University and Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research predict that for each Celsius degree increase in global air temperature during future decades the global sea level would rise by nearly 2.3 meters. They based their forecast upon analysis of past climate indicators and upon computer simulations of the major potential contributors to long-term global sea-level rise using physical models The researchers warn that while thermal expansion of the ocean and the melting of mountain glaciers appear to be the most important factors causing current sea-level rise, the extensive ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland would become the dominant contributors to sea-level rise over the next two millennia. [Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research] or [Oregon State University 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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2013, The American Meteorological Society.